[ad_1]
At the height of the crisis in Bulgaria, the construction industry demanded BGN 1.6 billion to continue the “free” panel block rehabilitation scheme. This happened at a meeting of the heads of the construction chamber with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. It is unclear what the prime minister said, but GERB’s coalition partner in the person of Valery Simeonov strongly supported the idea of spending taxpayers’ money again on the block bailout, this time as a powerful measure against the crisis. . Construction is actually one of the few sectors that is not directly affected by the economic collapse caused by the pandemic.
The notorious National Government Program for Energy Efficiency of Multi-Family Residential Buildings (NPEEMHG) has so far cost BGN taxpayers 2 billion. In the context of a huge budget, the results are disappointing. Since the start of the “free” renovation in 2015, fewer than 2,000 buildings have been renovated. Given that applications were filed for 5,723 panels, and the old units needing corrective repairs are 25 times more, at 55,000.
At its last meeting, the government adopted a report on the “progress” of the program. The balance is as follows:
– Five years after the start of the program with activities completed or started, 98.9% of all buildings in 2022 have concluded contracts for specific financing. From the beginning in 2015 to March 31, 2020, the total number of units rehabilitated in the country is 1854.
– Last year, the renovation of 195 multi-family buildings was completed.
– Another 117 blocks with 8737 apartments are expected to be renovated this year, with the last sites expected to be completed in 2021.
In other words, the repair work on the buildings has not yet been fully completed and will continue next year.
The program was officially ended ingloriously, formally due to exhaustion of resources. In fact, the real reason is that the two billion levs were spent in an ugly way: expensive, opaque and in constant outbreaks of scandals due to the poor quality of the work done (stripping Styrofoam on the facades of buildings, leaks , etc.). In practice, “block treatment” costs an average of BGN 1 million. In 2017, the provisional government discovered that renovating an apartment cost Bulgarian taxpayers a lot, around BGN 17,500.
Almost 6,000 homeowners associations, residents of panels, competed for the allocated two billion lev of budget surpluses, but more than half of them did not line up for rehabilitation due to money exhaustion. In 2017, then-Minister of Construction Nikolay Nankov announced that there would be no more free renovations; in the future, the state will help, and apartment owners will have to bear a share of the renovation costs, for example, 20 or 30 percent. Under the co-financed scheme, another similar building energy efficiency program is operating, which depends on EU funds. However, it has a much more modest budget of several tens of millions.
A few days ago, the heads of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber requested a meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. They explained to him how wonderful the government’s program for “free” rehabilitation is and asked him to further develop it, as an important measure against the crown crisis. After talks with the prime minister, BIA told reporters that the scheme could be restarted quickly because there are around 3,000 buildings whose applications have already been submitted, reviewed and approved, but the two billion levs have been exhausted before it arrives. your turn. “Only” BGN 1.6 billion is needed to rehabilitate those waiting in line, the camera explained.
Notches
However, there are two obstacles to reviving the program. First, it is unclear where the cabinet will find such a large amount, and continue a committed program. Second, the Borissov government has been claiming for three years that there will be rehabilitation in the future, but it will no longer be 100% free, and the regional ministry has not yet presented the new financial mechanism, which should include participation in the blocks. . And would there be any candidate? Even with 100% funding from the budget to participate in the energy renewal program, only … panels, out of a total of 550,000, were in need of major improvement. Interest will cool if homeowners have to pay more. Especially now when there is a crisis and many people lose their income and jobs.
Stole
In April 2017, the Deputy Minister of Regional Development of the provisional government Violeta Komitova announced that with the 2,000 million BGN provided in the program, 4,000 buildings could be rehabilitated, double the 2,000 rehabilitated ones. Komitova estimates that for these BGN 2 billion, each owner of an apartment in the 2022 buildings planned for renovation will receive a “gift” from the state in the amount of BGN 17,500, since in the free market everyone can find a company to rehabilitate their department 5-6 thousand levs.
Sofia / Bulgaria
[ad_2]
