Although Bulgaria's new Investment Planning Ministry inherited zero projects, it drafted as many as 17, according to Ivan Danov, Investment Planning Minister.

Danov spoke in Parliament on Thursday, during the debates on the no-confidence motion requested by center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) over the failed investment policy of the socialist-led government.

Although the outcome of the no-confidence vote initiated by GERB is yet to become clear, the formation submitted a new no-confidence motion based on the same reasons on Thursday.

In his Thursday statement, Danov outlined the achievements and the work plans of the new ministry, which is being criticized for the lack of a bank account, website, and headquarters and the failure to fill vacancies, according to dnevnik.bg.

He pointed out that the Ministry was working on a set of legal changes, including amendments to the Spatial Development Act, which had to be "freed from ill-thought-out provisions and ridiculous requirements for designers" and type designs which western countries used for entire neighborhoods.

The Investment Planning minister pledged that construction legislation would be amended so as to include clear and predictable procedures which do not require interpretation.

He vowed to boost domestic production of construction materials, adding that a requirement would be introduced for public procurement to prove the origin of the materials and the quantity of harmful gasses emitted during their production and transportation.

Danov emphasized that Bulgaria also had a lot of catching-up to do as regards the technology used in construction, adding that the sector had to adopt modern practices like digitalized designing and 3D modeling.

He also vowed that the latest EU standards from 2013 would also be introduced in retrofitting.

Bulgaria's Investment Planning Minister pointed out that a set of proposed changes to the Public Procurement Act, which had already been submitted to Parliament, would guarantee transparency and facilitate access of small and medium-sized construction enterprises.

He vowed that the amendments would guarantee transparency in public procurement and "steep monopolists in a competitive environment."

To illustrate his point, he said that a new requirement would be introduced to divide public procurement deals worth over BGN 20 M into smaller ones.

He assured that the Ministry would be a partner and assistant to municipalities, adding that ? of them had no spatial development plans and lacked the capacity to assign investment projects.

Danov also noted that Investment Ministry officials had been holding meetings with branch organizations and NGOs since the beginning of July.

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