ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT NATIONAL PLAN FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF THE EURO IN BULGARIA

The Coordination Council for Preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for Eurozone Membership, co-chaired by the Bulgarian National Bank Dimitar Radev and the Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev, adopted a draft National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's commitment to adopt the single European currency was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, as initially stated at the start of our country's EU membership negotiations.

Preparations for Bulgaria's accession to the euro area are scheduled for January 1, 2024. There will be no transitional period for introducing the euro, and the date of adoption of the euro will coincide with its introduction as an official unit of payment. The conversion will take place by applying the irrevocably fixed exchange rate between the euro and the lev. The lev and the euro will both be legal tenders after introducing the euro within the month.

The National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria is the strategic document that implements the operational work for replacing the lev with the euro. The Coordination Council developed the plan for the preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for membership in the euro area and followed the good practices of the euro area member states.

The document was prepared and adopted within June 30 2021, set in Decree № 103 of the Council of Ministers of March 25 2021, amending Decree № 168 of the Council of Ministers of 2015 on the establishment of a Coordination Council for the preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for membership in the euro area (SG, issue 52 of 2015).

The Draft National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria will be published for public discussion before its submission for consideration by the Council of Ministers.