The 2024 budget will include a fund for municipal projects, Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov announced during a meeting with businesses from the Thrace Economic Zone
The state does everything possible to facilitate doing business in Bulgaria. This is what Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov assured the owners and managers of almost 20 companies from the "Thrace Economic Zone" (TEZ), with whom he met today in Plovdiv.
Transport infrastructure in the region is one of the topics on which investors are seeking support from the government. In the 2024 budget, there will be a fund for financing municipal projects that can help with these problems, the Prime Minister assured. In addition, the state will support the construction of the entrance to Plovdiv from Golyamokonarsko Shosse, so that there are no traffic jams every morning.
The cabinet is looking for ways to overcome the shortage of workers with secondary technical education. Close cooperation between companies and vocational schools is the main way out of this crisis. Many companies from TIZ already work actively with schools with a similar profile to theirs, equip offices and workshops, support teachers and send their representatives to class. They expect the state to help with the renovation of the building stock.
This is quite possible to happen through the 2024-2026 Program for the construction, extension, upgrading and reconstruction of nurseries, kindergartens and schools, explained Academician Denkov. BGN 240 million is provided for in it. "It is possible in the methodology for evaluating the projects that apply for funding, to set an advantage for schools that have contracts with companies," the prime minister pointed out. He recommended that companies work more actively with STEM classrooms in schools, as well as take more advantage of the regulation according to which the state pays for the education of students with a contract with an employer.
The Prime Minister is also committed to looking for the possibility of shortening the period for issuing a work permit when importing workers from third countries. Now this procedure takes six months, employers complained.
A painful topic for business are the obstacles to Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen area, which increase the cost and delay the delivery of products. Academician Denkov introduced the representatives of the companies to the constant efforts of the government to have our country accepted into the zone without borders by the end of this calendar year.
Before that, the prime minister visited the innovation and demonstration hub of Schneider Electric Bulgaria. He handed over the permission to use the expansion of the enterprise, which replaced gas heating with thermal energy. The investment for the new system is in the amount of 1.8 million euros. These funds are expected to be recouped in 10 to 13 years. The plant is one of the most high-tech sites on the territory of the "Thrace Economic Zone". The expansion of the enterprise will create 150 new jobs and thus the number of Schneider employees in Bulgaria will increase to over 1,000.
At TIZ, the Prime Minister also broke ground on a plant for the processing of herbs. It is expected that in May 2024 the plant will be operational with a staff of 15-20 people and will process Bulgarian herbs into nutritional supplements. The one offered investment is in the direction of implementing highly knowledge-intensive green technologies, which would put our country on the map of innovative countries. Partners in the research and development activity of the future enterprise are the University of Plovdiv and the University of Sofia.