Bulgaria has signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help prepare infrastructure projects capable of attracting private investment alongside public and European Union funding.

The memorandum, signed on 29 September by Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Alexander Poulev and EBRD Vice-President Mark Bowman, establishes a framework for preparing public-private partnerships.

The planned assistance includes preliminary studies, feasibility assessments and the allocation of risks between public authorities and private investors. Priority areas include energy, transport, industrial zones and other strategic infrastructure.

Poulev identified the Dobroslavtsi industrial zone as one possible candidate. He also said a new legislative framework for public-private partnerships was in the final stage of public consultation.

The announcement concerns project preparation. It does not constitute an award of construction contracts, a final investment decision for Dobroslavtsi or confirmation that private investors have committed financing.

Bowman emphasised the value of a coordinated approach to preparing projects, according to the ministry’s account of the signing. mi.government.bg

Bulgaria already has experience with this kind of advisory cooperation. In a project document disclosed in December 2024, the EBRD described work with the International Finance Corporation and Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry on possible development of the Varna East and Varna West port terminals.

That assignment includes examining the feasibility of developing the ferry terminal, assessing investment options and preparing an open, competitive process to select a private partner.

The document also illustrates why preparation matters. Commercial, technical, legal, environmental and financial studies are intended to establish whether a project is viable and how it should be structured. Under the anticipated Varna model, the private partner would receive project-generated revenues rather than regular availability payments from the public authority. Risk allocation would be settled during preparation. We invest in changing lives

The Varna advisory programme predates the new memorandum and should not be treated as an investment newly approved this week. It provides a concrete example of the work that can stand between a government’s infrastructure ambitions and a contract attractive to investors.

The broader implication of the September agreement is that Bulgaria wants to expand that preparatory capacity across sectors. Its success will depend on whether the process produces viable projects, transparent tenders and contracts that protect the public interest.

For now, the measurable result is an institutional framework for doing that work. The investment totals, delivery schedules and distribution of financial risk will emerge only as individual projects advance.