The EC approved the financing of the first hydrogen valley in our country

One of the eight hydrogen valleys in Europe will be built in Stara Zagora. This project is significant for the positioning of Bulgaria as a place for innovation. We are actively working to attract strategic investors to support the development of new technologies, sectors with high added value, which are based on the people and talent of Bulgaria. This was stated by the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoicheva at a working meeting with the Mayor of Stara Zagora Zhivko Todorov, the regional governor Iva Radeva, the deputy mayors Radostin Tanev and Arch. Martin Pascalev, the vice-rectors of the University of Thrace, Assoc. Emil Slavov and Prof. Darina Zaimova, and the executive director of the Zagore Industrial Zone, Radoslav Tanev.

Thrace University is the coordinator of the "Zahir" project, in which BGN 32 million will be invested for the construction of the first hydrogen valley in Bulgaria. At the meeting, Prof. Zaimova announced that today they signed the contract with the European Commission for half of the funding for the project in the amount of BGN 16 million. The Ministry of Innovation and Growth will provide another BGN 16 million under the Program "Scientific Research, Innovation and digitization for smart transformation'.

Measures to attract investors to the Stara Zagora region were also discussed at the meeting in the municipality. The minister recalled that the Belgian company "ABEE" declared an investment intention to invest over 1 billion euros in three large-scale projects in Stara Zagora, Burgas and Plovdiv. In Stara Zagora, it is planned to build a factory for the production of a new generation of batteries for the automotive industry.

Earlier in the day, Minister Stoycheva attended the opening of the restored planetarium and cabinet "Cosmic Travels in Space and Time" at the Personal Development Support Center - Yuri Gagarin Astronomical Observatory. Computer simulations of space operations and space and time travel will be carried out in the office. "Among the responsibilities of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth are space technologies and research. Therefore, it is an endless pleasure for us to see such examples that build the spirit of imagination and encourage the development of creative thinking and the aspiration of people to conquer the world. One of our first actions in the ministry was to strengthen the inclusion of Bulgaria on a European scale as a cooperating member of the European Space Agency. We have launched 44 projects worth over 8 million euros out of 127 participating. Bulgaria became the 32nd country to join NASA's Artemis Agreements for peaceful space exploration," said the minister.