January 30 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria will make available a 212 million levs ($118 million/108.4 million euro) EU-backed grant mechanism to further develop the country's industrial zones, the innovation and growth ministry said.
The grants, for which all economic operators of industrial zones in Bulgaria will be eligible, will be disbursed under the country's EU-approved national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the ministry said in a press release over the weekend.
Individual projects will be financed to the tune of up to 40 million levs each.
The automotive industry, which contributes over 10% of Bulgaria's GDP, will be among the priority sectors, with a potential for attracting additional investments from Turkish companies in Bulgaria, caretaker innovation minister Alexander Pulev said. Last week, a memorandum of understanding was signed between InvestBulgaria government agency and Turkey's specialised automotive supply industrial zone TOSB with the aim of facilitating the growth of foreign direct investment in Bulgaria.
The automotive industry employs over 75,000 people and comprises more than 350 companies in Bulgaria, according to the press release.
Bulgaria's National Company Industrial Zones (NCIZ) operates eight industrial zones - in Sofia, Burgas, Vidin, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Telish, Svilengrad and Varna, with five projects under development - in Kardzhali, Simitli, Karlovo, Suvorovo and Sofia-West. Earlier this month, NCIZ started talks on a potential new industrial park in Haskovo region, near the Turkish border.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)