Promises Made, Yet No Change. While this holds true for a number of business issues, in this case, it concerns the reduction of product fees for electronic and electrical equipment. Nearly a month after the deadline for public consultation on the changes to the Ordinance on State Product Fees, the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) has yet to state when, or if, it will be finally approved. While in other instances this might be normal due to the time needed to summarize all remarks and comments, the current situation is not quite the same. This is simply because, according to the business community, the majority of the comments are positive, and there is no reason for such a delay in adopting the project.

The MOEW’s Waste Management Directorate informed Capital that the opinions received during the public consultation are currently being summarized. Given the need to refine the texts, a specific deadline for the adoption of the changes to the ordinance cannot yet be determined, the ministry, led by Rossitsa Karamfilova, stated. However, this does not mean the ordinance will not be adopted, but it serves as a signal to the business community that there is clearly hesitation.

A Partial, Yet Necessary Solution The changes to the ordinance were published during the final days of the interim government of Andrey Gyurov, and the former director of the legal directorate at the MOEW—now Speaker of the National Assembly, Mihaela Dotsova—signed the proposal (instead of interim Minister Julian Popov). As Capital reported, an intriguing detail is that Dotsova held the same position a year ago, when recovery organizations simultaneously raised fees, and the ministry remained indifferent.

The draft ordinance is important because, compared to current levels, it proposes a reduction of about 70% for refrigerators and air conditioners, 75% for screens, nearly 85% for large appliances and solar panels, over 90% for small appliances, and about 80% for small IT equipment. However, the good news ends there—for now, no changes are foreseen regarding fees for batteries and accumulators, for example. This is one of the serious issues that distorts the regional market and makes Bulgaria less attractive compared to the investment climate in neighboring countries, where fees are significantly lower.

Risking Investments According to the Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics (BASEL) and Director of AmonRa Energy, Dimitar Beleliev, PhD, the delay in the product fee reform is a bad signal to the business sector. He noted to Capital that companies need a predictable and transparent regulatory environment, rather than prolonged uncertainty on a topic that directly affects their costs and competitiveness.

“Unjustifiably high product fees create additional inflationary pressure, as these costs are ultimately transferred to the prices of goods and services for end consumers. We expect a solution to be proposed within a reasonable timeframe that both protects the environment and creates fair conditions for the operation of enterprises,” he emphasized.

Beleliev’s company, AmonRa Energy, supports the project, but the company’s position is that the inclusion of batteries in the scope of the amendments should also be discussed, given their importance in the management system for widely distributed waste. The Central Energy Repair Base (CERB), which handles the maintenance of large power-generating facilities, also supports the project. However, in his position, the company’s Executive Director, Eng. Aleksandar Mavrodiev, also notes that the possibility of including batteries in the scope of the proposed changes should be considered, “with a view to achieving a more complete and effective regulation of extended producer responsibility.”

Croatia with a Multi-Billion Data Center, We Are Not Lyudmil Daskalov, Deputy Chairman of BASEL and Director of Legrand Bulgaria, shares a similar opinion, stating that eco-taxes in Bulgaria are on average 10–11 times higher than those in Greece.

“They are not only disproportionate but, even more strangely, were increased simultaneously. The public consultation on the ordinance ended in May. I wrote, and others also expressed opinions, but so far, it is a voice in the wilderness. Personally, as end consumers, if we buy a washing machine, we will pay at least 30 euros more. The same applies to a refrigerator—it will cost more than the same product in Romania or Greece,” he commented.

In his official statement on the project, he draws attention to the trend in Central and Eastern Europe of building data centers. “For example, in Croatia, the construction of an AI data center has begun with an investment of 50 billion euros. Disproportionate fees in Bulgaria compared to neighboring countries will repel investors in facilities entirely reliant on electrical and electronic equipment,” the Director of Legrand for Bulgaria is convinced.

This “kills both small and large businesses here in Bulgaria,” as anyone can order a product through online merchants. “With a few clicks, I choose a product, and it arrives. No one pays this product fee in Bulgaria, even though the product is here, in Bulgaria, and the companies registered in neighboring countries are the ones profiting,” he explained.

Reform for the Entire Sector HI Engineering, focused on providing solutions for emergency and critical power, also has a position. According to the company’s Commercial Director, Valentin Georgiev, battery packs are an essential element in UPS systems. He notes that high-quality VELA batteries are heavy and hold value. “On the other hand, the use of high-quality components—generators, UPS devices, batteries—guarantees high efficiency, low operating costs, and longevity of the equipment. Bearing in mind that the facilities where these installations are used are both state and private property, the public, taxpayers, investors, and entrepreneurs have an interest in reduced costs, which they pay through fees and other charges,” he states in the company’s official position, which also supports the changes.

A number of other companies, as well as business organizations such as the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bulgarian Branch Chamber of Machine Building, and others, hold similar opinions. However, there is no lack of criticism of the model, according to which the project provides no clarity on how the product fee rates were determined. In the interest of objectivity, it should be said that it is not clear whether the reduction in eco-taxes will directly reflect in a decrease in prices for end products, as this is only one of the elements affecting the cost of equipment.

Determining the levels of product fees should not be done piecemeal, as the fees are only one element of the entire waste recovery system, another opinion states. It declares that the sector needs structural change—it does not need fragmented measures, but a working reform that does not financially burden businesses and consumers and ensures that environmental goals under European directives are met. Now it is the MOEW’s turn to decide where it will be more profitable to buy a refrigerator—from Sofia or from Thessaloniki. As well as where major investors will go and whether we will again lose out in the competition with neighboring countries, where the business climate is clearly better.

Investigate Both Companies and Funds During the week, the topic of product fees was raised again by Democratic Bulgaria, who introduced a draft resolution to the National Assembly demanding that the National Audit Office audit the MOEW regarding product fees for the period from January 1, 2021, to June 1, 2026. From the motives of the project, signed by 17 deputies, it is clear that the requested audit will be comprehensive. The goal is to check the effectiveness and reliability of the control over recovery organizations, including a check on the correspondence between the actual quantities of recovered waste and the reports submitted by the organizations themselves. A check on the traceability of products placed on the market, the use of the collected product fee, and the actually recovered waste is needed. There should be a focus on assessing the risk of fictitious or double recovery of waste, including cross-checks with the Ministry of Interior regarding the recovery of end-of-life motor vehicles, as well as several others. In their project, DB also specified a deadline for the National Audit Office to complete this—the audit must be ready by October 1 of this year, and the final report must enter the National Assembly a month later. However, the probability of such an audit being assigned is not high, given the parliamentary majority, which at this stage has given no signs that it would support such a request.

Author: Rumyana Gocheva

Source: Capital magazine

• June 18, 2026