The employers' representatives on the National Economic Council refuse to support the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in its current version because of the energy transition and judicial reforms that are seen as areas of concern by the European Commission and owing to the worsened parameters of the economic transformation programme, the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) said in a press release on Sunday.

The National Economic Council met on BICA's initiative on Friday.

The Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers, which affiliates the nationally representative employers' organizations, said they will not agree to an option of less than 900 million leva in direct support for investments in enterprises.

The Council also discussed a proposal for an increase of the financial support for enterprises to build energy-conserving renewable energy generation capacities, which will give Bulgarian enterprises access to nearly 1.067 billion leva in direct support.

In addition to these amendments to the Plan, BICA proposes a decrease of the funding for grant schemes organization and management from 5 to 3 per cent.

A revised version of the economic transformation programme is expected to reach the employers' organizations for their approval early next week.

The Association also suggested that Bulgaria should back the European Commission's proposal on extending the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak until June 30, 2022. /BTA