Nayden Zelenogorski, Mayor of Pleven: New responsibilities are being transferred to us but without the necessary resources

- Mr. Zelenogorski, you told your colleagues - mayors from the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) - that a number of accounts of municipalities have been blocked since the beginning of 2011 which, in turn, stopped their basic activities. What is even stranger is that there are regional towns like Pernik and Haskovo among them. How did things come to that?
- The situation is quite serious indeed. For a very long time, there has been talk of fiscal decentralisation and that municipalities should have adequate financial resources in order to implement their ideas but, unfortunately, this is not happening. In Bulgaria, for many years now, responsibilities have been transferred to municipalities without providing them with the necessary resources for executing the projects.

- NAMRB reacted sharply against the amendments to the Municipal Debt Act leading to these blocked accounts. Your association even considered referring the issue to the Constitutional Court ...
- This possibility is yet to be discussed. Significantly, Europe is Europe of regions rather than Europe of countries. Throughout the European Union the emphasis is on local authorities and this is indeed the basis of the developed European countries - the status we strive for. I am absolutely certain that there will be times when 50% of the municipalities in Bulgaria will not be functioning because of blocked accounts. This means that life will stop and the State will disintegrate.

Well, things seem more optimistic regarding the absorption of EU funds, don’t they?
- The key is to find a way to secure the necessary resources not only for co-financing but also for the implementation of projects. This is extremely important because, at present, a number of municipalities win projects and sign contracts but do not implement them for lack of financial resources.

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