Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
IsThis

POLITICS

The Claim

Galab Donev said that many European Union member states chose to first invest Recovery and Resilience Facility funds and then implement reforms in order to absorb the funds faster.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Available reporting indicates Donev did make this point in substance, contrasting Bulgaria’s approach with other EU states that moved investments first and reforms later to speed RRF absorption. Independent EU and audit sources support that broader pattern. The main limitation is that the attribution relies on a secondary paraphrase rather than a primary verbatim record.

Caveats

  • The attribution is not backed by a primary transcript, recording, or direct quote matching the exact wording.
  • Independent sources confirm the general RRF sequencing pattern, but they do not independently verify Donev’s specific remark.
  • The term “many” is broader than what some supporting analyses explicitly document, so the exact scope remains imprecise.

The Receipts

  1. Recovery and Resilience Facility - Reforms and Investments

    European Commission

  2. EU praises Bulgaria progress but sets August deadline for reform-linked funds

    Reuters

  3. ECA Unsatisfied with Transparency and Traceability in RRF

    eucrim

  4. Recovery and Resilience Facility two years after – quo vadis EU money ...

    Verfassungsblog

  5. Recovery and Resilience Plan of The Republic of Bulgaria

    Ministry of Finance, Republic of Bulgaria

  6. Bulgaria's National Recovery and Resilience Plan: Latest state of play

    European Sources Online

  7. EU Commission Aims to Release Remaining €3 Billion Funds to Bulgaria

    Global Banking and Finance Review

  8. A springboard for a renaissance of public investments in Europe?

    Econstor (ZEW Policy Brief)

  9. Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan

    European Commission

  10. Bulgaria's recovery and resilience – Supported projects

    European Commission

+ 14 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

European UnionGalab DonevRecovery and Resilience Facility

More Fact Checks