Bulgaria has 10 priorities for the absorption of EU funds in 2012

“Bulgaria’s priorities for 2012 are exactly 10 – not by accident, but deliberately. The first one is the real start of the mechanism for technical assistance on the part of international financial institutions - the World Bank and the European Investment Bank,” Minister of EU Funds Management, Tomislav Donchev, told reporters. In this respect, the start of the first few road infrastructure and water sector projects is expected. The projects will not be directly managed but technical assistance for their implementation will be rendered during the present and the next programming period. The assistance of experts from the two financial institutions will also be directed to the institutional reform in Bulgaria. Our country will pay for this help with funds from the operational programmes.

“An initiative called ‘the Bulgarian Jasper’ should be launched in 2012, projecting the establishment of a mobile group. This will be a unit of experts and consultants who will assist local authorities in implementing projects under operational programmes, mainly OP Environment and OP Regional Development,” added Donchev. Expert assistance will be concentrated on the most critical issue – the procedures for selecting contractors under the Public Procurement Act. The mobile group will probably include 10 experts - engineers, lawyers, financiers and economists.
In the first half of 2012, most of the 27 info centres in regional cities should open doors. These will give free of charge information about the opportunities for applying under any EU-financed programme.

Among the priorities for 2012 is the successful launch of projects funded by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Programme for the period until 2014. The competitions for collecting project proposals are to be called in the middle of 2012. Additional funds of some €126.6 mln are envisioned, specified Donchev.

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