YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARTSAKHPRESS. All projects in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan except for the decarbonization chapter, which Bulgaria seeks to renegotiate, will be implemented, Deputy Prime Minister for EU funding management, Atanas Pekanov, said here Tuesday. He was speaking at the opening of a Sofia conference on the Recovery Plan, organized by the 24 Chasa daily. “Let me assure you all: investment projects which do not concern outside the issue of decarbonization and are unaffected by Parliament’s decision, will be implemented,” said Pekanov.
He was referring to Parliament’s decision
mandating the government to renegotiate the energy chapter of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan so as to scrap the commitment for 40% carbon emission cuts by the end of 2025 (from the 2019 levels) and make sure the coal plants continue operating without restrictions at least until 2038.
The participants in the forum are discussing the funding that will be available for businesses under the Recovery Plan, and what the application procedures and the deadlines are.
The Recovery Plan is a new mechanism and this is seen in all member states, said Pekanov. Bulgaria has managed to make up for the delay and is one of 11 countries which has received the first payment under the Plan, while 16 countries have not even applied for first funding. Only several countries have applied for second payment and only three have received it, said Pekanov.
He also said that a second payment to Bulgaria cannot be expected before 14 bills prepared by the government are not passed by the legislature. Speaking to reporters in the corridors of the forum, he said: “We are expected to carry through reforms. Some of them have been in Parliament for months. I hope that in its final days this Parliament will consider the bills pushing through the reforms with regard to rule of law and the accountability of the Prosecutor General. Bulgaria has been asked to do this for years but we don’t do it.”
