Bulgaria and the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC) have signed a deal settling all claims and debts between them, and parliament's budget and finance committee has now approved it for ratification. Bulgaria will get back its full paid-in capital share of 15.1 million euros, in rising annual instalments spread over 20 years.

The committee backed the bill by 17 votes to one, with no abstentions. The government put the bill forward, and deputy finance minister Metodi Metodiev presented it to lawmakers.

The deal follows Bulgaria's decision to quit the agreement on how IBEC is set up and run, and leave the bank altogether. Bulgaria's membership ended on August 17, 2023, after parliament passed a law scrapping the agreement that set up the International Investment Bank and the one governing IBEC's operations.

IBEC's board agreed the terms for settling such claims on January 23, 2023. The terms apply to any country that has formally given notice it is leaving: each gets back its share of the paid-in capital through rising annual payments spread over 20 years. Every country that leaves has to sign its own separate deal with the bank.

Bulgaria's finance minister and IBEC representatives signed Bulgaria's deal this spring.

Metodiev told lawmakers that Poland and the Czech Republic have already signed similar deals with the bank, while Slovakia and Romania are still working through the process.