Small Bulgarian Municipalities to Be Included in Special Investment Program for Lagging Regions

Domestic | June 25, 2015, Thursday // 12:48|  views

Bulgaria's Council of Ministers building, photo by BGNES

A set of draft amendments to Bulgaria’s Regional Development Act envisages targeted support for lagging regions.

Under the proposed legal changes, small municipalities (fourth or fifth category, following the criteria envisaged in the National Spatial Development Concept) and bigger municipal centers in upland and middle mountain regions and in border areas will be entitled to state support, according to reports of investor.bg.

According to the proposal published on the website of Bulgaria’s Regional Development Ministry, the municipalities that will be entitled to targeted support will also be included in the special investment program for lagging regions that is being prepared by the government.

The special investment program for lagging regions is to be ready by end-November, according to a media statement of the Regional Development Ministry.

The investment program will certainly include Bulgaria’s northwestern region, the Rhodope Mountains, and the Strandzha-Sakar region, while the other regions that will receive support will be determined by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Analyses, development visions, and the preliminary selection of projects proposed by the regional development councils have already been prepared for the three regions that will certainly receive support.

The legal amendments are to allow more localities to benefit from the support and to manage to attract investments.

However, the fact that the investment intentions are to be discussed by the regional development councils may prove to be yet another administrative obstacle to the implementation of investment projects.

The amendments eliminate the obligation of municipalities to prepare concepts for spatial development.

The measures in support of lagging regions are also to be included in the municipal development strategies.

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Tags: spatial development, Regional Development Minister, Regional Development Ministry, investment projects

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