Bulgaria's Labor Ministry Hands Out Last-Minute EU Funding

Bulgaria's Labor Ministry has approved the allocation millions of BGN worth of EU funding to private firms even though the Borisov Cabinet has technically resigned.

The grants totally BGN 26.6 M under EU Operation Program "Human Resource Development" were signed five days before the resignation of the Borisov Cabient amidst mass street protests, and were signed by Deputy Labor Minister Zornitsa Rusinova, afera.bg has reported as cited by BGNES.

A document of the Labor Ministry signed by Rusinova, which has been obtained by afera.bg and BGNES, shows that the grants were allocated on February 15, 2013, without stating the name and purposes of the projects in question, and without any conclusions as to whether they meet the requirements of the EU program. There is also no data about the private firms, NGOs, and sports clubs that got the funding, and no explanation why most entities got almost 100% of the worth of their projects.

One of the beneficiaries, for example, is an organization called "Center for Sustainable Social Development"; it got a grant of BGN 182 000, and provided own funding of only BGN 6 000.

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