Bulgaria

The Alliance's goal in Bulgaria is to facilitate dialogue and cooperation among the major players in the energy field - the small private sector, municipalities, international financial institutions (World Bank, EBRD, IFC, etc.), and the government - to develop projects that can be replicated.

The Alliance has chosen the Bulgarian Center for Energy Efficiency, (EnEffect) as its local partner. Developed five years ago with the assistance of USAID, EnEffect is the largest and most prestigious non-governmental energy efficiency organization in Bulgaria. EnEffect is involved in project development; consulting services; policy development; reform, research and analysis of the energy efficiency market and potential in Bulgaria.

The Alliance has worked with EnEffect to increase the size of the energy efficiency market in Bulgaria, as well as to assist EnEffect in creating a long term strategy for sustainability by working with policy makers, municipalities and the private sector. Some of the joint activities of the Alliance and EnEffect include:

Bulgarian Energy Efficiency Roundtable

The Roundtable was developed by the Alliance and EnEffect to facilitate a dialogue between the major players in the market. The Roundtable consists of government officials, mayors, businesses, and international assistance organizations.

The Roundtable was particularly interested in assisting municipalities in developing projects and has identified several barriers faced by municipalities.

1. Despite the large number of municipality-owned assets, few of these assets can serve as true equities in securing a loan. These assets include schools, hospitals, and administrative buildings.
2. Most municipalities do not have fully audited books which could be relied upon for assessment of creditworthiness.  
3. After the crash of 1997, the government instituted laws to dissuade investment, requiring banks to insist on 200 percent collateral for loans.