Bulgaria Absorbed Only 20% of EU Infrastructure Funds

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | February 20, 2008, Wednesday // 00:00

Bulgaria has absorbed about one fifth of the funds for infrastructure from EU's pre-accession ISPA program.

According to data published on Tuesday by the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance the total sum for ISPA projects is EUR 1,5 B but so far only EUR 347 M have been paid by the EU, the international financial institutions, and Bulgaria's co-financing budget.

The Finance Ministry data, however, indicate that the funds contracted for projects in 2007 have doubled. At the end of January 2007, the contracted funds were only 34% of the total volume of the program while the January 2008 report indicates the contracts already cover 70% of ISPA.

The greatest delay occurs in the water supply sector in the cities of Sofia, Sliven, and Kyustendil for which no funds have been contracted again in 2007. The Environment Ministry warned EUR 58 M for the Sofia water supply and sewerage system might be lost.

The water supply projects in the cities of Ruse and Burgas are already under way. There are delays, however, in the contracting of the sulfur purifying installations for the Maritza Iztok 2 thermal power plant, and of the garbage disposal management center in the city of Kurdjali.

The Financial Ministry data indicate another disturbing trend - despite the fact that the sum for many projects has been contracted, its absorbing is greatly delayed. Examples include the electrification of the Plovdiv-Svilengrad Railway, the construction of the second bridge connecting Bulgaria and Romania across the Danube, and of the Lyulin Motorway.

Hundreds of millions of euros have been allocated to these projects from the ISPA program and the deadline for their absorption is 2010.

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