15.01.2026
he Maritsa Basin holds opportunities and a potential and the region can be extremely important for the development of Bulgaria’s competitiveness. If a year ago we were considering how to prevent decline, now we are discussing how to improve the potentials of the basin. I am proud that we were successful to find a consistent, good and sustained solution to many of the problems that Bulgaria generally faces. This was stated by Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov at the official signing ceremony of an agreement between the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD on cooperation in the prospecting for critical inputs and rare-earth metals. In his view, the matter should be addressed pragmatically, with a focus on the achievement of long-term benefits for the country, while, alongside, Bulgaria becomes a reputed reliable and attractive partner.
Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov recalled that it is inputs that are one of the crucial elements in global competition and singled out power generation as a key sector for Bulgaria as together with the country’s strategic location and connectivity, it enables it to be a dependable factor in Southeast Europe.
Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov likewise emphasized the potential of coal for the extraction of rare-earth elements and the critical inputs that they contain. Further, the Minister noted that a special new directorate would be set up within the BEH to be in charge of the geological prospecting, extraction and innovation, including critical inputs. It will be for the first time in Bulgaria’s recent history that the central government will not only benefit from concession fees for oil and gas or critical inputs prospecting and extraction, but will contribute to the appropriate capacity building.
In this context, in mid-2025 the government began to speed up work to prospect and utilize deposits that hold a potential to extract strategic, critical and rare-earth resources with a focus on the East Maritsa Coal Basin. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the BEH and the University of North Dakota (UND) which is one of the leading research actors in this field. At the national level, action was taken by the BEH, Mini Maritsa Iztok EAD and the Geological Institute with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) on the study of the potential of the East Maritsa Coal Basin. Ten deep holes have been drilled in the three mines from which the BAS will select between 400 and 600 samples to be analyzed in national laboratories and to show the concentrations of a full spectrum of rare-earth elements and critical inputs.
The East Maritsa Coal Basin deposit is the largest lignite coal deposit in the country, with an industrial area of 240 sq km. Mining operations to show the availability of rare-earth elements in lignite coal open up a real prospect for a new life in the region. They afford an opportunity to increase the coal output by up to 20%, which means that jobs will be saved and that a new business with high added value will develop.
