Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1343 of 25 September 2020 on granting temporary support under Regulation (EU) 2020/672 to the Republic of Bulgaria to mitigate unemployment risks in the emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak

The Union shall make available to Bulgaria a loan amounting to a maximum of EUR 971 170 000 . The loan shall have a maximum average maturity of 15 years.

The availability period for financial assistance granted by this Decision shall be 39 months starting from the first day after this Decision has taken effect.

The Union financial assistance shall be made available by the Commission to Bulgaria in a maximum of eight instalments. An instalment may be disbursed in one or several tranches. The maturities of the tranches under the first instalment may be longer than the maximum average maturity referred to in paragraph 1. In such cases, the maturities of further tranches shall be set so that the maximum average maturity referred to in paragraph 1 is respected once all instalments have been disbursed.

The first instalment shall be released subject to the entry into force of the loan agreement provided for in Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/672. Any further instalments shall be released in accordance with the terms of that loan agreement or, where relevant, be subject to the entry into force of an addendum thereto, or of an amended loan agreement concluded between Bulgaria and the Commission replacing the original loan agreement.

Bulgaria shall pay the cost of the funding of the Union referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2020/672 for each instalment plus any fees, costs and expenses of the Union resulting from any funding related to the loan granted under paragraph 1 of this Article.

The Commission shall decide on the size and release of instalments, as well as on the size of the tranches.

Bulgaria shall inform the Commission by 30 March 2021, and every six months thereafter of the implementation of the planned public expenditure until that planned public expenditure has been fully implemented.

Where measures referred to in Article 3 are based on planned public expenditure and have been subject to an implementing decision amending this Decision, Bulgaria shall inform the Commission within six months of the date of adoption of that amending implementing decision, and every six months thereafter of the implementation of the planned public expenditure until that planned public expenditure has been fully implemented.