The Committee on Budgetary Control at the European Parliament (EP) is preparing a report about Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Information Agency (BTA) reported.

The report is a follow-up of the official visit of the EP delegation in the country between September 28 and October 1, 2008. The delegation was lead by the Committee's Deputy Chairman Nils Lundgren and inspected projects in Bulgaria financed by European Union (EU) funds.

The report is going to be presented for discussions at the November 4 regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee. The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Plugchieva has been invited to Brussels to participate in the discussions.

The final version of the report is going to be published on November 7.

The draft report's summary sates that the EP delegation has been impressed by the good macro-economic development of Bulgaria, the low unemployment rate and the resolve of the Bulgarian authorities to deal with problems such as corruption.

The summary further points out, however, that real results are yet to materialize. Despite some positive legal changes, the report registers the need to improve the law in the country and to investigate and severely punish perpetrators by freezing or confiscating their assets.

The draft underlines the way public tenders are conducted by creating high risk for corruption and conflict of interests as Bulgaria's main problem

Other problems include lack of administrative capacity to verify projects and documents, lack of specialists, experience and capabilities of the State Administration's employees.

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