Minister Stoicheva: MIG has a significant financial resource that will support the development of high-tech innovations

The Ministry of Innovation and Growth has a significant financial resource that will support the development of high-tech innovations, said Minister Milena Stoicheva at a working meeting in the Technological Park at the Technical University in Gabrovo. The regional governor Eng. Maria Basheva-Venkova, the mayor of the city Tanya Hristova, the rector of the Technical University-Gabrovo Prof. Dr. Eng. Iliya Zhelezazarov, representatives of the local business and ecosystem, as well as the academic community participated in the meeting.

The region has recognized the vision of promoting innovation as a basis for increasing business competitiveness and recognizes the importance of scientific and development activity for the development of the new wave of innovation, the minister pointed out.

"One of the main goals of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth is to support the creation of innovation ecosystems, as they are part of Europe's strategy to increase competitiveness," said Minister Stoicheva. According to her, MIG's goal is to rebrand Bulgaria as a place for developing innovations and new technologies with high added value for both citizens and businesses.

"We want to position Bulgaria as a place where modern solutions work to increase the standard of living and the competitiveness of the economy," said the Minister of Innovation and Growth.

She emphasized that among the government's priorities is the development of scientific and research capacity as a basis for economic growth and the commercialization of technologies to create innovations.

"In the ministry, we place a clear emphasis on high technologies, new sectors such as culture and creative industries, the achievement of a green transition and the financing of "green" projects, as well as support for the creation of new solutions based on scientific and development activity," said Stoycheva.

According to MIG, for the current program period until 2027, there is a financial resource for Bulgarian companies in the amount of over BGN 5 billion under the two European programs that the ministry manages - the "Competitiveness and Innovations in Enterprises" Program and the "Research, Innovations" Program and Digitization for Smart Transformation'.

"By the end of the year, we are about to open three procedures under the Competitiveness Program for over BGN 530 million - for the development of innovations, for the implementation of innovations and for improving the production capacity of family businesses and craftsmen," said the Minister of Innovation and the growth.

She recalled that companies can currently apply for financing under two open procedures from the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability. The first is for the development of industrial zones and parks in the country with a budget of BGN 212.5 million. Documents for it are submitted until November 5, with Northern Bulgaria being a priority in order to reduce regional imbalances in the country. The second is for the transition to a circular economy. The budget is BGN 180 million, and the application deadline is October 3. Micro, small, medium and large enterprises from the processing industry can apply for the implementation of "green" methods and technologies for their productions.

According to data presented by the Minister of Innovation and Growth, 30 companies in the Gabrovo region receive a total of nearly BGN 8 million under the "Technological Modernization" procedure from the NRSP. With the funds, enterprises will be able to renew and modernize their technical park with new equipment, machinery, machines, software, etc. Under the "ICT solutions and cyber security" measure, 24 companies from the district receive a total of nearly half a million BGN. They will also be able to cover costs for creating corporate websites, mobile applications, online stores, digital marketing, customer relations, business analytics systems, online employee training and web-based services for sharing platforms and intranets. information.