December 6 (SeeNews) - The European Commission approved Bulgaria's ninth operational programme, paving the way for total financing of 2.14 billion levs ($1.14 billion/1.09 billion euro) to back science and technology projects during 2021-2027, the Bulgarian innovation ministry said on Tuesday.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) will be able to benefit from the funds, as well as large businesses if working in partnership with MSMEs, the ministry said in a press release.
The programme, Bulgaria's first-ever in the field of science and innovation, will prioritise the development of Bulgaria's research and development (R&D) and scientific ecosystem, including by funding projects under the EU's Digital Europe and Horizon Europe programmes. The digitisation of the public sector will also be in focus.
As much as 140 million levs will be allocated to the creation of a nationwide network of 12 digital and innovation hubs, to promote partnerships between academic institutions, businesses, the non-profit sector and technological mediators. The development of centres of excellence and competencies, created during the previous 2014-2020 programming period, will be boosted with financing of 280 million levs. The partnership between these centres and SMEs will be reinforced through an additional 50 million levs SME voucher programme.
A total of 550 million levs of European grants backed by national co-financing will aim to strengthen connections between academia and businesses, the ministry noted.
Bulgaria allocated only 0.81% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021 to foster domestic R&D investments, according to a recent report by Eurostat.