The government of Prime Minister Rumen Radev is preparing a new procedure worth EUR 265 million for Sofia Municipality, while Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov denies that the money is being redirected from Northern Bulgaria.
The funds are expected to be provided through an over-contracting mechanism, according to a written response from Pekanov to a parliamentary question. The planned financing comes as authorities seek to accelerate the implementation of the Regional Development Program 2021-2027 and prevent European funds from being lost because of delays.
The dispute over the distribution of EU funding between Sofia and Northern Bulgaria comes as the program faces a serious implementation gap. From the start of the programming period through May 2026, interim payments totaling EUR 126 million had been requested from the European Commission, including European funding and the corresponding national co-financing.
By the end of 2026, however, EUR 800 million in European funding must be declared to avoid the automatic decommitment of funds. That means the payments needed during the remaining months of the year are more than 6.5 times higher than the total amount declared so far under the program.
