Only BGN 300 mln reamin small municipalities under the OP Environment

raya.atanasova@klassa.bg

Only BGN 300 mln will be allocated for water projects of smaller municipalities of 2,000 - 10,000 inhabitants under OP Environment, announced yesterday for Klassa the Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, Ivelina Vasileva. Currently, the application guidelines for the grant are being drawn up and the first municipalities are expected to be invited by the end of this month or early September.

So far, the Ministry of Environment and Water has focused on water projects of large municipalities with a population of over 10,000 inhabitants. In fact, projects worth over BGN 1.6 bn. have been submitted, while the overall resources provided under the measure amount to BGN 2.6 bn.

The problem would come in relation to the implementation of the projects, consultants claim. Some even admit that municipal administrations artificially increase the value of the projects, thus leaving no funds for smaller municipalities.

Ivelina Vasileva commented that the higher public interest would probably lead to excessive negotiations and the State would seek other reserves for financing. On Friday, the Environment Ministry announced that it would suspend the project worth BGN 52 mln for the Sliven water cycle under the OP Environment. The signals for abuse submitted to Brussels were pointed out as a reason for this action. The letter of the European Commission sent to the Environment Ministry expressed concerns about the fair conduct of the tender procedure and the principles of free and fair competition. In order to continue, the project must attract funding under the ISPA programme since the European Commission refused additional financing and the projects for water supply and for the sewerage system under both programmes are interrelated.

If fiscal irregularities are detected, financial adjustments of 25 - 100% of the grant might be imposed, which would amount to a minimum of BGN 10 mln.

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