Government adopts updated version of National Recovery and Resilience Plan

The Government has adopted an updated version of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev told journalists here after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting. The NRRP is expected to be officially approved during the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Sofia on Thursday, he added. 

"We have a NRRP with a delay of 37 working days from the original deadlines," Vassilev said. 

The NRRP is in the total amount of 13,520,565,000 leva, of which 2,123,705,000 leva are from national co-funding. Among the key moments in the NRRP is that Bulgaria is implementing the commitments made in the green transition and carbon emissions reduction without having to close down the coal-fired units in the Maritsa Basin, Vassilev said.

"We managed to agree with the European Commission that we will keep our energy sovereignty, that we will not close the coal-fired units in the Maritsa Basin and that we will undertake all possible measures to reduce the peak consumption during the night and in winter, starting from geothermal energy research, development of a huge national retrofitting programme, for which 1.8 billion leva have been set aside, and support for over 10,000 projects for photovoltaics across Bulgaria," he said. 

He went on to say that the NRRP includes significant resources for STEM centres and the preparation of teachers for these centres. There are 1.2 billion leva planned for improving education infrastructure and 400 million leva for science and innovation. A total of 1.3 billion leva are allocated to an economic transformation programme supporting Bulgarian businesses in handling the forthcoming challenges, and 216 million leva to a programme supporting industrial zones. The 700 million leva envisaged for digital connectivity will make sure every settlement in Bulgaria has broadband internet in municipal centres and the possibility to quickly access information. Over 500 million leva are allocated for the purchase of new trains. More than 1 billion leva will go to social inclusion, particularly to the provision of air ambulances and a transformation of the 112 emergency call system. A total of 350 million leva are set aside for the modernization of hospitals and 107 million leva, for the establishment of centres for interventional diagnostics and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases.