In her report of the first year in office Environment and Waters Minister Nona Karadzhova pointed out with satisfaction the achievements regarding the progress in the absorption of EU funds for environmental protection. During the term of the previous government the European Commission had suspended the funding earmarked for Bulgaria under the ISPA pre-accession programme and the ongoing Environment operational programme because of doubts of corruption practices and fund abuse.
The new team of the Environment and Waters Ministry managed in just six months to propose to Brussels a new system for EU funds control and management, which resulted in removing the suspension of the respective means for Bulgaria. New and more reliable terms were introduced for submission of projects for approval for financial assistance. However, this change in rules led to a delay in the drafting of projects. Nevertheless, compared to the absorption rate of EU funding achieved by the previous government, the cabinet of the ruling GERB political party has demonstrated a humble, but very promising progress to that effect. As regards environmental protection, Bulgaria has given priority status to projects related to the construction of community infrastructure for water and waste management.
Bulgaria managed to absorb poorly the money under the ISPA pre-accession programme in the ecological sphere.
“Since 2003, when payments under ISPA began, until August 2009, only 37% of the means had been paid back, which accounts for a little over EUR 500 million”, Environment and Waters Minister Nona Karadzhova told a Radio Bulgaria reporter. “Whereas during the 12 months we have been in office so far, we have reached a 47% absorption of funds, i.e. there has been visible enhancement in that regard. Depending on whether we shall be granted the extension of the ISPA funds’ utilization we have demanded, we could go as far as having 60% - 70% absorption of funding.”
The results regarding the funding under the Environment operational programme, which took effect three years ago, have been more than inconspicuous. During that time Bulgaria hardly managed to absorb 3%-4% of the total resources amounting to EUR 1.8 billion that has been allotted till 2013.
“We have made considerable progress since in 2009 we managed to increase the payments under the programme”, Nona Karadzhova insisted. “We plan to settle payments to the tune of EUR 175 million by the end of the year. In 2011 we could hope to have another EUR 250-300 million in absorbed EU funds under the operational programme. Unfortunately, it is all down to the municipalities.”
The issue is a serious one in that the Bulgarian municipal authorities lack the experience in drafting complex and expensive projects for the construction of regional waste depots or the entire water supply and drainage system of a city. During the first years of EU membership Bulgaria carried out the drafting of the projects under inadmissible terms that allowed for corruption practices to sprout. Thus, the accumulated experience proved wrong. Now the municipalities have to adjust to the new rules and quickly make up for the ‘good practices’ in the drafting of complex community projects. The Environment and Waters Ministry has assumed the leadership in the preparation of strategically important or problematic projects throughout the country and assists the municipalities technically while at the same time carrying out the necessary oversight. Thus, they hope to enhance the process, which is all worth the while, since the success story is the equivalent of EUR 2 billion in gratuitous aid delivered in times of world crisis.
English version: Radostin Zhelev
