08.07.2024 Rosen Karadimov: BDB can play a key role in Bulgaria's reindustrialization

The reindustrialization of Bulgaria, in which the Bulgarian Development Bank can be involved, is vital. This is the reason why we should activate BDB in financing industrial parks. This was stated by the Minister of Innovation and Growth Rosen Karadimov in the studio of 120 minutes on bTV.

The Bulgarian Development Bank has become the most transparent institution in Bulgaria because of the Advisory Board we have created with the five national employers' organisations, the National Association of Municipalities and the two trade unions, which also has the function of public control over the Bank's activities.

It took me 1.5 years to convince the politicians how effective an instrument BDB is, and this was the reason I accepted the Prime Minister's invitation to become a minister – to complete the changes started in the bank, he added.

Rosen Karadimov specified that the bank’s new three-year strategy was adopted and that according to it BDB is to intervene in key sectors such as healthcare.

BDB can provide hospitals with resources at lower interest rates for a longer repayment period, unlike the interest rates of drug suppliers in case of late payments. In this way, the cash flows of the hospitals will be controlled by the lender, allowing BDB to step into the role of guarantor for the efficient use of public funds.

Asked why the bank needed to work with the military-industrial complex, Karadimov clarified that Bulgarian commercial banks that have European ‘parent’ banks cannot serve companies active in the field of dual-use goods.

This sector needs full banking services – issuing letters of credit and guarantees, not just lending. BDB sees an influx of defence companies, which had 1.3 billion exports last year alone.