site.btaDeputy Finance Minister: EUR 2.67 Bln for 2021-2027 Programming Period Contracted

At the third Partnership Agreement Monitoring Committee meeting on Thursday, Deputy Finance Minister Martin Danovski said that nearly EUR 2.67 billion or 20.69% of the budget for the 2021 - 2027 programming period had already been contracted, and EUR 581.4 million of these funds have already been paid out to beneficiaries. 

The forum was attended by representatives of the European Commission, the governing bodies of the programmes, the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, social partners, non-governmental organizations, institutions, etc.

The event is the first after the expiry of the eligibility period for the previous 2014-2020 programming period, and it was established that almost the entire European resource has been successfully used. 

"Currently, we can report that the funds agreed upon within the framework of the Cohesion Policy amounted to EUR 9.73 billion, and the payments actually made to the beneficiaries were in the amount of EUR 8.79 billion. This represents 96.15% of the programme's budget. The final reporting on part of the projects is still ongoing, and therefore we are confident that by the end of the process of closing the programmes, the absorption of the European funding will be as close as possible to 100% ", summed up Deputy Minister Danovski.

During the meeting, a Concept for investments from the funds of the EU Cohesion Policy for the 2021-2027  programming period in Northern Bulgaria was discussed and approved. The Deputy Minister of Finance specified that a commitment was made in the Partnership Agreement that at least 50% of the funds for the less developed regions of Bulgaria would be directed to Northern Bulgaria.