Bulgarian Financial Sector Survey

The European Climate Foundation (ECF), a charitable institution registered in the Netherlands, contracted Econoler to conduct a survey on the EE financing practices in Bulgaria. The task was part of a broader Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG) project aimed at collecting and analyzing the data about the EE lending practices in the EU countries. Upon completion of the survey, Econoler was tasked to present the outcomes of the EEFIG survey in Bulgaria and Poland at the C4E Forum in Balchick, Bulgaria

Six main tasks were accomplished over the course of project implementation:

• Task No. 1: Identifying financial-sector players. Econoler identified the financial-sector players (banks and leasing companies) that participated in a survey about energy efficiency financing and then contacted the identified stakeholders by phone to give information about the project. Invitations were sent to the identified contacts to invite them to attend the kick-off event.
• Task No. 2: Econoler organized a half-day kick-off event in Sofia, where a representative of EEFIG presented the objectives and the organizational structure of the EEFIG as well as the needs for a local survey of the EE financing market. After the event, Econoler sent to the participants a summary of the meeting.
• Task No. 3: The Econoler team translated the survey into Bulgarian.
• Task No. 4: Econoler followed up with all the targeted participants and made sure they completed the survey. The Econoler team contacted the respondents by phone and assisted them in completing the survey online.
• Task No. 5: The Econoler team organized a second half-day event in Sofia, where the findings and the interpretation of the results of the survey were presented. A summary of the meeting was then prepared and shared with all participants.
• Task No. 6: Econoler presented the summarized EEFIG survey results for Bulgaria and Poland at the C4E Forum in Balchik, Bulgaria.

  Finally, Econoler developed and carried out a survey on the major drivers that impact the EE financing market and the related market barriers in Bulgaria. The team organized two half-day events in Sofia to facilitate the survey and to share the results with the local EE stakeholders’ community. Over 40 experts of different backgrounds (financial, public sector, NGOs, and practitioners) attended the events in Sofia. The aggregated results of the EEFIG survey in Bulgaria and Poland were then presented by Econoler at the C4E Forum in Balchick, Bulgaria.