On the 15th of January 2007 in the National Gallery for Foreign Art in Sofia a reception on the occasion of the opening of a Fund Raising Campaign of BgEEF took place. The end of the campaign is expected to be announced by the Management Board – in April 2007.

40 project applications were registered for BgEEF appraisal as of the end 2006. 20 of them have been finally approved, 18 are in process of appraisal and 2 were rejected for incompliance with the BgEEF eligibility criteria. 17 of the approved projects have already been financed and implemented. The projects financed by BgEEF in 2006 amount to a total of over BGN 5 000 000, was announced by Mr. Ivan Gerginov, Executive Director of BgEEF.

Due to the fact that the credit amounts are being repaid at a slower rate, BgEEF will spend all its ressources by the end of 2007, if the present rate of work remains in effect. For that reason the present Fund Raising Campaign has been initiated seeking for three main groups of donors:

• Representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Bulgaria
• Financial institutions
• Representatives of the Bulgarian business working in the field of energy efficiency

Benefits of being a BgEEF donor:

Foreign Diplomatic Missions

• Implementing the EU policy for energy efficiency in compliance with the EC Action Plan for 20% energy efficiency improvement by 2020. BgEEF operates in line with Action 5: Facilitating appropriate financing of energy efficiency investments for small and medium enterprises and Energy Service Companies.
• Facilitating the reduction of greenhouse emissions. Cooperation for achieving the objectives of the New EC Energy Strategy, providing for 20% energy production from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Financial Institutions

• Tax relief
• Partnership in co-financing of projects
• Structuring of joint financial products
• Access to information about the energy efficiency investment market and continuous investment projects pipeline
• Demonstration of active attitude to the mitigation of climate change issues and the improvement of the environment in Bulgaria.

Businesses

• Tax relief
• Partnership in co-financing of energy efficiency projects
• Demonstration of active attitude to the mitigation of climate change issues and the improvement of the environment in Bulgaria
• Additional advertisement opportunity on this specific market – promotion of specialized products and/or equipment
• Strategic positioning on the energy efficiency market.

BgEEF has a flexible approach towards the increase of its capital. The Fund Manager is prepared to consider different forms of participation in the capital of BgEEF on behalf of potential donors and investors besides through grants.