Kostadin Angelov rang the bell of the last regular session of the year.
The deputies are going on vacation from December 22 to January 10, according to the rules of procedure of the National Assembly, announced the chairman of the session Kostadin Angelov after the end of the parliamentary control.
The next regular plenary session is on January 14, Wednesday at 9:00, he added and wished everyone happy holidays, BTA reported.
Before closing the session, Angelov announced that according to the rules of procedure of the National Assembly and in connection with the application submitted by Andrey Chorbanov to leave the group of "There is such a people", who, however, remains a non-member of a parliamentary group, Chorbanov is resigning as chairman and member of the education committee and as a member of the health committee. committee.
Before the end of the last session of the year, the parliament adopted at first and second reading in one sitting a Draft Law on Ratification of the Contribution Agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the European Investment Bank (EIB) with respect to the "EU for Ukraine" Fund.
Finally, at the second reading, the agreement was supported by 108 MPs, and 57 were "against". There were no abstentions.
Bulgaria's participation in the "EU for Ukraine" Fund with a contribution in the form of a guarantee in the amount of 10 million euros was approved by the Council of Ministers on October 11, 2023, the report of the Budget Committee states. The issuance of the state guarantee in connection with Bulgaria's participation in the Fund through the conclusion of the two agreements with the EIB is provided for in Art. 73, item 2 of the Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria for 2025.
The Fund is part of the EIB's "EU for Ukraine" initiative and aims to enable the Member States of the European Union, the European Commission and other countries and donors to support the recovery of Ukraine through their contribution. The contribution is voluntary and can be in the form of a cash contribution, a guarantee or a combination of the two.
The funds are used to guarantee the EIB's operations with its own resources in Ukraine, as well as to provide investment grants and interest rate subsidies, the report of the Budget Committee says. The Fund finances both public and private sector projects, with a main focus on municipal infrastructure.
The contribution of donors is regulated by a Contribution Agreement concluded between the respective country and the EIB. It defines the amount, type (cash contribution or guarantee), eligible operations, etc. In connection with contributions in the form of a guarantee, a Guarantee Agreement is also concluded together with the Contribution Agreements. When a guarantee is activated, all losses under EIB operations are covered collectively by all participating guarantor countries, in proportion to their share in the Fund.
To date, Contribution Agreements have been signed by 16 EU countries - Belgium, Italy, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Croatia, Spain, Poland, Slovakia and Ireland, four of which have signed Guarantee Agreements. The total amount of participation by all is EUR 410.3 million.