Why is a fertile region like Blagoevgrad not included in the approved projects for the construction of an industrial zone, he asked the economic Minister Kornelia Ninova, who is an MP from the region.
„Why is the construction of such an area in the Blagoevgrad region not foreseen in the approved projects for the construction and modernization of industrial zones? And he is extremely gracious – because of the proximity to Greece, Macedonia, cross-border cooperation between municipalities, opportunities for the development of economy, business, the university in Blagoevgrad, where there are young staff. I am an MP from Blagoevgrad and I want to protect the opportunities of the people living there to have good infrastructure, to have jobs, to develop production.
This question was asked by the People's Representative from the “BSP for Bulgaria” Cornelia Ninova in her question about the state's policy regarding the industrial zones in our country during the parliamentary control.
She added: “Why is this region of Blagoevgrad omitted in the planning of the zones? And are there plans and an opportunity to do something for my constituency, since the Municipality of Blagoevgrad already has such a plan, there is an approved Plan for the first industrial and high-tech zone, after 2 years of work on such an important topic for the city, the construction permit it is a fact, everyone can see it, there is terrain, a building permit, of course, there is not enough funding to open such an area. Specifically: is anything planned and if not – what can we do for the development of this blessed area?“ turned to Economic Minister Ninova.
From his answer it became clear that such a zone in Blagoevgrad is not foreseen at this stage, but he promised to study the possibilities and informed Cornelia Ninova.
Cornelia Ninova raised the question of building an industrial zone in Blagoevgrad, after the minister's answer made it clear which projects were approved for financing: “As I understand from your answer - two lines of work are being outlined in relation to industrial zones &ndash ; one line is for the National Company for Industrial Zones, where work is being done on Bozhurishte, Burgas, Vidin, Ruse, Pleven, Dobroslavtsi, Stara Zagora and Aksakovo, as you said. The second line, however, is the already approved projects under PVU – Burgas Industrial Park, Targovishte, Svishtov Technology Park, Ruse Industrial Park, “Balkan“ in Lovech, “Madara“ in Shumen, Industrial Park Sliven, Industrial Zone “Zagore“ in Stara Zagora, Industrial Park "Rozhen 41", Operator of Shumen Industrial Park. These are the approved projects under the PVA for BGN 207 million”, said the People's Representative from the “BSP for Bulgaria”.
Cornelia Ninova was categorical: “The development of industrial zones in Bulgaria is an issue that concerns demography, education, youth policy, regional development. A sensible strategy for building industrial zones also means attracting foreign investment, generally improving the quality of life. A sensible strategy for building industrial zones – because this is a policy that requires time, it requires vision, a lot of consistency and general united efforts of various institutions”, stressed the leader of the BSP in resignation, while however posing the problem, presenting the chronology:
„ Mr. Minister, you must know, since 2015 there has been a strategy for the development of industrial zones – a rather serious document, which seems to be already outdated, I have also prepared several maps for the locations of industrial zones, at least for now in Bulgaria as they are, because the regional policy regarding industrial zones can greatly improve the condition of lagging areas. April 10, 2023: Under the program “Development of the regions 2021-2207“ investments under “Growth for municipalities and regions“ and this is one line of financing the construction of industrial zones. These are the integrated territorial investments, they foresee financial instruments and combined financing, both European and Bulgarian. This is April 2023”, pointed out Cornelia Ninova and continued:
„June, 2023 the state opens the Program for the Development of Industrial Zones under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan already – i.e. second line of financing construction of industrial zones. There, the budget is 212 million, and there it is expected that at least 5 industrial zones will already be started, with leading infrastructure, internal, external, reconstruction, etc. June 23.
July 2023, the Ministry of Economy has yet to announce, Minister Bogdanov – we develop a strategy for the development of industrial zones in Bulgaria. I don't know what this means, there have been several such strategies for a long time. On March 29, 2024, the European Commission already approved the financing of the project of the Ministry of Economy for the development of industrial zones.
And we come to today's times: A total of 11 industrial parks will be financed with nearly BGN 207 million under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, this is fresh from June 12, 2024,“, Ninova pointed out.
In her words, she raises this question because different documents are being worked on, on the basis of different funding, and different institutions, including two ministries, are responsible. The Development Bank is included in this, European financing mechanism, state financing from the budget. Zones can be state, municipal, private or mixed.
„Therefore, my question is: In all this chaos, what is the current state of Bulgaria's policy regarding the construction of industrial zones and parks? How many there are, how many have been launched, what is to come, by which of all these financing mechanisms. Because, we all know, and I also know from experience, when such chaos occurs in a policy - usually nothing happens. I am not in favor of extreme centralization, as someone accused me, but still there must be coordination between the different institutions, the different ways of financing, otherwise nothing will happen again. And here we are talking about European power, the central Bulgarian executive and local power", pointed out Ninova, who as the Minister of Economy and Industry in the “Petkov“ set a serious program and policies for reindustrialization and the construction of such areas.
„Hopefully political instability, frequent elections and change of governments, will not interrupt a generally consistent policy in the Ministry of Economy and hopefully there will be more industry”, said the resigned BSP leader from the parliamentary rostrum.
And he emphasized: “Our categorical position is that there should be reindustrialization of the country, because without production nothing can be done. I know that the big problem for these productions is the personnel. So, linking education with the economy is another important strategic issue, for which statesmanship, a regular government and political stability are also required, concluded Kornelia Ninova.