BTA. President Opens Green Transition Forum

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS.President Rumen Radev Tuesday opened a green transition forum in Sofia. Titled Green Week 2023, the three-day event will look into various aspects of green transition in Central and Eastern Europe, including energy connectivity, green finance and innovation). "A successful transition takes solid planning, correctly assessing the environment and identifying all risk factors, building a clear strategy based on precise goals and mechanisms for accomplishing them," the head of State said.

The President said there is the big question of who and how in Bulgaria and Europe plans the green transition and ensures its sustainability. "In the past decades we were used to the State being less and less involved in this planning cycle because its role was constantly diminishing, but in recent years events have happened that have shaken our societies and the question here is whether we were ready for these events, especially when we talk about planning."

The COVID-19 crisis, the energy crisis, the galloping inflation, the war in Ukraine - they have all overturned the priorities and the role of the players in this planning, the president added. "We saw the State suddenly taking the lead in these processes. And on the other hand, it cannot do anything on its own," he said.

According to him, the recent crises have highlighted a number of shortcomings in the approach of the State and society to crises and how to address them.

He argued that the planning needs to answer some key questions, including what we want Bulgaria to be like after a certain period of time, how can we achieve the balance between all important players - the business, the civil sector, the scientific community and the local authorities.

"When we talk about competitiveness, we always think about energy because it is the foundation of any economy. The availability of affordable, reliable and cheap energy determines whether we will be competitive. Here is the big clash: how to plan and organize this transition so that the aspirations of all European citizens to live in a greener and more environmentally friendly world are embodied and, on the other hand, our competitiveness does not suffer. This is why the transformation of the energy sector is extremely important," the Head of State believes.

Parliament Chair Rossen Zhelyazkov will be the keynote speaker at the forum's opening panel "Sustainable Transition as a Competitive Advantage in CEE Countries".