Zoellick Tells Barroso He Is Impressed with Bulgaria's Govt

Robert Zoellick (left) together with Bulgarian EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva (middle) and PM Boyko Borisov in Sofia in August. Photo by BGNES

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has sent a special laudatory letter dedicated to Bulgaria to the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the WB office in Sofia confirmed for Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).

Zoellick’s letter to Barroso appears to be a follow-up of his visit to Bulgaria in early August during which he gave much praise to the Borisov government and signed a deal with it for providing Bulgaria with World Bank experts and expertise for infrastructure projects with international funding.

The Bulgarian government is making substantial progress in fighting corruption and organized crime, Zoellick has stated in his letter, in which he also notifies Barroso of the agreement made with the Bulgarian authorities for helping them with World Bank expertise.

According to Zoellick, the Cabinet of Boyko Borisov is focusing on bringing the Bulgarians the benefits of “a cleaner government committed to the full integration of the country in the EU.”

He further notifies Barroso that the World Bank has made a commitment to helping Bulgaria restructure its railways.

What is more, the World Bank President has told the President of the European Commission that he is impressed with the speed of the reforms in Bulgaria, and the fact that the Bulgarian government has identified the flaws of its own administration that prevent it from taking full advantage of its European Union membership.

In order to help Bulgaria with in that area, Zoellick makes it clear to Barroso that the World Bank is ready to adjust its current loan program for the country in order to help it get ahead with benefiting from the available EU opportunities.

A first step in that respect is said to be restructuring the World Bank-funded projects in Bulgaria in the fields of transport and municipal infrastructure. Zoellick has declared the readiness of the WB to help out Bulgaria with coming up with projects for EU funding for the next financial framework period, 2014-2020.

During his visit to Bulgaria in August, Zoellick was accompanied by his former deputy, Bulgaria's EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who served as a Vice-President of the World Bank before joining the European Commission on Bulgaria's behalf in February 2010.

As Georgieva's contract with the VP was supposed to expire only in 2017, Robert Zoellick granted her a special permission to leave her WB position in order to become Bulgaria's EU Commissioner.

Bulgarian Finance Minister and Deputy PM Simeon Djankov is also a former senior World Bank economist.

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