Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Lidya Shuleva and Oscar de Bruyn Kops, the World Bank Country Manager for Bulgaria, signed Thursday an agreement for a USD 455,000 grant to Bulgaria that will help the preparation of the Second Programmatic Adjustment Loan (PAL 2), which will focus among other things on anticorruption measures, privatization, judicial reform, public administration.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of the Tokyo's Ambassador Jasuyoshi Ichihashi as the grant is made available with resources provided by the government of Japan.

PAL 2 is the second in a series of PALs that will be providing a single umbrella of World Bank support to reforms across different sectors of Bulgaria's economy. PAL 2 will continue the work started under PAL 1 to improve business environment, restructuring of infrastructure sectors and further development of the financial sector.

PAL 2 is expected to be approved by the World Bank's Board of Directors in the spring of 2004.

The loan was expected a year after the release of the first tranche in February this year.

In mid- May, World Bank Country Director Andrew Vorkink warned that the finalization of Bulgartabac's privatisation by the end of the year and the successful implementation of reforms in the judicial system are conditions for the release of the World Bank PAL 2 loan.

Andrew Vorkink called for an end to the "civil war" that is raging between government, parliament and president in Bulgaria.

World Bank representatives have been informed on Thursday about the government's new strategy on Bulgartabac. Oscar de Bruyn Kops pledged to monitor the progress in this respect over the next several months. He expressed the expectation for a new approach to lead to a transparent privatization procedure.