Forthcoming



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September 01, 2010

Monika Panayotova: There is stated delay on the realisation of the projects on the instrument “Schengen”


01/09/09

There is no number in the report of the parliamentary commission for the European funds, which shows a potential losses for Bulgaria on the program “ISPA”, stated in the broadcast “12+3” Monika Panayotova, Chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds, in connection with publications in a newspaper from today, that the country can lose 543 million euro on the program. According to Panayotova the report states a consideration, that there is a threat to lose resources on the program, if the rates are not speeded up. “There is principle agreement from the side of the European Commission for prolongation of the deadline for finishing the projects on the pre-accession programme “ISPA”, which is until the end of 2011, and regarding specifically “Danube Bridge 2” – 2012”, she said.

The tendencies which we have been monitoring during the last months regarding the operative programs are the speeding up of payments, as well as of negotiating, said Panayotova. “We have a rate of 7 times more assimilated funds on the operative programs, which makes over 1 billion levs and over 5 billion levs negotiated, as in the last two months, which have not been monitored in the report, because it is for the first six months, this stable trend continues and we have over 53 million euro paid and over 56 million euro negotiated”, she stated. According to her for July and August the percentage of assimilation is 7.66. “Compared to what was achieved in the previous years, … 7 times rate of increase … From here on, the assimilation is not the only important, but the quality of the projects, which are prepared, so that they can have the most possible multiplying effect for the economy of our country. And the proposal of our commission is the so called “synergy approach” between the operative programs, so that a more integrated way can be achieved, so that both can add to each other in the condition of a crisis and in the conditions of the realisation of reforms. So that the rate, with which at the moment, after the changes, the things are developing is really positive, but it should not rather calm us, but to be a motivator for an even greater acceleration”, thinks the chairperson of the commission. According to her Bulgaria has around 8 billion euro on the operative programs.

The report covers 21 instruments, which are financed with resources from the European Union, she added. “Outside of the operative programs we monitor the instrument “Schengen”. Looking forward to the accession of Bulgaria to the Schengen space the commission directly monitors this instrument. The good thing that the government did is to lengthen the deadline for negotiation to 31st March – quoting by memory – but the important is that we managed to contract all of the financial resource, which was on that financial instrument. There is stated delay on the realisation of the projects, the program ends on the 31st of December, i.e. there needs to be acceleration, so that the projects can be realised, which are in the frame of the process of the accession of Bulgaria”, pointed Panayotova.

Are there risky programs, on which we lose money, what normative and institutional changes were made with the announcement of the portfolio of the Minister for European funds management, Tomislav Donchev, which are the achievable criteria for payments and negotiations of resources on the operative programs, what is accepted by the business as an obstacle for its inclusion as part of the programs, where is the difference between Bulgaria and the other countries members of the EU regarding the operative programs and on which programs Bulgaria is behind, as well as how much are the paid funds on the Rural region development programme you can hear on the sound file with the interview with Monika Panayotova.

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