December 17 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said it has approved Bulgaria's map for granting state aid to the country's six planning regions between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2027.
According to the new map, the entire territory of Bulgaria will be eligible for regional aid because the standard of living of all regions is lower than the EU average and most Bulgarian regions suffer from a significant depopulation, the Commission said in a press release earlier this week.
The revised regional aid guidelines for the next programming period were accepted by the EC on April 21 this year,
The maximum aid intensities for large companies carrying out projects in Bulgaria during the 2022-2027 period is defined at 50% of the total investment cost in five of Bulgaria's regions, with 60% for the nine most disadvantaged provinces.
The Yugozapaden region, due to its development, will receive aid for its large companies at 20% until the end of 2024 and at 15% after that point, with two provinces having their aid intensities rise to 45% and one other province ranging between 20% and 25%.
For projects with eligible expenditure below 50 million euro ($56.3 million), these percentages can be increased by 20 percentage points for investments carried out by small companies and by 10 percentage points by medium-sized enterprises.
Five out of Bulgaria's six planning regions have a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita lower than 75% of the EU average, the Commission noted.
($ = 0.8874 euro)