Steering Committee for GPP support was created in Bulgaria | GreenS – support • GPP trainings • policy recommendations

On June 21st, 2016 a National Forum “Partners for Green Public Procurements” was organised by National Association of Municipalities in the Republic (NAMRB) of Bulgaria, with the cooperation of Black Sea Regional Agency for Energy Management (BSRAEM). The forum took place in Sofia, in Venus Conference Centre and attracted more than 50 participants from the Ministry Environment and Waters, Public Procurement State Agency, State Agency for Sustainable Energy Development, National Trust Ecofund, representatives of municipalities, non-governmental organisations, Energy Agencies, etc. Participation took as well representatives of the green business in the country, representing product groups like transport, street lighting and indoor lighting.

The forum was moderated by the Mayor of Gabrovo municipality, Mrs. Tanya Hristova, a chairperson of the Eco-energy – municipal energy network.

The meeting was opened by Mrs. Ginka Chavdarova – the CEO of the NAMRB, who emphasised the necessity to present and discuss issues from all sides related to the GPP process. The deputy minister Krasimir Zhivkov outlined the national policies for environment protection and implementation of the EU regulation. He especially stressed on the role of the Green procurements (National Action Plan for Green Procurements enhancement and development) in implementation of these policies.

One of the major achievements of this forum was the involvement of all stakeholders together – the central authorities, the local authorities, the business. The forum also made a unique synergy between three ongoing projects in Bulgaria, dedicated to the green and sustainable procurement – GreenS, SPP Regions (funded by Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme) and “Methodological Support for development of green procurements in Bulgaria” (funded by Bulgarian-Swiss cooperation programme), implemented respectively by NAMBR/BSRAEM, Gabrovo Municipality/EnEffect and Public Procurement State Agency.

The goal of the forum was to outline and discuss the problems and difficulties of municipalities, which are implementing the GPP policies in practice. The procurers with leading practices in the field of energy efficiency and environmental protection presented their experience and issues. The business representatives shared innovative solutions of energy efficient and eco-friendly products in the field of transport (electrical vehicles), street and indoor lighting. The state institutions presented their ability and tools to support the procurers in the implementation of green public procurements.

At the end of the forum a Memorandum for cooperation was signed between the participants.

The programme of the forum is available here (in Bulgarian).

Full video record of the meeting (in Bulgarian) you can find in the GreenS YouTube channel – Part I and Part II.

You can also have a look and download the presentations of the panellists (in Bulgarian)

NDEF_eco mechanism

NAMRB_GPPs_in_Bulgarian_Local_Authorities

MOEW_GPP

Gabrovo_SPPRegions

Eldrive_Electromobility

BSRAEM_GPP_LA

AUER_National EE goals

APP_Methodological support