site.btaUPDATED Dobrich Hosts BTA's "Europe in the Balkans" Conference

A conference, part of the "Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future" project, took place at the National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in Dobrich on Friday. The forum was attended by representatives of state and local authorities, the Regional Information Centre’s team, local initiative groups, as well as by representatives of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Participants discusses the impact of EU-funded projects in Dobrich Region in 2014-2020 and new developments for the 2021-2027 period.

Dobrich Regional Governor Yordanka Kostadinova said that the accumulated capacity of state and municipal administrations, businesses and the non-governmental sector from the implementation of projects in the region will be able to be fully utilised in the coming years. She pointed out that an improvement in the appearance of municipalities through EU funds can be witnessed in the region. "The projects implemented so far are gratifying," said Kostadinova.

Genoveva Drumeva, Manager of the Regional Information Center, said that Dobrich Region is second for the number of agreed projects in the North-East planning region for the 2014-2021 programming period. According to Drumeva, the most funds in the region were absorbed under Operational Programme Environment for only seven projects, among which are the large projects for renovation of the water supply infrastructure in Dobrich and Tervel. Overall, 1,208 projects were implemented during the last programming period, with most projects (538) approved under Operational Programme Innovations and Competitiveness. A total of 101 projects were approved  under Operational Programme European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. According to Drumeva, Dobrich Municipality has the most implemented projects under all operational programmes in the district, with over 480 concluded contracts worth over BGN 208 million, followed by Balchik Municipality and Dobrichka Municipality. 

Pavel Pavlov, Dobrich Deputy Mayor for Strategic Development and Economy, presented two projects aimed at energy efficiency through the installation of photovoltaic plants in social infrastructure buildings. The activities on the two projects will be completed by the end of April, he specified. All projects that are currently being implemented are worth over BGN 8 million, with one of the them being for the rehabilitation of the street lighting in the regional centre. Among the important future projects he highlighted the initiative to upgrade public transport in the municipality and the modernization of schools and kindergartens for BGN 12 million. "We are also expecting funding for the project to build an industrial park in Dobrich, which will give a strong economic boost to the entire region," Pavlov said, adding that the administration is following the procedure for the Integrated concept for territorial investments in the region, which is worth over BGN 110 million.

Rumyana Ivanova, Dobrichka Municipality Deputy Mayor for European Projects and Programmes, said that the municipality has concluded two contracts related to the renovation of schools in the villages of Batovo and Karapelit worth BGN 1 million each, as well as a project for the replacement of street lighting in ten settlements worth a little over BGN 1.1 million. Ivanova also presented two projects of the municipality within the framework of the past programming period, one of which is worth more than EUR 1.2 million and was financed under the Interreg Romania - Bulgaria Cross-border Cooperation Programme. The project aimed to attract tourists by revitalising areas with rich cultural and natural resources and to preserve the cultural heritage. Within the project, two community centres were renovated and a general strategy for the development of tourist areas was drawn up. The second project was implemented with a total budget of BGN 1.6 million under Operational Programme Development of Human Resources and involved more than 800 children.

Dr Nadezhda Vasileva, Director of the Dobrichka Local Initiative Group, said that they have 68 approved projects for the previous programming period, of which 43 contracts have been completed. According to her, in fulfillment of the group's strategy, the requested subsidy is much more than the budget, which is about BGN 3.7 million. She emphasised that all local initiative groups are awaiting regulation changes, as there should have been a registration of the strategies in December 2023, which was then moved to June 2024. "The way things are going, we will not have a registration for the new strategies even until the end of 2024", Vasileva said, adding that they are waiting for a change in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and a decision of the European Commission, as projects are ready and seemingly will not be able to be implemented until 2025. 

Nevena Kirova, Director of the Tervel - Krushari Local Initiative Group, said that they have over 72 approved projects of the Municipality, farmers and producers, with an implementation rate of 90%. She added that the EU funds are not able to reach the smallest farmers. "It is the Local Initiative Groups that provide access to these funds for the small settlements," said Kirova. She also pointed out that people have learned to make projects and carry them out.

German Germanov, Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dobrich and of the Europe Direct Centre, said that their main task is to provide information about the policies of the European Union. "Most of our fellow citizens believe that what happens in the European Parliament does not affect us, but for the European Union and the European Parliament it is extremely important to have a feedback relationship with the citizens", he noted. He stated that the Europe Direct Centre will work for public awareness of the EU's main priorities, namely the Green Deal, rule of law, the EU's response to the war in Ukraine as well as topics related to artificial intelligence. According to Germanov, a number of informational meetings are planned in the region for 2024, which will be related to the adoption of the euro in Bulgaria. "From all sociological surveys we see that a large number of citizens are against the adoption of the common European currency. I believe that this is due to the lack of information and the presence of abundant misinformation", said Germanov.

The project "Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future" is implemented by BTA with support from the European Commission. It builds on a past project, "Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future", and aims to foster a better understanding of the role of the cohesion policy in the Balkans; to raise awareness of projects funded by the EU through the Cohesion Funds; promote dialogue on the results of the projects at local level and boost civic participation in issues related to cohesion policy.

So far conferences have been held in Ruse, Razgrad, Veliko Tarnovo, Silistra, Gabrovo, Burgas, Sliven, Yambol, Haskovo, Stara Zagora, Kazanlak, Kyustendil, Pernik, Samokov and Varna, and cross-border conferences in Bucharest, Edirne and Skopje. Until August, discussions will be held in the BTA press clubs across Bulgaria as well as in Belgrade, Bosilegrad and Thessaloniki.

The "Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future" project is funded with EUR 348,871. To achieve the project's aims, BTA is using a media mix and expects to reach out to between 700,000 and 1 million people in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkiye.