Tsetska Tsatcheva, Chairwoman of the National Assembly: A law on EU Funds Absorption will provide a clear vision for the funds' management

According to Minister of EU Funds Management Tomislav Donchev, currently an average of BGN 10 mln are being utilised weekly under the OPs.

A law on EU Funds Absorption will provide a clearer vision on how the resources should be managed and monitored, stated Chairwoman of Parliament Tsetska Tsatcheva at the beginning of the yesterday's session of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds, at which the second interim report on the progress of the EU funds utilisation was presented. The discussion also included the chairmen of all committees with the National Assembly, deputy ministers and representatives of branch organisations. According to Tsatcheva, the lawmakers could facilitate the procedures through legislative amendments.
 
By August this year, over BGN 1 bn of grants had been remitted under the Rural Development Programme and more than 30% had been negotiated. In the first six months alone, a total of € 201 mln were settled, the amount for August being € 91 mln, said Monika Panayotova, Chairwoman of the European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds Committee. By June 30, an overall of BGN 800 mln out of the negotiated approximately €1,5 bn under the pre-accession ISPA programme had been transferred. An agreement has been reached with the European Commission for extension of all projects' deadlines until the end of 2011 and for the construction of Danube Bridge 2 – until 2012.
 
According to the report, the utilised funds under the operational programmes constitute 7%, which represents 7- fold jump compared to the last year's figure of 1%. Some 34% of the resource has been agreed so far, while at this time of 2009 only 10% had been contracted. As of June 3, 2010, Bulgaria had absorbed around € 562 mln under the OPs from the budget for Bulgaria, which amounted to a little over € 8 bn. On June 30, 2009, merely € 80 mln were transferred. From June 30 to August 31 this year, the utilised funds became nearly € 614 mln.
 
Among the frontrunners for negotiated funds are the OPs dubbed Regional Development, Transport and Human Resources. The largest growth was registered in OP Competitiveness. There was 317-fold acceleration of the negotiation process under the programme. However, this success will become real when the funds reach the beneficiaries.