Topical Information

The executive director of NAMRB, Silvia Georgieva, discussed with the leadership of the Chamber of Builders in Bulgaria the possibilities for interaction between the two organizations to optimize the implementation of the municipalities' investment projects.

Municipalities are one of the largest contractors of public projects and the rhythmic realization of investments is one of the important factors for the planning of construction processes, stressed the chairman of the Board of Directors of KSB, Eng. Iliyan Terziev. Inflationary processes and the series of crises reflect on the sector, and given its complexity - have an impact on many other economic spheres.

One of the most disturbing problems between municipalities, as contractors and builders remains the mechanism for applying the methodology for indexation of concluded contracts. A significant part of the implemented investments are realized with European funds and this circumstance requires, in addition to the specific texts of normative acts, to comply with the instructions given by the Governing Bodies of the financing programs. According to KSB, there are discrepancies in the instructions of some MAs with the provisions of PMC.

No less significant factor for the implementation of the indexation of construction contracts is the lack of a vision for stable provision of the necessary financial resources. Targeted indexation savings from some operational programs are insufficient to compensate for differences due to inflation. This forces the municipalities to restructure their investment programs, emphasized the executive director of NAMRB Silvia Georgieva. This solves specific problems under existing contracts, but negatively affects the long-term investment intentions of the municipalities.

The executive director introduced the management of KSB with the programs for which the municipalities have already submitted projects, including the PVA, and shared about the emerging problems at this stage: the lack of capacity to carry out an energy audit of the buildings subject to the implementation of measures for energy efficiency, standardization of the conditions in the procedures under the PPA, fixed amounts of costs for part of the announced procedures. The lack of coordination between the individual institutions responsible for the implementation of the PVA and the lack of adequate planning in the time of the interventions are a systemic problem, about which the NAMRB has been warning for a long time.

At the upcoming March 28, 2023 meeting of the MD of NAMRB, the proposal to prepare a joint position between the two organizations, to be sent to the Prime Minister and line ministers who manage European funds, will be considered. The aim is once again to raise the question of the need for uniform clear guidelines for the application of the Indexing Methodology and the introduction of a uniform mechanism for its application. In addition, a working meeting with government representatives will be sought to hear the arguments and problems and to discuss possible solutions.