DEPUTY PM DONCHEV: 2014 IS A ‘ZERO’ YEAR IN TERMS OF EU FUNDS ABSORPTION

2014 is a ‘zero’ year in terms of absorption of EU funds. The Bulgarian government is doing everything possible so that 2015 does not turn to be a ‘zero’ year too, the Deputy Prime Minister, Tomislav Donchev, told the BNT morning show “The Day Begins” on 21st of November. According to him, the realistic scenario is that about 400 million Euro will be reimbursed. He added that a priority would be to restart the payments under the operational programme “Regional Development”.

He said that the three operational progarmmes were approved at an EU funds council and there was a decision of the Council of Ministers. He explained that they were already published on the system, i.e. officially presented to the European Commission and the three operational programmes for implementation are “Transport”, “Innovation and Competitiveness” and “Regions in Growth”. Donchev noted that it was expected the operational programme “Human Resources” to be approved in the following week or two and that there was readiness to present two more OPs by the end of the month - “Environment” and “Science and Education for Smart Growth” . Donchev said that the efforts were focused to get one or two more operational programmes approved by the end of March next year.