The Fund of Funds has signed agreements for reinvesting the resources under the Operational Program "Regions in Growth" 2014-2020 (OPRG) until the end of 2031.The agreements were concluded with the current fund managers who successfully managed the Urban Development Funds (UDFs) under the program during the first investment cycle:
- Regional Urban Development Fund AD, with shareholders DSK Bank, Elana Holding, Elana Investment, and Balkan Advisors, who are tasked with managing the Urban Development Fund North, covering the territory of Northern Bulgaria and
- Consortium Fund for Sustainable Cities, comprising UBB, FLAG Fund, Fund for Sustainable Urban Development, and the Bulgarian Consultancy Organisation, which manages the financial resources of UDF Sofia and UDF South, designated for financing projects in Sofia and Southern Bulgaria.
The reinvestment resources comprise proceeds from repayment installments and released amounts under portfolio guarantees related to the financing of final beneficiaries under OPRG. The funding provided to final beneficiaries by the UDFs during the first investment cycle, which concluded at the end of 2023, included over BGN 350 million public resources under the program and nearly BGN 230 million private funds provided by the fund managers.
According to the Financial Agreement signed in late December 2023 between the Managing Authority of the program and the Fund of Funds, all recovered and/or released resources from the Urban Development Funds have to be reinvested by December 31, 2031, into new projects in line with the objectives of the OPRG.
The existing structure of the instrument, which includes risk-sharing financing and embedded portfolio guarantees, will be preserved, while the territorial scope and eligible sectors for support will be expanded as follows:
- Reinvested resources under the OPRG can be directed to projects within the 10 major urban municipalities in Bulgaria: for Northern Bulgaria - Vidin, Pleven, Ruse, Veliko Tarnovo, Varna and for Southern Bulgaria: Burgas, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Sofia Municipality, Blagoevgrad, as well as in 40 medium and smaller urban municipalities, namely: for Northern Bulgaria: Vratsa, Lovech, Lom, Montana, Troyan, Gabrovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Sevlievo, Razgrad, Svishtov, Silistra, Dobrich (including Dobrichka Municipality), Targovishte, Shumen and for Southern Bulgaria: Sliven, Yambol, Nova Zagora, Aytos, Karnobat, Kazanlak, Svilengrad, Harmanli, Dimitrovgrad, Kardzhali, Haskovo, Asenovgrad, Velingrad, Smolyan, Pazardzhik, Peshtera, Panagyurishte, Karlovo, Botevgrad, Goce Delchev, Dupnitsa, Kyustendil, Pernik, Petrich, Samokov, Sandanski, including territories covered by Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI).
- The recycled funds are considered national resources and must be reinvested in accordance with the objectives of the OPRG and applicable state aid regulations. In this regard, in addition to the previously eligible activities and sectors, other areas are now included within the scope of the program, namely: educational, healthcare, and social infrastructure, energy efficiency measures in buildings, small-scale tourist infrastructure, in addition to the current scope related to cultural heritage.
For more information on the funding terms, please visit the intermediaries’ websites https://www.citiesfund.bg/files/custom/Invitation_2024.pdf (UDF Sofia and UDF South) and https://jessicafund.bg/pokana-za-nabirane-na-proektni-predlozheniya/ (UDF North)
