Bulgaria Will Receive EUR 1,3 Billion from EU Just Transition Fund

Pernik, Stara Zagora and Kyustendil are the regions in Bulgaria earmarked to receive the most generous financial aid from the EU Just Transition Fund.

Targeted investments will be made in the three coal-producing regions to adapt them to European environmental requirements. The Fund is in the focus of the upcoming European Parliament (EP) plenary sessions this week.

Bulgaria will receive nearly 1.3 billion euro from the fund, which ranks the country fifth in the amount of funding provided.

The Just Transition Fund (JTF) aims to provide support to the territories most affected by the transition to climate neutrality. The JTF will facilitate the implementation of the Green Deal, which aims to make the EU climate neutral by 2050.

The JTF is an instrument with a total budget of 17.5 billion euro.. The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 allocates EUR 7.5 billion and from the recovery instrument – NextGenerationEU – EUR 10 billion.

Bulgarian MEPs Andrey Novakov (EPP) and Tsvetelina Penkova (S&D) commented on the JTF at an online briefing for journalists on Monday, May 17.

"JTF is a tool that we are obliged to use to the last cent for the sake of the nation’s future, because of Bulgaria's dependence on electricity generation from coal," commented Novakov.

He expressed confidence that transition to clean energy and preserving jobs in energy sector could go hand in hand. The retraining of miners is more complex and this needs to be taken into account, the MEP stressed. He believes that Bulgaria should continue to use its fossil fuel reserves, which are national wealth, but at the same time meet all modern EU criteria.

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