Petkov: We work mainly for economic growth and for small and medium-sized companies

Much of the work of the Ministry of Economy has been focused on economic growth and providing funds for small and medium-sized enterprises. This was said by the line minister Kiril Petkov during the presentation to the Council of Ministers of the report on the activity of the ministry within the first month of the inauguration of the caretaker government, BTA reported.

Although the dams were very puzzling, and it was very shocking to me to have such high prices for unused dams, in reality much of the work of the Ministry of Economy was focused on positive projects - in the direction of economic growth, funds for small and medium enterprises. / SME /, the "Three Seas" initiative and using the potential of Bulgarian trade attachés, the minister said.

He pointed out that the ministry has worked in the last month on two types of activities - for transparency and for economic growth.

We clarified that BDB had given BGN 846 million to 8 companies, then we learned that BGN 1.8 billion were given to 20 companies, the Minister reminded. In this regard, the ministry has proposed a new statute of BDB, which provides for the maximum loan from BDB to be BGN 5 million, so that it is no longer possible to give loans of BGN 100 million from a bank that is for small and medium-sized enterprises. Transparency and control commissions have also been set up at the State Consolidation Company (SCC) and the Bulgarian Export Insurance Agency (BAEZ), the minister said, recalling recent inspections of dams and subsequent decisions by the ministry.

In support of economic growth, the Minister reminded of the recovery program for over BGN 2.5 billion - new funds for SMEs, in partnership with commercial banks, for liquidity of these companies.

Under the Business Recovery and Development Plan, the funds have been increased by nearly BGN 500 million and European institutions, including the EIB, have been attracted as partners in the Ministry's files, so that the money can be spent transparently and there is minimal risk of corrupt practices, said the minister. He also highlighted the possibility of business support under the “Three Seas” initiative, working on the possibility in July for large companies such as Amazon and Google to arrive in Sofia during the forum, and for business representatives to invite their partners from the countries of the initiative.

The competition of the Bulgarian trade representatives abroad for attracting foreign investors in the country and for securing potential deals for export of Bulgarian companies is also a result, the minister said.