Bulgaria's National Recovery and Resilience Plan is in line with the European Commission's decarbonisation plans. In the next 6 years, nearly EUR 1.2 billion will be allocated to the coal mining regions Pernik, Stara Zagora and Kyustendil under the Just Transition Fund, in order to reduce the socio-economic risks and promote job creation, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Management Atanas Pekanov said in an interview for the BNR.

“We believe that the European Commission must show more flexibility with regard to the closure of our coal-fired thermal power plants. Bulgaria is working on different policy scenarios depending on the date of closure of its coal-fired power plants- 2038, 2040, or earlier”, Deputy Premier Pekanov added.