953 projects will be the first financed under the Recovery Plan in Bulgaria

The General Directorate of European Competitiveness Funds (DG ECF) has just published on the website of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth the first companies in Bulgaria to receive funding under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan.

Of the 2,423 investment proposals included in the evaluation under procedure No. BG-RRP-3.004 "Technological modernization", 953 projects will be financed with nearly BGN 260 million.

According to the procedure, applications were made between 22.07.2022 and 21.09.22, and about 2,000 companies passed to the second stage of the evaluation.

The measure targeted four of the country's economic sectors – C (Manufacturing), E (Water Supply; Sewage Services, Waste Management and Remediation), J (Creation and Dissemination of Information and Creative Products; Telecommunications) and M (Professional activities and research).

These are mainly manufacturing companies – for medicines, medical devices and appliances, computers or optical materials, food, beverages, clothing, etc. Also eligible were businesses that deal with waste collection or material recycling, film and television studios, radio, television and news agencies, as well as companies with architectural, engineering or research and development activities.

For micro-enterprises, the total grant amount can be up to BGN 180,000, for small enterprises it is up to BGN 350,000, and for medium-sized enterprises – up to BGN 700,000.

In connection with the completion of the work of the Commission on the evaluation of projects for the implementation of investments by final recipients under procedure BG-RRP-3.004 "Technological modernization", General Directorate "European Competitiveness Funds", in its capacity as a Monitoring and Reporting Structure under Program for Economic Transformation, Component 3 "Smart Industry" of the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability of the Republic of Bulgaria, publishes:

- Lists of investment proposals proposed for financing, arranged in the order of their ranking and the amount of funds from the Mechanism to be provided for each of them;

- Lists of reserve proposals for the implementation of investments that have successfully passed the evaluation, but for which funding is not enough, arranged in the order of their ranking;

- List of investment proposals proposed for rejection after the "Technical and Financial Assessment" stage, in respect of which the procedure for providing funds from the Mechanism has not been terminated.

Successful applicants will be invited to provide evidence that they meet the requirements for being a final recipient of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, including the requirements set out in the Conditions of Application for the procedure.

Applicants included in the list of proposals for the implementation of investments proposed for rejection, in respect of which the procedure for providing funds from the Mechanism has not been terminated, will be issued reasoned decisions refusing the provision of funds from the Mechanism and in which the specific grounds for rejection are indicated.

According to the second procedure of the PVU for "ICT solutions and cyber security" under MIR, the application ended on December 19. Nearly 7,700 submitted project proposals were submitted for over BGN 146 million. DG ECF will announce the winning companies on the MIG website by the end of January 2023.