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RENALDO MANDMETS: BULGARIA HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS’ IMPLEMENTATION
Since 2007 there have been procedures for provision of grants amounting to over EUR 4.7 billion and the number of the approved project proposals exceeds 1 700 for a total amount of over EUR 960 million, said Deputy Minister of Finance Lyubomir Datzov during the Annual Review Meeting on the progress in the implementation of the Operational Programs co-financed under ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, which was held at the Ministry of Finance today. He added that the number of contracts concluded with beneficiaries was over 1600, with around EUR 27 million being paid. The meeting with the representatives of the Commission's DG Regional Policy was also attended by heads of the Managing Authorities of the Operational Programs, the Central Coordination Unit, the Certifying and the Audit Authorities. The purpose of the annual meeting is to review the progress in the implementation of the Operational Programs and to outline measures to eliminate any weaknesses.
Bulgaria has made significant progress in the implementation of the Operational Programmes co-funded by the SCF pointed out the Head of the Unit for Bulgaria at DG Regional Policy Mr. Renaldo Mandmets. He expressed approval of the measures taken by the government to strengthen the administrative capacity of the Managing Authorities and the Intermediate Bodies and to prevent the turnover of experts in them. Mr. Mandmets recommended that efforts to enhance beneficiaries' capacity continue while the process of payments should be speeded up.
The representatives of the European Commission expressed their satisfaction of the introduction of the Unified Management Information System (UMIS) for the funds from the EU Structural Instruments to Bulgaria, which would ensure control on and transparency of the physical and financial implementation of all projects. An important aspect of MIS functionality is the check for double financing.
