The municipal investment program, on which local authorities rely to build streets, install street lighting, develop water and sewer infrastructure, and so on, has not been financially secured since its inception. This became clear from the remarks of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev during a hearing in the National Assembly.
The Municipal Investment Program was launched in 2024 as a three-year initiative, but it appears that, since its inception, it has lacked financial backing,” Donev said.
He explained that these are “projects worth billions” for which no funds were allocated in 2024, 2025, or even in the December version of the 2026 draft budget.
Donev also shared key data on the program:
In 2024, the program included over 2,800 projects with a total value of just over 3.4 billion euros. Only 255 million euros were disbursed during the year, meaning over 87% remains to be paid out;
In 2025, “the ambition is even greater,” with over 3,400 projects with a total projected value of 4.2 billion euros. Of this amount, approximately 21% has been disbursed;
Under the 2026 budget extension law, 460 million euros were earmarked for disbursement, and 410 million euros have been paid out to date.
Separately, the Ministry of Regional Development has currently received payment requests for 230 projects, with a total value of over 1 billion euros.
All of this under the municipal program leads to an extraordinary overspending of funds. “Projects have been included for which no funding was provided for in the relevant budget laws over the years,” Donev summarized.
Funds for 2026
The remaining amount to be paid is enormous,” the finance minister warned.
According to him, approximately 2 billion euros will need to be paid in 2026, while the funds allocated in the 2026 draft budget amount to 600 million euros.
He did, however, promise that a mechanism would be developed to ensure that all projects included in the investment program – for which implementation has begun and agreements have been signed with the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works – continue to receive payments, “so that not a single project remains underfunded.”
We are working to get clarification from the municipalities on which projects have been started and what their value is,” Donev said.
He reiterated that, in reality, no funds had ever been allocated for these projects in previous years’ budgets.
Simona Gotsova 
