There are two dates set down in the recovery and resilience plan, adopted by the government, for the closure of the coal-fired power stations – 2038 or in 2040, caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev announced.

“The mechanism of fixing these dates is yet to be finalized on the basis of technical analysis. If the date can be after 2040 – then so be it. But let’s not juggle dates around and scare people. Quite the opposite, what we want is predictability,” PM Yanev said.

“A great deal of work has gone into the document over the past 5 months. The plan was discussed with the 46^th National Assembly and with the affected organizations from the industry,” Stefan Yanev added.

The plan is to be submitted to the European Commission for discussion and negotiation on 15 October.