OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME “DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE BULGARIAN ECONOMY” Republic of Bulgaria Ministry of Economy and Energy April 2006

Operational programmes in Bulgaria

Basic document for absorption of EU SF resources for programming period One of the six OPs under the NSRF Ministry of Economy and Energy – Managing Authority and responsible for its elaboration OP Work group - wide representation according the Partnership principle – socio-economic partners, NGOs, academic circles, state administration Information and Publicity – public forums, seminars, discussions. Operational Programme “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy”

Corresponds to the NSRF strategic priority for acceleration of economic growth through increasing the competitiveness of the country’s economy Horizontal Programme Financed under ERDF Managing Authority – “Pre-accession Programmes and Projects” Directorate, Ministry of Economy and Energy

Institutional framework of OP Competitiveness Beneficiaries Priority 1 Monitoring Committee Intermediate body - BSMEPA Beneficiaries OP “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy” MoEE Priority 2 Direct Contracts for implementation Priority 4 Priority 3 Final recipients

Main elements of OP “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy” Socio-economic analysis SWOT analysis Priorities and operations Justification of the priorities, coherence with NSRF and Community Strategic Guidelines and ex-ante evaluation Financial plan Information for complementarity and demarcation Management structure of OP

Operational Programme “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy” Global Objective: Development of dynamic economy competitive on the EU and international markets Specific objectives : Encouragement of innovations and increasing the efficiency of enterprises Improvement of business environment

Priority objectives of OP “Competitiveness” Improvement of development opportunities for technology start-ups Dynamisation of the process of development and implementation of new technologies and procedures by SMEs Improvement of the access of SMEs to pro-innovation networks and services Modernization of technologies and management in SMEs Reduction of energy intensity and diversification of energy resources used Strengthening the production capacity and market access through utilization of the advantages of business cooperation Easing the conditions for credits to SMEs Ensuring finances for high risk investments Ensuring better accessible and qualitative consultancy and information services for business Easing non-tariff restrictions facing Bulgarian products Increasing the volume and the economic effect of investments attracted Ensuring qualitative and up-to-date information on external markets

Priority Axis of OP “Competitiveness” Development of knowledge-based economy and innovation activities Business development Improvement of the access to finances Strengthening the international market positions of the Bulgarian economy Technical Assistance

Priority Axis Compliances Lisbon Agenda: Investing in Research & Development, Boosting Innovation; “Creating a friendly environment for starting up and developing innovative businesses, especially SMEs” “Economic reforms for a complete and fully operational internal market”. Community Strategic Guidelines Priority I “Making Europe and its regions a more attractive place to invest and work” – III “Address Europe\s intensive use of traditional energy sources”; Priority II “Improving knowledge and innovation for growth” – V “Increase and improve investment in RTD”, VI “Facilitate innovation and promote entrepreneurship” EU Directive 2001/77 encouraging the energy produced from RES; Directives in the field of energy efficiency European chapter for small enterprises “Education and training for entrepreneurship”; “Availability of skills”, “More out of the Single market”; “Strengthen the technological capacity of small enterprises”; National policies and strategies Energy Strategy, National Program for Energy Saving , Branch Short- term Program for Energy Efficiency   National Strategy for SMEs Development Promotion 2002 – Priorities - Encouragement of the entrepreneur spirit and skills

Priority Axis 1: “Development of a knowledge-based economy and innovation activities” Operations: 1.Support for technological start-ups 2.Increasing innovation capacity of enterprises through stimulation of knowledge dissemination 3.Improvement of pro-innovative business-support infrastructure 4. Support for intellectual property

Priority Axis 2 “Business Development” Operations : 1.Projects for SMEs for technology development and renovation 2. Creation of Business support networking 3. Support for introduction of energy saving technologies and RES utilization 4. Support for networking and clustering - strengthening the productive capacity through networking and clustering

Priority Axis 3 “Improvement of the access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises” Operations : Support for Guarantee Funds 2. Support for Venture Capital Funds 3. Support for Micro-Loan Funds

Priority Axis 4 “Strengthening the international market positions of Bulgarian economy” Operations : 1. 1.Support for attracting investors (project(s) of Bulgarian Investment Agency) 2. 2.Support for export promotion (project(s) of BSMEPA) 3. 3.Support for development of national quality infrastructure

Where are we now? The Council of Minister has approved preliminary draft of all six OPs – 27 th December 2005 OP Ex-ante evaluation is ongoing Information and consultation process – stakeholders, potential beneficiaries, etc. Preparation of “project pipeline” – information and training events for potential beneficiaries Informal missions with EC and preliminary comments New regulations to be adopted Official negotiation process to start

CONTACT DETAILS Ministry of Economy and Energy Pre-accession Projects and Programmes Directorate (Managing Authority) Tel Fax:

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