Bulgaria is in a critical race against the clock to access the remaining €4.32 billion of its €5.69 billion Resilience and Recovery Plan (RRP) grants, with less than 25% of the total funding received so far, according to research by EECFA.
The country faces an August 2026 deadline to achieve all committed milestones and targets, with payments to be executed by December 2026.
The RRP, a performance-based instrument, links grant disbursements directly to specific reforms, operating on a "no reforms, no money" principle. Currently, Bulgaria has completed only 38% of its 321 reforms, translating to 122 finished targets.
Last month, the new Bulgarian government, which took office in January, submitted a request to revise its RRP to address significant delays. These delays are attributed in part to a period of political instability, marked by seven parliamentary elections in three years.
"The new government is trying to speed up implementation and get full access to eligible funding," said Yasen Georgiev from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), EECFA’s Bulgarian research institute. Georgiev highlights that the government expects to receive the second and third RRF payments this year if proposed reforms and modified projects are approved by Brussels.
The revised plan includes removing or modifying several measures and downsizing or cancelling delayed projects, such as a €152 million program for water supply and sewerage systems and a €123 million geothermal energy project. Conversely, some projects, like the construction of Sofia's third metro line, are set to receive additional funding.
Despite these efforts, the official government position acknowledges that while all payments might be received by the 2026 deadline, there may not be enough time to make all the planned investments. This could lead to projects being downsized or put on hold until alternative funding sources are secured.
