site.btaAgriculture Ministry Says Information about Jeopardized Funding of Rural Development Programme is "Wrong and Misleading"

Agriculture Ministry Says Information about Jeopardized Funding of Rural Development Programme is
"Wrong and Misleading"

Sofia, May 20 (BTA) - The Agriculture and Food Ministry and the State Fund Agriculture, which acts as a Payment Agency for the Rural Development Programme, issued a media statement on Thursday saying that a publication claiming that systematic errors jeopardize 2,300 million euro under the Rural Development Programme is "extremely misleading and wrong".

The statement says that no document has been received from the European Commission which says that all funding under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 is at risk. The statement says further that as at the present moment there are no indications to doubt the controls system or to suspect that the Programme is at risk. No questions to this effect have been raised with representatives of either the Ministry or the Fund during meetings with EC officials or in written communications, the statement says.

The audits by the EC and the European Audit Office of the old Rural Development Programme, that for 2007-2013, proceed according to the procedures defined in the relevant audit standards.

In respect of funding to projects for village stadiums, guest houses and renewable energy sources facilities, Bulgaria has informed the EC already last year that the country will not finance such projects in the way in which it was admissible to do so in the old programming period.