GERB MP: Bulgaria May Face EU Funds Freeze worth EUR 1.5 – 3 B

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | June 5, 2014, Thursday // 10:39
Bulgaria: GERB MP: Bulgaria May Face EU Funds Freeze worth EUR 1.5 – 3 B Lilyana Pavlova, GERB MP and former Regional Development Minister, photo by BGNES

Bulgaria may face an EU finds freeze worth EUR 1.5-3 B, according to Lilyana Pavlova, MP of center-right party GERB and former Regional Development Minister.

In a Thursday interview for private TV station bTV, she cautioned that after the EU funds freeze under operational programs "Environment" and "Regional Development", which had been imposed due to serious public procurement breaches, the situation was critical with operational programs "Competitiveness" and "Rural Development."

Pavlova suggested that the budget would not sustain such a measure, adding that the EU funds freeze could reach a total of EUR 3 B, equal to the new loan that the socialist-led government was preparing to take.

She said that she was dissatisfied with the explanations of the Finance Minister as regards the spending of the new loan.

Pavlova acknowledged that there had been irregularities during the term in office of the GERB government, adding that they had only been warned about the problems, while the current government had had the EU funding stopped.

She assured that the opposition would attack the government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski until they resigned.

"We do not want power at any cost but the state is about to collapse," Pavlova declared.

The EU funding under operational program "Environment" has been blocked since November 2013, while the EU funding under the "Regional Development" program was stopped a few days ago, according to reports of investor.bg.

Bulgarian Environment Minister Iskra Mihaylova noted that municipalities which were implementing EU-funded projects would face sanctions amounting to around BGN 95 M.

Bulgaria has so far had a total of EUR 90 M in EU funding blocked under the "Regional Development" program.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Bulgaria in EU » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: EU funds, EU funds freeze, Lilyana Pavlova, Regional Development Minister, regional development program, environment, operational program, EU funds freeze, GERB, Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria