24.09.2020
EUR 511 million for Bulgaria under SURE
The EC welcomes the activation of the SURE short-term employment instrument, which will provide up to € 100 billion in aid to protect jobs and workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This follows the completion of national procedures and the signing by all Member States of agreements with the Commission for guarantees worth EUR 25 billion. The EC has already submitted its proposal to the Council for granting financial support in the amount of 87.3 billion euros to 16 member states, including Bulgaria. Our country is expected to receive 511 million euros. Once the Council has approved the proposals, the money will be granted in the form of loans on favorable terms from the EU to the member states.
The SURE instrument was set up to provide temporary support to mitigate the risks of unemployment in exceptional circumstances following the COVID-19 epidemic. The instrument enables the EU to provide financial assistance to a Member State to finance measures designed to protect employees and the self-employed and to reduce unemployment and loss of income. Bulgaria has requested financial support for two of the measures taken against the crisis. These are the so-called scheme 60:40 adopted by Decree No. 55 of March 30, 2020, and the supplementary measure adopted by Decree 151 of July 3, 2020, recalled by the Ministry of Finance.
Financial assistance under the instrument will be provided to Member States in the form of a loan, with the EC raising funds from the financial markets and subsequently providing them to Member States in return for providing guarantees for the risk borne by the EU. The interest rate on each Member State's loan will depend on the cost of EU financing, which is expected to be low given the EU's excellent credit rating.
The amount of the guarantee required by a Member State will be proportional to the relative share of its gross national income (GNI) in that of the EU, respectively the maximum amount of commitment from Bulgaria is approximately 107.5 million euros.
