The Bulgarian government has authorized Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov to sign a contract for the acquisition of 35 single-deck, zero-emission electric trains. The agreement will be signed between the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the “BULEMU” consortium, which comprises Alstom Transport S.A. (Romania), Alstom Ferroviaria SpA, and “RVP INVEST” Ltd. This initiative is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

To optimize the use of funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and to limit reliance on the state budget, an additional agreement will be signed alongside the main contract. This supplementary agreement, approved by the European Commission, stipulates that 12 of the trains—valued at 363,314,981 leva—will be financed under the National Plan. The remaining 23 units, costing 696,400,000 leva, will be financed through Bulgaria’s Social Climate Plan, as outlined in Regulation (EU) 2023/955.

As part of the financial arrangements, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will receive a temporary, interest-free loan of 278,600,000 leva. This loan will be used to cover an advance payment for the contract.