‘The Day after Tomorrow: Policies for Growth’ conference to take place in Sofia

Local authorities, business representatives and high-ranking politicians, including Cohesion and Reforms Commissioner Elisa Ferreira and EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova, will contribute to the debate on how to bring back growth to EU regions

‘The Day after Tomorrow: Policies for Growth’ will take place on 13 May 2022 in Sofia (Bulgaria) and online. The purpose of the event is to acquaint the representatives of local government, businesses and banks with the opportunities for project financing for regional development, innovation and transition to a carbon-neutral economy.

The conference is part of a series of discussions, in the framework of ‘Investments and Regions’ initiative by Economic.bg and Kmeta.bg, with the strategic partnership of the European Investment Bank.

Funding for growth of Bulgarian regions

The first panel of the forum will present the funding opportunities and the possibilities for providing technical assistance to projects of regional importance through EU programs and instruments, including those offered by the EIB. It will discuss priorities at local, national and European level. The panel will feature EIB Vice President Lilyana Pavlova, a representative of the National Association of Municipalities and MEPs, among others.

The second panel will present the opportunities for applying for projects under the National Recovery Plan, budget programs aimed at sustainable development of municipalities. Measures and strategies for increasing the volume and the equal distribution of investments in the country will also be discussed.

The event is free to attend upon preliminary registration on this link. It will take place in Sofia Tech Park, John Atanasoff Forum, starting at 9:30 am local time. It will be livestreamed on Facebook here. The working language is Bulgarian with some of the interventions taking place in English.

Programme highlights

9:30 – 10:00 Opening remarks

• Kiril Petkov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria - TBC
• Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank
• Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner, Cohesion and Reforms

10:00 – 11:15 Panel 1: Cohesion Policy and Just Transition – Bulgaria’s perspectives

• Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-President of EIB
• Grozdan Karadzhov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Public Works
• Daniel Panov, Chairman of NAMRB Managing Board, Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo Municipality
• Andrey Novakov, Member of the European Parliament - TBC
• Iskra Mihaylova, Member of the European Parliament

Presentation: ProCredit Bank

Moderator: Iliya Lingorski

11:30 – 12:45 PANEL 2: Investments for Growth

Presentation of a social survey by TREND

• Borislav Sandov, Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policies and Minister of Environment and Water
• Desislava Boneva, Deputy-Minister of Innovation and Growth
• Tsvetelina Penkova, Member of the European Parliament
• Tanya Hristova, Mayor of Gabrovo, President of the national delegation at the European Committee of the Regions
• Nastimir Ananiev, Chairperson of the Committee on Regional Policy, Public Works and Local Self-Government, National Assembly
• Bogdan Bogdanov, Executive Director of InvestBulgaria Agency

Moderator: Anastas Stefanov, TREND

TheMayor.EU is honoured to be a media partner to the conference.