Bulgaria worst performer in EU fund absorption

Bulgaria ranks last among all European member countries in absorption of EU funds, Jean Marie Seiler, director of Regional Policy at the European Commission, said. We are pleased with the efforts of the Bulgarian government but the achieved is still insufficient. He recommended improving public administration services. The two sectors most at risk to lose EU funding are transport and environment. Seiler pointed out the progress in some big projects like Trakia motorway and the Sofia underground. The EU has allocated EUR 7 million under various operational programmes and if the money is not absorbed according to schedule it will have to be returned to European citizens, he said. At present, there are no suspended EU funds but it is true that some of the infrastructure projects are being delayed, Yuliana Nikolova, secretary of the EU fund management council, said. She confessed that European financing is transferred to recipients too slowly.

Finance