Mechanism
The strategy was formally initiated at a kick-off meeting on 10 October 2024 at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, chaired by Minister Petko Nikolov and attended by the European Commission Structural Reform Support team, contractor Ernst & Young Bulgaria, and over forty stakeholder representatives from public and private sectors. The strategy's development is EC-supported and EC-funded, reflecting Bulgaria's obligations under EU instruments including the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).
The strategy covers two principal scope layers:
1. Manufacturing sector — digital and green transformation of Bulgarian industry, skill development, industrial infrastructure improvement, supply-chain shortening, and improved competitiveness positioning 2. Extractive industries (mining) — permitting optimisation for the full critical-raw-materials lifecycle (extraction → processing → recycling → reuse), addressing Bulgaria's chronic permitting bottleneck under the 1999 Underground Resources Act
Key integration objectives include: alignment with EU CRMA Article 7 (national strategic raw materials programmes), CBAM compliance roadmapping for Bulgarian export industries, and investment-portal development to facilitate inbound strategic-investor engagement.
Downstream implications
- Bulgaria is the EU's largest copper producer (Aurubis Bulgaria/Pirdop smelter, Asarel-Medet AD Chelopech mine, Elatzite-Med, KCM Plovdiv lead-zinc smelter) and a candidate strategic raw materials jurisdiction under CRMA — this strategy provides the national policy anchor for CRMA Article 7 coordination
- Dundee Precious Metals Chelopech (gold) and the Sredna Gora + Eastern Rhodopes + Western Balkans metallogenic belts are the primary exploration target areas; a coherent permitting simplification policy framework would reduce project-timeline uncertainty for these operators
- The CRMA-aligned domestic targets (when finalised) will shape Bulgaria's contribution to EU-level strategic-raw-materials benchmarks (10% extraction target by 2030 at EU level)
- Adoption by end of 2026 creates a follow-on pipeline: implementing decrees under the Underground Resources Act, permitting-procedure amendments, and potential inclusion of Bulgarian mining assets in EU Strategic Projects list under CRMA Article 11
Open questions
- Final operative targets for domestic extraction, processing, and recycling shares have not been published as of May 2026 — publication of the final strategy document will be the material event to monitor
- Permitting reform provisions will require amendments to the 1999 Underground Resources Act; legislative vehicles not yet identified
- Alignment with the broader National Industrial Strategy (umbrella document scheduled for late-2026 finalisation per Ministry roadmap) may shift the sectoral scope of this instrument
- Bulgaria's status as EU candidate for strategic raw materials project designation (CRMA Article 11) is contingent on the formal strategy adoption