The territorial plans of the three coal provinces Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik have been published for public discussion. In the following weeks, they will be discussed with the social partners and local residents, and at the end of September they will be sent to Brussels for approval.
The development plans are related to payments of over 2 billion leva to Bulgaria under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan. Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said this at the beginning of the government meeting and added that the development of modern technologies and energy from new sources was foreseen.
A week ago, the lack of territorial plans for the provinces of Stara Zagora, Pernik and Kyustendil was identified as a risk in order to not absorb the funds under the Recovery Plan. And today, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov announced that, in addition to European money, funds would also be attracted from investors in new technologies: “So that these regions can not just continue their existence, but become the economic heart of Bulgaria. This is possible”.
Denkov specified that the territorial plans also provided for a number of measures to preserve jobs in the coal regions: “Not just with the preservation of jobs, but with the development of the regions, the production, distribution and use of green hydrogen. Production of energy from new energy sources and to complement coal plants. Also opportunities to attract investors of a whole new generation – production of batteries, production of new technologies, electrolyzers for the production of hydrogen, which currently do not exist in Bulgaria”. (Novinite/Business World Magazine)