30.06.2021

At its meeting today, the Coordination Council for Preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for Euro Area Membership, co-chaired by the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank Dimitar Radev and the Minister of Finance Assen 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 on the Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, after it’s initial announcement at the beginning of our country's EU membership negotiations.

Preparations for Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area are with the target date 1 January 2024 The introduction of the euro is planned without a transitional period, and the date of adoption of the euro will coincide with its introduction as an official unit of payment. The currency conversion will be done by means of applying the irrevocably fixed exchange rate between the euro and the lev. After the introduction of the euro, both the lev and the euro will be legal tender for one month.

The National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria is the strategic document on the basis of which the operational work for the replacement of the lev with the euro will be performed.  The plan is drafted by the Coordination Council for Preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for Euro Area Membership and it has been prepared on the basis of the good practices of the euro area member states.

The document has been prepared and adopted within the deadline – 30 June 2021, set in Council of Ministers’ Decree № 103 of 25 March 2021 amending Council of Ministers’ Decree № 168 of 2015 on the establishment of Coordination Council for Preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for Euro Area Membership (SG, issue No 52 of 2015).

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

The National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria describes the principles, the institutional and regulatory framework for the adoption of the euro, as well as the main activities for the successful introduction of the euro from 1 January 2024.

The document addresses all important operational activities and measures that those involved in the preparation for the introduction of the euro – the private and the public sector and the citizens – should carry out as part of the process of euro introduction. It defines the rules for recalculation of prices and other values and explains the procedures for replacement of cash and for conversion of BGN-denominated deposits and loans with fixed and variable interest rates. It also specifies the procedures for the supply and distribution of euro notes and coins and describes the necessary legislative changes. This document also includes the main principles and stages of the information campaign aimed at raising Bulgarian citizens’ awareness about how to replace the lev with the euro, the visual and security features of euro notes and coins, consumer protection measures and other important issues related to the introduction of the euro.

The specific tasks to be performed in the process of preparation for euro area membership, with the specific deadlines and institutions responsible for implementation will be subsequently detailed in the Action Plan to the National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria.