29.01.2024

Joint economic cooperation was discussed at a meeting between the Minister of Finance Mr. Assen Vassilev and the Minister of the State of Greece Mr. Stavros Papastavrou. "We are currently working on the text of an intergovernmental agreement that will make sure that the connectivity will be in place and jointly built with Greece, as well as other aspects of the economic life and that we are expecting between Bulgaria and Greece to really work very well", Mr. Vassilev said. He emphasized that Greece supported Bulgaria's full Schengen membership, which meant also opening up the land boarders and making sure that traffic would work smoothly on all the land borders.  Our southern neighbour country also supports Bulgaria's membership in the Euro Area, which is expected to take place on January 1st, 2025.

Minister Papastavrou thanked the Bulgarian Minister of Finance for the invitation. "Earlier this month, our two prime ministers, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Mr. Nikolai Denkov, gave us a clear mandate to coordinate our respective governments and accelerate our bilateral economic relations. Greece and Bulgaria not only enjoy good neighbourly relations but stand as pillars of stability in a volatile environment, in very challenging times", Mr. Papastavrou said. The Minister of the State pointed out that both sides were promoting interconnectivity in the fields of energy and transport along the lines of the South-north vertical corridor. "This, of course, transforms the overall infrastructure configuration of our continent. I strongly believe in the great potential that the Bulgarian-Greek cooperation will have for the benefit of our citizens and for the wider European area", Minister Papastavrou concluded.