Participants in the conference "Renovate Now, Not in a Decade – How Can Homeowners Be Part of the Solution?" (from left to right): Dragomir Tzanev, Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect; Mincho Benov from Habitat Bulgaria; Yordan Nikolov, Bulgarian Association for Insulation in Construction (BACIW); Tzveta Nanyova from the Bulgarian-Austrian Consulting Company (BACC); and Alexander Petkov, Deputy Mayor of the Sredets District.

On World Energy Efficiency Day, non-governmental organizations called on public institutions to abandon the sporadic, campaign-based approach to residential building renovation in Bulgaria and instead implement a functional, continuously operating system. This shift would create conditions for proper planning and forecasting of the entire renovation process.
NGO experts also firmly advocated for ending the model of 100% non-repayable grant financing for renovation activities and transitioning to a model that includes co-financing by property owners. In their view, grant funding should remain available solely to support vulnerable groups that are energy poor. However, to make the co-financing model effective and ensure citizens have access to energy efficiency loans, experts believe that mechanisms must be established to allow for risk-sharing of potential financial losses between the state, citizens, and financing institutions.

These proposals were presented during a joint conference held at the National Press Club, organized by the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect, Habitat Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian-Austrian Consulting Company (BACC) under the theme "Renovate Now, Not in a Decade – How Can Homeowners Be Part of the Solution?". The conference included participation from homeowner associations, Alexander Petkov (Deputy Mayor of the Sredets District), Tzveta Nanyova from BACC and the Bulgarian Facility Management Association (BGFMA), Mincho Benov from Habitat Bulgaria, Dragomir Tzanev from EnEffect, and Yordan Nikolov from the Bulgarian Association for Insulation in Construction (BACIW).

The calls for changes to the current practices in the renovation of multi-family buildings in Bulgaria are based on the limited reach of the fully grant-funded model, as practiced under the Operational Programme "Regional Development" during the 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 programming periods.

"The numbers speak for themselves. In Bulgaria, there are over 66,000 multi-family buildings and more than 1.2 million single-family homes in need of renovation. That is a massive building stock. At present, we are reaching only a very small portion of it. Renovation programs started back in 2007, and under the well-known National Programme for Energy Efficiency of Multi-Family Residential Buildings, which officially ended in 2022, only 4.2% of the multi-family buildings were renovated, not counting single-family homes at all," said Dragomir Tzanev from EnEffect.

These calls for reform also come at a time when there are reports circulating in the public sphere about a possible halt to activities under Phase II of the "Support for Sustainable Energy Renovation of the Residential Building Stock" procedure, financed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). A total of 282 buildings were approved in this second stage, covering approximately 460,000 square meters of gross floor area (GFA).

“We only have information from public statements. And those public statements by responsible officials — ministers and deputy prime ministers — indicate that Stage II is currently on hold, that renovation will be carried out only for the 756 buildings approved under Phase I using European funding, and that all other buildings from the reserve lists of both stages will be transferred to a national financing scheme worth two billion BGN. That is the extent of the information we have. Whether a final decision has been made or not is probably known only to the government, as no official announcement has been issued," said Tzveta Nanyova.

According to information shared at the conference, it is planned that 2 billion BGN from the state budget will be allocated for the renovation of 2,178 buildings from the reserve list of PhasevI and the 282 approved buildings from Phase II, with a total GFA of around 9.4 million square meters. Dragomir Tzanev believes the proposed funding is insufficient and estimates it will be enough to cover the renovation of no more than 6.6 million square meters.