site.bta Government Approves Loan Agreement between Council of Europe Development Bank, Bulgaria

Government Approves Loan Agreement between Council of Europe Development Bank, Bulgaria

Sofia, December 7 (BTA) - The Council of Ministers Wednesday approved a Framework Agreement between the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and Bulgaria which is a mechanism for co-funding of projects using funding from the EU operational programmes co-funded by the European structural and investment funds for the 2014-2020 period. The decision authorizes the Finance Minister to conduct the negotiations and to sign the agreement, the government information service said Wednesday.

The loan from CEB will support the absorption of financing from the European funds and will cover partially Bulgarian co-financing of investment projects implemented under operational programmes Regions in Growth 2014-2020, Human Resources Development 2014-2020 and Science and Education for Smart Growth 2014-2020.

The loan is extended under very favourable conditions, with no additional fees and charges calculated by the bank.

The funding will be used in tranches and will be paid to the national budget. The individual tranches are linked to the national co-funding calculations for the operational programmes in the medium term and will be included in the national budget act for each budget year.