Updated last 18.06.2025
What is Programme ‘Enviroment’?
Programme Strategy: The programme is oriented toward achieving Policy Objective 2 “A greener, low-carbon Europe by promoting a clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investments, a circular economy, climate adaptation and disaster risk prevention and management” and is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF). The environmental program will contribute to implementing the following specific objectives: promoting adaptation to climate change, disaster risk prevention and resilience, taking into account ecosystem-based approaches; supporting access to water and sustainable water management; promoting the transition to a circular and resource-efficient economy; improving nature protection and conservation, biodiversity and environmentally friendly infrastructure, including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution.
How is the budget distributed across the program?
The total budget of the Program is 3.566 billion BGN. Investments under the Programme Enviorment are directed to five priority areas – water, waste, biodiversity, risk and climate change, and air.
Priority 1, “Water”:
Eligible measures for support:
- Infrastructure measures for the collection, removal, and treatment of wastewater contributing to compliance with Directive 91/271/EEC, including.
- Infrastructure measures for drinking water supply in connection with Directive 98/83/EC, Directive (EU) 2020/2184, contributing to reducing water losses in the water supply network and improving the quality of drinking water.
- Development of RPIIP (Regional Plans for Integrated Water Management) for future funding for newly consolidated areas Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Razgrad—after consolidating the last six regions in the country.
- Support for developing PURB (program for regional development and benefits—likely a Bulgarian acronym) evaluations, data collection, etc.
- Measures related to monitoring and evaluating the quality of drinking water for public water supply in accordance with the Directive on drinking water.
Priority 2, “Waste”:
Activities within the scope of 2 specific objectives:
- Specific objective: “Promoting the transition to a circular and resource-efficient economy.”
The eligible measures are aligned with the identified needs of the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability (NPRP) 2021-2028, the programs under it, and action plans, as well as with the Strategy and Action Plan for the transition to a circular economy 2021-2027:
- Measures for the construction, expansion, and/or upgrading of municipal/regional systems for separate collection and recycling of biodegradable waste – for NPRP according to Annex 8 of NPRP 2021-2028.
- Measures for the construction of systems/centers for separate collection and preparation for reuse and repair.
- Measures for recycling of waste – eligible in combination with separate collection and pre-treatment of separately collected waste.
- Models for optimizing the municipal solid waste management process in Bulgaria.
- Raising awareness about practices and behavior related to sustainable consumption, the circular economy, waste monitoring, as well as information and clarification campaigns for stakeholders and the population.
Specific objective: “Improving the protection and preservation of nature, biodiversity and environmentally friendly infrastructure, including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution (ERDF).”
Priority 3, “Biodiversity”
The goal of the priority is to strengthen the protection of natural resources and biodiversity in the country. This will include funding for:
- Protection of natural habitats and species by reinforcing existing protected areas and expanding the network of protected areas;
- Implementation of measures for the restoration of biodiversity, including restoration of ecosystems and expansion of sustainable natural systems;
- Development of environmentally friendly infrastructure and measures for the conservation of unique species in urban and suburban areas;
- Investments in sustainable management of natural resources, focusing on preventing degradation of natural habitats and increasing biodiversity.
Priority 4, “Risk and Climate Change”
The main objective of this priority is to reduce the impact of climate change and to increase resilience to risks related to climate events. Eligible measures for support include:
- Implementation of adaptation strategies to address climate change, including in urban and rural areas, with a focus on prevention of risks related to floods, droughts, and fires;
- Development of infrastructure measures to improve the resilience of settlements and important economic sectors against climate risks;
- Support for research and innovations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing climate change impacts;
- Education and raising public awareness about climate risks and strategies to cope with them.
Priority 5, “Air”
Focus of interventions are municipalities with degraded air quality, with the main priority being those falling under the European Court of Justice ruling C-488/15 of 5 April 2017 for non-compliance with PM10 limits and failure to meet obligations under Directive 2008/50/EC, and documented exceedances of daily and/or annual PM10 concentration in 2017–2021. Support for measures addressing sources of air pollution is also admissible for municipalities that do not have permanent monitoring stations but have recorded exceedances of PM10 by mobile automatic stations of the Executive Environment Agency (EEA).
What are the ways to apply for funding?
- To create and submit a project proposal for a specific procedure under POS, you must register in the UMIS system.
- The system is interactive and user-friendly. If you encounter difficulties when submitting a project proposal, you can consult the user guide published to guide and assist users.
- On the official POS website, for a specific procedure you can find information on how, to whom, and within what deadlines you can ask additional questions and seek clarifications regarding the Procedure’s Terms for Applicants.
What are the conditions for applying to procedures under OPOS?
For each procedure there are published “Application Conditions,” where you will find detailed information tailored to the specifics of the chosen procedure:
- goals, indicators of the procedure;
- the total amount of non-repayable financial assistance under the procedure;
- minimum (if applicable) and maximum amount of non-repayable financial assistance for a specific project;
- co-financing rate;
- the criteria your business must meet to be an eligible candidate;
- activities eligible for funding;
- eligible and ineligible costs under the procedure;
- minimum and maximum project duration;
- applicable regime of minimum/state aid;
- the rules, criteria and methodology by which project proposals are evaluated, both for administrative compliance and eligibility, and for the technical and financial evaluation requirements;
- the method and deadline for obtaining clarifications about the procedure.
In what timeframe can I apply for procedures under the program?
You can apply for funds under OPOS depending on the submission deadline for project proposals for each procedure until the end of the operational program in 2027.
