CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS (to be published)

The Sustainable Cities Fund provides debt financing in the form of investment loans and/or complementary working capital loans[1], with the possibility of combining investment loans with PDR grant support within a single operation.

The public resources are provided through two programmes – the Regions in Development Programme 2021–2027  and the Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises Programme 2021–2027. The part of the financing provided through the Fund of Funds with public resources represents 59% of the loan amount, with additional co-financing by the SCF amounting to 41%. The co-financing is provided by United Bulgarian Bank and Fund FLAG.

The financing provided by the SCF to Final Recipients benefits from the following additional advantages:

• Improved pricing conditions – reflecting the benefit from the public resources amounting to 59% of the loan and the guarantee coverage provided by the Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria (FMFIB) on the co-financing part provided by SCF.
• Longer repayment period – up to 240 months (20 years).
• Longer grace period for repayment of principal – up to 36 months (3 years).
• Lower level of own contribution – minimum 5%, with the possibility of reduction to 0% for municipalities and other public sector Final Recipients for Regions in Development Programme 2021–2027. For projects financed under Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises Programme 2021–2027, there is no minimum own contribution requirement. Based on the credit risk assessment, SCF may require a higher own contribution for a specific project.
• Lower collateral requirements – minimum 110% coverage of the loan amount based on the market value of the collateral.
• Maximum eligible amount of investment loan – up to EUR 22 million and EUR 3 million for tourism “publicly accessible small-scale infrastructure”. For projects under Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises Programme 2021–2027, the applicable limit is EUR 5 million in Programme resources for an individual investment. The maximum eligible loan amount may be limited depending on the applicable State aid regime for the specific Final Recipient/project.

The maximum individual exposure is up to 20% of the FMFIB Financing, except in cases of state-related entities or following written approval by FMFIB, in accordance with the requirements of the applicable State aid regime.