OLAF: Bulgaria should return more than EUR 30 million for EU-funded projects

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) recommended that over EUR 30 million should be returned to the EU budget from projects in Bulgaria, according to data from the annual report on the activities of the office for 2021.

More than €23 million of this amount was spent on the construction of 377 guesthouses, which were used for personal use instead of being rented out to tourists.

Money has to be repaid for advertising wine and for afforesting land that could not be afforested. OLAF recommends that the European budget should be reimbursed a total of more than half a billion euros for projects in all EU countries. The main cases of fraud detected were related to alleged bogus afforestation, customs abuse, illegal waste activities.