Authors: Molly Rickles, Kalina Tcolova
Even though Bulgaria is among the EU’s most carbon-intensive economies, ranked third in the EU, the country has strong potential to deploy carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies in its cement and chemical production.
Political instability over the past 5 years, overlapping institutional mandates, and the absence of a dedicated legal framework continue to delay regulatory reform, infrastructure planning, and investment decisions. High capture costs, missing CO₂ transport systems, and weak national incentives further slow deployment and create uncertainty about timelines for industrial transformation in vulnerable regions.
