Minister Naydenov proposes to the EC to increase the amount of aid for the transport industry to EUR 50 million

The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Nikolay Naydenov sent a letter to the European Commission proposing to increase the total amount of state aid for the transport sector from EUR 25 564 594.06 to EUR 50 000 000.

We recall that the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works has developed a State aid scheme ‘Aid to support the costs of maintaining the competitiveness of heavy road transport in the Republic of Bulgaria’. The administrator of the aid is the Road Infrastructure Agency. The notification to the European Commission is registered under number SA.122328.

The geopolitical instability in the Middle East, which started on 28 February this year, has led to a sharp rise in the prices of energy commodities on international markets – especially diesel, on which the Bulgarian transport sector is highly dependent. These events caused an immediate and extremely severe supply shock to global energy markets, leading to unprecedented fluctuations and a sharp rise in energy prices.

The objective of the measure is to address liquidity shortages faced by undertakings that are directly or indirectly affected by the serious disturbance in the economy. This is key to maintaining economic stability and preventing potentially negative effects on the Bulgarian economy as a whole.