European Commission Restarts Payments to Bulgaria under Regional Development OP
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
The European Commission has notified Bulgaria that payments under operational program Regional Development 2007-2013 can now restart.
The payments were temporarily suspended so as to guarantee the efficiency of control systems.
Bulgarian authorities have received an official letter about the move, according to the EC press office.
The European Commission will proceed without delay with the first payment of 52 million euros under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Payments claims received in February for over 92 million euros are to be paid out in March.
Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Budget and Human Resources, suggested that the restart of payments testified to the good performance of the Bulgarian authorities.
She claimed that Bulgaria’s government had to make up for lost time and make full use of as big a share as possible of the remaining funding under the program.
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu said: "This is excellent news and I welcome the efforts made by the Bulgarian authorities to strengthen the management and control system of the program. The positive steps that Bulgaria took in this direction allow the Commission to restart payments, for the direct benefit of the Bulgarian people and of the national economy."