Milena Stoycheva: By the end of the year, the implementation of procedures under the two European programs at the Ministry of Innovation will start

A key goal of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth (MIG) is to show the capacity of Bulgaria through the entrepreneurial ecosystem, stated the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva at the international forum "Burgas Blue Summit and Innovation Expo", quoted by the press center of the responsible ministry. "MIG's efforts will be focused on developing a good synergy between science and business so that Bulgaria's potential and capacity in the field of innovation can be commercialized on the market," said the minister.

According to her, with this capacity and the funds provided under MIR, a real resource is available to support the process. Stoycheva indicated that by the end of the year, the implementation of procedures under the two European programs managed by MIR - "Program for Scientific Research, Innovation and Digitization for Intelligent Transformation" (PSRIDIT) 2021-2027 with a budget of BGN 2.14 billion and Program "Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises" (PCIP) 2021-2027 with a budget of BGN 3 billion will be launched.

Minister Stoycheva announced that for "blue innovations" companies can apply for two procedures from PKIP - for the development of innovations with a budget of 127 million BGN and for the implementation of innovations with a budget of 293 million BGN. "According to PSRIDIT, it is expected that by the end of the year we will open a procedure for "Building a national network of 12 innovation hubs" with a budget of BGN 67 million, which will also be able to be applied for in the direction of the "blue economy", she added.

"Europe must unite its efforts in a common market, a common network for innovation valleys and ecosystems in order to be competitive with the USA and China," commented the minister. In her words, along with small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, universities, scientific centers and all those who work in scientific circles should be supported.

Stoycheva visited the Burgas Free University, where she met with the management and examined the educational and material base. The possibilities for modernizing the digital rooms for the students were discussed. The minister also met with the academic management of the university "Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarev". The talks were related to the development and implementation of innovations in areas such as healthcare, biotechnology and green technologies.