In the presence of members of the Executive Committee of the FLAG-FICET project and experts from FLAG , the first financing agreement under the innovative financial instrument FLAG-FICET was signed with the Municipality of Montana. On behalf of the municipality of Montana, the agreement was signed by the mayor of the city - Zlatko Zhivkov, and on behalf of the FLAG Fund - by the executive director Nadya Dankinova.
FLAG provides complementary financing for the implementation of the project "Mobility and green transport in the municipalities of Vratsa and Montana", financed by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, Procedure BG-RRP-8.013: "Environmentally friendly mobility". For the purposes of the application, technical support has been provided under the LIFE21-CET-PDA-FLAG FICET project, financed under the LIFE program of the European Union. Zlatko Zhivkov highly appreciated the support provided by the fund for financing the overall implementation of this strategically important project for the development of environmental mobility in the municipality of Montana.
The project in its part for the municipality of Montana is in accordance with the "Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the Municipality of Montana 2015-2030, Priority 1: Promoting the introduction of low-emission vehicles and building the related infrastructure. The new six electric vehicles planned for purchase under the project are intended to ensure the service of the busiest routes of the inner-city transport scheme of the city of Montana, covering 4 city lines, which have the largest annual mileage, passing through and covering the territory of a large part of the city. For the operation of the electric buses, 8 charging stations will also be installed, representing mandatory accompanying infrastructure. The introduction of electric buses under the project "Mobility and Green Transport in the Municipalities of Vratsa and Montana" will also generate indirect benefits for the Municipality of Montana, in the form of saved CO2 emissions. The reduction in CO2 emissions from the replacement of buses is equal to 46.10 t per year. For the estimated economic life of the assets – 15 years, the total reduction in CO2 emissions is estimated to amount to 691.5 t.
In view of the interest of municipalities in financing their own contribution to clean mobility projects financed under the NRRF and their contribution to clean energy transition through the introduction of zero-emission public transport vehicles, a clean mobility scheme is included in the second call for technical assistance. The deadline for project proposals under the second call is 30.06.2025.
