The Minister of Environment and Water Julian Popov and the Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Kyriakos Kakouris today signed a service agreement for advisory support for projects in the field of environment.

The agreement provides for the EIB to provide to the Programme "Environment" 2021-2027 expert support on the effective implementation and management of strategic investments under the Water, Waste and Biodiversity Priorities. The total value of the agreement amounts to a 4 889 575 BGN grant. The implementation deadline is 15 January 2027.

"I would like to thank the Representation of the European Commission and the EIB for our cooperation. Many people think that the Ministry of Environment and Water is dealing with the pelicans in the Srebarna reserve. This is correct, but the MOEW has a very important role to play in all investment processes in the country, which are closely linked to moving the EU towards the climate neutrality goal NetZero 2050. In order to move in this direction, the rapid advisory support we are receiving with this agreement for specific projects would be very valuable. We have set ourselves the goal of reducing the administrative burden that is in our hands to speed up and simplify the investment process in the country - this is our promise for 2024." This is what Minister Julian Popov said after the signing of the agreement, which took place at the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria.

The advisory support agreement covers regional water infrastructure projects and other priority environmental investments in Bulgaria. This will facilitate the absorption of European Union grants while promoting climate action and environmental sustainability in the country.

"We are providing consultancy services at the highest level and building on our excellent cooperation with the Bulgarian authorities to offer expertise in the sectors that will underpin Bulgaria's sustainable development in the years to come," said Kyriakos Kakouris.

In the period 2021-2027, through this agreement, the EIB will continue to provide expert support in the implementation of projects with beneficiary Water Supply and Sewerage (WSS) operators. In addition to expertise for the implementation of strategic investments in the WSS sector, the EIB Advisory Service will also provide support under the Waste priority for the development of projects related to waste separation and reuse centres. Within the Biodiversity sector, the foreseen support includes site visits to identify the presence of invasive non-native species and non-typical species and delineating the distribution of target habitat types and species to ensure the implementation of the measures of the National Priority Action Framework for Natura 2000.

In the framework of a previous agreement between the MOEW and the EIB to provide support for projects in the 2014-2020 programming period, the expertise was focused on the effective implementation of strategic investments in the water sector under the Operational Programme "Environment 2014-2020". Beneficiaries of the projects were 14 WSS operators implementing a regional approach in the 14 consolidated districts. The EIB also provided assistance to strengthen the capacity of 6 newly consolidated WSS operators, which are potential beneficiaries under the current Programme "Environment" 2021-2027. The implementation of the previous agreement ended in December 2023.