Debunking the Lies: The Truth about Bulgaria’s National Recovery and Sustainability Plan

FACTS posts opinions with a wide range of viewpoints to encourage constructive debate.

I watched yesterday’s interview of Mr. Kostadinov, chairman of the “Vazrazhdane” party, on bTV.

And since we have known each other since 2007/8, when he had 3-4-5 parties less in his resume and was the chairman of VMRO in Varna, I can allow myself to address him directly, as “you” :

Cat, it’s bad to tell complete lies. It is bad to lie, it is not better if the leader of the third political power is so ignorant that he is deceiving his voters and in general all those who – unfortunately – trust him. In fact, in this case, lying and ignorance are equally dangerous to society.

And so:

Mr. Kostadinov said that “the money under the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan /NPVU/ belongs to us” because it is compensation for damages that the Bulgarian government and the EC have caused to our economy. Untruth.

The truth:

Funds under the NAP are part of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). These are funds that the EC borrows from the global financial markets with precisely defined goals:

1) Financing the transformation to low-carbon industry and energy. This goal was adopted before the Covid crisis.

2) Recovery of the European economy from the effects of the Covid crisis – disrupted supply chains, limited international markets, threatened sustainability of health systems. It is important to note that the measures under item 2) should not contradict the objectives under item 1). And all this was not accepted by the EC, but by all the Member States, after difficult negotiations in the Council of the EU.

Mr. Kostadinov said that this money is due to us, but the EC sets special conditions for its “absorption”. Untruth.

The truth:

No money is due under the NPVU of the individual countries. Since this is a general loan, each country must present and defend its plan with the above objectives, which is subject to approval by the EC, which takes the loan, but also by the other governments in the Council, because they are the guarantors of the loan. Nothing is required – this is funding for specific general policies of the EU with common EU funds, which will also be generally returned – incl. from countries like ours that don’t seem to “absorb” much of the money.

Mr. Kostadinov said that there is plenty of time to “absorb” the funds, because several laws need to be adopted, which will take a maximum of a week. Untruth.

The truth:

The terms under the NPVU (generally under the RRF) are extremely short – until the end of 2026. A large part of these means do not simply require laws, but their actual implementation with quite complex reforms. The laws under the NPVU are very heavy and practically none of them can be passed either in a week or in a month. I will give some examples:

– The law on energy and the liberalization of the energy market and the definition of “energy poverty” – these are measures that have been postponed in Bulgaria for 7-8 years, precisely because they are politically difficult and unpopular.

– The Renewable Energy Act, which is supposed to transpose already three (!) new versions of the RES Directive, also long delayed due to political risks and huge volume.

– The Condominium Management Act regarding building renovations, taking out loans on behalf of the entire condominium, deploying solar panels and managing energy from them.

These are just three pro-isolation examples from over 20 laws under the NPVU, I don’t even mention the NPK, ZPKONPI …

Mr. Kostadinov said once in the interview that the Petkov cabinet agreed to close the coal industry, and a second time – that he agreed to close 40% of the coal industry. The first is an outright, brazen political lie, the second – manipulation and untruth.

The truth:

The Petkov cabinet agreed on a gradual reduction of 40% of emissions from coal power (without committing to closing even a single unit, which I think was a mistake, but that’s a separate topic) by the end of 2024. There is a huge difference between closing the sector, closing capacity and reducing emissions. Above all, today (and yesterday, and tomorrow…) the Bulgarian coal-fired power plant is operating at far below 60% of its capacity.

The sad truth is that this reduction will be made, and even surpassed, for purely economic reasons. But we will not get huge funds that we can invest in new productions, new technologies, new jobs and compensations.

And the salt, and the sticks, and … Thanks to politicians who like to go on television and speak untruths, like Mr. Kostadinov.