site.btaFirst Tranche of Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan Postponed for Autumn

Finance Minister Assen Vassilev's optimistic forecasts from the beginning of the year that the first tranche of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan would be received in June, seriously diverged from reality. The outgoing cabinet is trying to shift the responsibility for this onto Parliament, but from the available information on how far the implementation of the mechanism has progressed, there are serious delays at the government level. Judging by the official deadlines, it is very likely that the first payment will come only at the end of the year.

This was revealed by a check of "Sega" following the news from the Council of Ministers that the Finance Minister was authorised to negotiate and sign with the EC, subject to subsequent ratification, a financial agreement for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The outgoing cabinet also approved the authorities and structures that will be responsible for the implementation of the plan.

Signing a financial agreement is a prerequisite for the implementation of national recovery and resilience plans.  In addition to the financial agreement, the member states and the Commission draw up another document before actual implementation - the operational arrangements which describe all the details around indicators and implementation milestones, data provision, etc. A request for a first payment can only be made once the operational arrangements have been signed.

The Bulgarian Recovery and Resilience Plan was finally approved on May 4, and it is not clear when operational arrangements will be adopted. Only then will Bulgaria be able to submit a first payment request.

The payment request itself is subject to an assessment by the Commission, which must be ready within two months. Thus, it is realistic to expect a first payment in the autumn or the last quarter of the year, at the earliest. It amounts to EUR 1.3 billion, possibly to be reduced if the Commission considers that targets and reforms have not been met properly.