site.btaEuropean Commission Vice President Georgieva Voices Hope about Resumption of Suspended Payments under Regional Development Operational Programme

European Commission Vice President Georgieva Voices Hope about Resumption of Suspended Payments under Regional Development Operational Programme


Sofia, December 1 (BTA) - Emerging from a meeting with National
Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva on Monday, European
Commission Vice President and Budget Commissioner Kristalina
Georgieva told reporters that "there is a big hope" for
resumption of suspended payments under the Regional Development
Operational Programme (OP).

Georgieva also stressed the need to think what can be done
vis-a-vis rural areas. In her opinion, Bulgaria could make
better use of EU funding by channelling it to small farmers,
mountain farming so that these people too experience the
incentive of EU financing.

The EC Vice President noted that so far, the EU funding for
farming has traditionally went to larger-scale programmes. "It
is not enough to just absorb the funding. Things must be done in
 such a way so that the absorption is felt by smaller population
 centres too," Georgieva said.

The EC official and Tsacheva also discussed the EU budget and
how the EU investment plan can be successful for Bulgaria. "This
 can happen when we quickly determine which are the priority
projects for Bulgaria, present them to the Investment Committee
which is being set up, and defend them with a clear idea how
they will help the Bulgarian economy," Georgieva said. In her
words, Bulgaria has good investment projects which, however, due
 to being assessed as more risky or due to administrative or
institutional hurdles, are stalled.

Georgieva recalled that there are already banks ready to
participate in projects for energy efficiency and rehabilitation
 of housing, so long as there are guarantees that such projects
will not be pilot but large-scale ones. She said this is a
priority of the Bulgarian government and of the EU as well,
noting that 2015 may become the year when the energy efficiency
priority is implemented on a large scale, thus creating orders
for small construction companies, employment, and at the same
time, reducing heating bills and increasing the value of
housing.

Earlier on Monday Georgieva met with Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov. Emerging from the meeting Borissov said that Bulgaria
supports the plan of EC President Jean-Claude Juncker for a
European investment fund delivering 315,000 million euro into
strategic infrastructure projects over three years. Attending
the meeting were also ministers whose departments could avail
themselves the most of the initiative, dubbed the Juncker plan,
Borissov said.