The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) was approached by its branch organization Solar Academy Bulgaria about the need to change the regulatory framework and take immediate measures to overcome the problems of businesses in the field of construction of energy facilities for the production of electricity, heat and/or cooling energy from renewable sources.
The statement from the BCCI said that the legislative changes made in 2022 that aimed to ease the issuing of permits for the construction of RES facilities and including RES into the electricity networks, have proven to be extremely insufficient, and the amendments, made with the objective of providing relief, do not cover small and medium-sized enterprises.
The BCCI insists on the swift implementation of the necessary legislative actions for the transposition of Directive (EC) 2018/2001, which promotes the use of energy from renewable sources, as this will help overcome the problems of businesses in the field of RES facility construction. They added that the government’s actions have not been timely and have put the industry and consumers in a non-competitive position compared to other participants from the European Union and have slowed down the green transition in the country.
It is necessary for the Bulgarian government to take short-term measures and adapt the regulatory framework with the aim of reducing regulatory regimes, strict compliance with the terms of issuing permits and ensuring publicity of administrative actions, in connection with reducing the risk of corruption schemes. It is unacceptable for the issuance of one permit for the process to go through several different Ministries and take nearly seven months.
After consultations at an expert level with representatives of the sector, the BCCI prepared several proposals on this matter, which it sent to the caretaker Prime Minister and relevant Ministers.
