The Southwestern region will undergo serious changes that will give business in the less developed regions a breath of fresh air.
A large-scale reform of the planning regions in Bulgaria is underway, with all three proposed options providing for the separation of Sofia into an independent region. This became clear from the statement of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev during the parliamentary control.
"The deadline for updating the scope of the planning regions is until March 31 and I have the ambition to meet it," Donchev said in response to a question from MP Hristo Terziyski from "GERB-SDS".
The change is dictated by the significant economic differences between the capital and the other regions in the Southwestern region. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the difference in gross domestic product per capita between Sofia and Kyustendil is four to five times.
"With this step, we will solve the long-standing injustice towards the citizens and businesses of the districts of the South-West region," emphasized Tomislav Donchev.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, currently businesses in districts such as Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad and Pernik are forced to provide significantly greater co-financing for their projects compared to other regions of the country. The reason is that the economic weight of the capital, which already meets the criteria for "a district in transition", distorts the overall picture of the region.
On January 28, 2025, a draft decision was published on the public discussion portal to grant a mandate to the National Statistical Institute (NSI) to conduct negotiations with Eurostat.