The evaluation of project proposals proceeds in two stages, as follows:
Stage 1
Evaluation of administrative compliance and eligibility – this evaluation addresses, for example, the following questions: have all required documents been submitted; is the project proposal correctly submitted; is the KEП (electronic signature) valid for signing; is the power of attorney for submitting the project proposal valid; does it comply with the specific eligibility criteria listed in the Application Conditions, and other aspects.
This stage also includes verification and evaluation of the realism, effectiveness, and eligibility of all planned activities and costs (whether the project proposal includes ineligible activities, ineligible and/or unrealistic costs, duplication of planned activities and/or costs).
Stage 2
Technical and financial evaluation. The technical and financial evaluation is carried out only for project proposals that have successfully passed the Stage 1 administrative compliance and eligibility evaluation. At this stage, the technical capacity of the participants, the environmental impact of the project, compliance with the indicators and priorities of the procedure, partnerships, and other aspects are evaluated.
Programme “Regional Development” 2021-2027:
Strategic objective The strategic objective of the Regional Development Program 2021–2027 aligns with the main goal of Bulgaria’s regional development policy, namely to create viable, strong, and sustainable regions as a response to adverse demographic trends and the deepening of inter-regional and intra-regional disparities.
To achieve the stated strategic objective, the following specific objectives must be met:
- Address negative demographic trends and reduce regional population disparities;
- Increase the economic growth of Bulgarian regions;
- Promote balanced territorial development through a polycentric network of cities, supported by integrated investments.
Approach to implementation:
The program will be implemented through integrated territorial development, including Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI). An approach based on Integrated Urban Development will be applied through plans for integrated development of 10 urban municipalities, which will be responsible for selecting and implementing funded projects. At the same time, the principle of partnership between urban municipalities and local stakeholders will be applied.
Integrated territorial development:
Integrated territorial strategies (ITS) will be used for the development of regions at Level 2. Regional Development Councils (RDCs) will be responsible for implementing the strategies and for the preliminary selection of projects and measures that will receive funding. Projects will be targeted to territories with common characteristics and development potential, and the most appropriate combination of resources and measures will be applied to achieve the stated objectives and ITS priorities.
How is the budget distributed?:
Priority 1: Integrated Urban Development
The main objective is to improve the quality of life and growth in medium and large cities in Bulgaria.
Indicative measures of support:
- Infrastructure measures to promote economic activity.
- Energy efficiency and renovation of residential and public buildings.
- Sustainable urban mobility.
- Road infrastructure, functional connections, and road safety.
- Green urban infrastructure and safety in public spaces.
- Educational infrastructure.
- Municipal housing provision.
- Health and social infrastructure.
- Culture and sports.
- Tourism.
Priority 2: Integrated Territorial Development
Objective: Support territorial strategies and projects that cannot be financed through sectoral programs.
Indicative measures:
- Support for health and social infrastructure, including kindergartens.
- Educational infrastructure, including kindergartens and vocational training.
- Cultural infrastructure.
- Sports infrastructure.
Priority 3: Fair Energy Transition
Objective: Support for regions affected by the transition to a climate-neutral economy.
Support measures:
- Productive investments in passenger transport.
- Investments in the creation of new enterprises.
- Research and development and innovation activities.
Priority 4: Technical Assistance
Objective: To ensure effective management and implementation of the program.
Support measures:
- Information and communication.
- Preparation, implementation, monitoring and control.
- Strengthening the capacity of the Managing Authority (MA), beneficiaries, and partners.
What is the size of the program budget?
The size of the budget is 94.5 million euros
What are the ways to apply for funding?
To create and submit a project proposal for a specific procedure under the program, you must register in the UMIS system.
The system is interactive and user-friendly. If you encounter difficulties when submitting a project proposal, you can consult the user guide published to guide and assist users.
On the official program website, for a specific procedure you can find information on how, to whom, and within what deadlines you can ask additional questions and seek clarifications regarding the Procedure’s Terms for Applicants.
What are the conditions for applying to procedures under the program?
For each procedure there are published “Application Conditions,” where you will find detailed information tailored to the specifics of the chosen procedure:
- goals, indicators of the procedure;
- the total amount of non-repayable financial assistance under the procedure;
- minimum (if applicable) and maximum amount of non-repayable financial assistance for a specific project;
- co-financing rate;
- the criteria your business must meet to be eligible;
- activities eligible for funding;
- eligible and ineligible costs under the procedure;
- minimum and maximum project duration;
- applicable regime of minimum/state aid;
- the rules, criteria, and methodology by which project proposals are evaluated, both for administrative compliance and eligibility, and for the technical and financial evaluation requirements;
- the method and deadline for obtaining clarifications about the procedure.
When can I apply for procedures under the program?
You can apply for funds under the program depending on the submission deadlines for project proposals for each procedure until the end of the operational program in 2027.
Evaluation of project proposals proceeds in two stages, as follows:
Stage 1
Evaluation of administrative compliance and eligibility – this evaluation addresses, for example, the following questions: have all required documents been submitted; is the project proposal correctly submitted; is the KEП (electronic signature) valid for signing; is the power of attorney for submitting the project proposal valid; does it comply with the specific eligibility criteria listed in the Application Conditions, and other aspects.
This stage also includes verification and evaluation of the realism, effectiveness, and eligibility of all planned activities and costs (whether the project proposal includes ineligible activities, ineligible and/or unrealistic costs, duplication of planned activities and/or costs).
Stage 2
Technical and financial evaluation. The technical and financial evaluation is conducted only for project proposals that have successfully passed Stage 1 administrative compliance and eligibility evaluation. At this stage, the technical capacity of the participants, the environmental impact of the project, compliance with the indicators and priorities of the procedure, partnerships, and other aspects are evaluated.