site.btaBulgaria Pledges Support For New Three Seas Partnership Initiative

Bulgaria, through the Ministry of Innovation and Growth (MIG), has pledged support for a new regional partnership between Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia within the framework of the Three Seas Initiative, the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, said on its website.

Representatives of the EIF and national promotional banks from the five Central and Southeastern European countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 28 in Dubrovnik, committing to launch the new regional initiative to improve regional connectivity later this year.

The new partnership is expected to secure at least EUR 2 billion in investments in infrastructure projects. The initiative is intended to mobilize public funds for a wide range of connectivity investment funds operating across the region.

The signing of the memorandum took place on the first day of the Three Seas Initiative summit, held in Croatia on April 28 and 29 this year. Other countries are also expected to join the new regional cooperation once the new Infrastructure Fund of Funds under the Three Seas Initiative is established.

The five participating countries, through their national promotional banks, are expected to jointly contribute EUR 250 million, which the EIF will match. The goal of this public funding is to attract private capital up to the already mentioned total of EUR 2 billion for the implementation of infrastructure projects in areas such as clean energy, transport networks, digital connectivity, and social infrastructure.

The Ministry of Innovation and Growth said for BTA that Bulgaria will support the new regional cooperation through the JEREMIE initiative, which has been extended by another 10 years, until 2035.

The planned investments under the program in infrastructure connectivity within the Three Seas Initiative, amounting to up to EUR 25 million, represent one of the four strategic areas in the new ten-year investment strategy under JEREMIE for Bulgaria, alongside investments in technology transfer and deep tech, growth-stage funds for companies, and defense and security.