The Bulgarian Farmers Union (BFU) warned on Friday that Bulgaria risks losing over BGN 89 Mln under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme.
The reason is a delay in processing and payments under the Programme by the Maritime and Fisheries Directorate, which is the managing authority, in the past two years, said BFU Chairman Georgi Stoyanov, citing an analysis of the Union, which is a member of the European organization Copa-Cogeca. “The programme period ends in four months and the risk of losing the money is huge,” said Stoyanov. He will familiarize with the situation the new team of the Agriculture Ministry in order to take prompt and adequate measures. The previous leadership under the caretaker government was aware of the problem already in February.
A check against the system for management and oversight of EU funds in Bulgaria shows that 59% of the budget have been absorbed. In March 2023, the Monitoring Committee was informed that 76% of the budget have been absorbed,” said Stoyanov. This casts doubts over the accuracy of the information and at the moment there is a risk 40% of the money to not be absorbed without a concrete plan. This translates to BGN 80 million, he added.
/PP/
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