site.btaRegional Development Ministry to Launch New Support Procedure for SMEs in Bulgaria’s Three Coal Regions

The Regional Development and Public Works Ministry will launch a new procedure to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bulgaria’s three coal regions of Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik under the Just Transition Fund, Deputy Minister Desislava Georgieva said on Thursday. She was speaking at a meeting with stakeholders, which discussed the forthcoming steps under the procedure for the economic diversification of the coal regions.

The discussion was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Ivan Shishkov, business representatives and officials from the territorial administrations of the three regions.

The new procedure is intended to introduce clear and objective assessment criteria that will safeguard both the EU and Bulgarian budgets. A process to terminate the existing application procedure had been launched earlier this week and was expected to be completed on Friday. The criteria for the new procedure are expected to be ready in September or October.

The Ministry recalled that, following a number of alerts, the caretaker government of prime minister Andrey Gurov (February-May 2026) commissioned an audit of the procedure. The audit identified irregularities in the organization of the assessment process, subjective decision-making, and a lack of transparency and equal treatment of applicants.

The new procedure will therefore introduce objective and clearly measurable criteria. Proposals under discussion include the automatic calculation of some indicators in the Information System for Management and Monitoring, based on financial data such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and profitability.

Other proposed requirements include applicants having been registered for at least three years and the preparation of a specific list of eligible economic activities in line with the National Strategy for SMEs for 2021–2030. Ineligible sectors are also expected to be listed exhaustively.

The Ministry added that consideration is being given to removing subjective criteria based on business plans, growth forecasts and analyses of prospective market niches.

Another option under review is to link the technological modernization of enterprises to employee training in the use of newly acquired equipment.

One of the proposals is to reduce the aid intensity under the de minimis scheme to 65%, which would allow support to reach more businesses and would increase the commitment of beneficiaries through their own financial contribution.

The Ministry also quoted Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov as saying that the problems identified in the procedure were important both for Bulgaria and the EU. He said the aim was to launch a new procedure with clear criteria and a mandatory contribution from applicants, while preserving as much of the Just Transition Fund resources as possible for supporting the affected regions.

During the meeting, business representatives expressed support for reducing the grant intensity so that funding could reach a larger number of enterprises. They proposed discussing different co-financing rates for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as for start-ups and established companies. They also called for more active dialogue in the preparation of the criteria for the new procedure.

In 2025, the Ministry launched a grant procedure under the Just Transition Fund with a budget of BGN 250 million (EUR 127.82 million). The funding was intended to support micro, small, medium-sized and start-up enterprises in the regions of Pernik, Kyustendil and Stara Zagora, as well as in another ten municipalities in the coal regions, as part of their transition towards climate neutrality. The planned grants ranged from BGN 50,000 (EUR 25,565) to BGN 500,000 (EUR 255,646) for micro and small enterprises, and up to BGN 1 million (EUR 511,292) for medium-sized enterprises.