October 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now able to apply for grants of 30.6 million levs ($15.4 million/15.6 million euro) in total and without co-financing requirements for investments in upgrading ICT equipment and enhancing cybersecurity, the ministry of innovation said.
The funds can be spent on developing websites, e-commerce stores, phone applications, IT systems and digital marketing solutions, the ministry said in a press release on Monday.
The grant programme is funded under Bulgaria's EU-backed National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Two more grant mechanisms administered by the ministry will open for applications before the end of 2022, the ministry added. The sum of 200 million levs will be up for grabs for developing battery storage and renewable energy systems for own use. Businesses will also have the opportunity to apply for 120 million levs in R&D and intellectual property grants.
The government's InvestBulgaria agency (IBA) which facilitates foreign investments in the country is set to give the green light to two new projects worth a total of 11.6 million levs in the Black Sea city of Varna, according to an earlier statement by the innovation ministry.
The projects will create 40 new jobs in Varna. By the time of publication, the ministry had not returned SeeNews requests to name the prospective investors.
"Just a few weeks ago, we began an active strategic dialogue with international investors to introduce the best international practices with a cybersecurity focus. This dialogue is in line with the Three Seas Initiative. We have signed a declaration at national level and we are united in common support and interaction with the US in relation to 5G network security and the accompanying telecoms infrastructure," caretaker innovation minister Alexander Pulev said.
In the next few weeks, Bulgaria will seek formal approval from the European Commission for its 2.14 billion levs Scientific Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Intelligent Transformation programme for the new 2021-2027 period.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)