site.bta Bulgaria Incurs Lv 380 Mln Financial Corrections for Irregularities in Operational Programmes

Bulgaria Incurs Lv 380 Mln Financial Corrections for Irregularities in Operational Programmes

Sofia, April 6 (BTA) - The financial corrections imposed under operational programmes alone add up to some 370-380 million leva to date, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds and Economic Policy Tomislav Donchev said, addressing Parliament during Question Time on Wednesday. He explained that expenditures are also denied verification because of the quality of performance.

The financial corrections incurred in 2014 approximate 290 million leva.

In Donchev's words, the subject of financial corrections is not closed because many beneficiaries are suing the State. "Knowing the mechanism of imposing corrections in 2014, I expect beneficiaries to win many of these cases, which will affect the State budget," the Deputy PM commented. "The debate, however, has yet another aspect: how are corrections used: as an instrument to excise the problem or as an instrument for amputation, as was the case in 2014," he noted.

Asked whether a 250 million euro financial correction has been imposed under the Rural Development Programme, Donchev said he has no information of a correction "of such sinister magnitude". He promised that when written information to this effect reaches him, he will share it with the MPs.

Answering another question, the Deputy Prime Minister said that a ratification procedure for the Initiative for Small and Medium Enterprises is in progress and the matter will soon be laid before Parliament. The resources under this operational programme total 103 million euro. All institutions involved must raise extra funds, so that the resources that will go on the market are expected to be a much larger amount. The programme gives SMEs access to funding on extremely soft terms, Donchev said. In addition to those 103 million euro, another 660 million euro will be distributed in the form of financial instruments managed by the Fund of Funds (the wholly State-owned Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria EAD). The unabsorbed financing from the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises initiative (JEREMIE) for the 2007-2013 period has been returned by beneficiaries and is also going on the market this year. As the Deputy PM put it, at least 1,000 million euro will be at the disposal of Bulgarian companies.