Bulgarian tourism firms eligible for 102 mln euro in renewables capacity grants

Local tourism companies will also have access to guarantee instruments totalling over 290 million levs geared towards enhancing growth, energy efficiency and renewable energy, according to a joint statement by the ministries of innovation and tourism published earlier this week.

The funds will be made available under Bulgaria's National Recovery and Resilience Plan, worth about 6 billion euro ($5.8 billion) and approved by the European Commission in spring.

Companies from Bulgaria's tourism sector are also eligible to apply for close to 550 million levs for innovations and development under the Competitiveness and Enterprise Innovations operational programme for the 2021-2027 period. The programme received the Commission's green light earlier in October.

Tourism companies, including hotels, tour operators and resturants, are also eligible for working capital funding through unsecured loans of 225 million levs, made available through seven banks in partnership with the Fund of Funds and state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)