European Commission Unfreezes EUR 115 M in Bulgaria ISPA Aid

The decision for unblocking part of the ISPA funds for Bulgaria was announced at a Tuesday meeting in Brussels between EU Regional Aid Commissioner and Polish Socialist member Danuta Hubner and Bulgarian Deputy PM, Meglena Plugchieva. Photo by Sofia Photo

The European Commission unfroze Tuesday some EUR 115 M in aid for Bulgaria in what has been seen as a pre-election image boost for the ruling Socialists.

The decision for unblocking part of the funds suspended due to corruption was announced at a meeting in Brussels between EU Regional Aid Commissioner and Polish Socialist member Danuta Hubner and Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, Meglena Plugchieva, who was appointed to oversee the distribution of EU funds.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister, and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Sergey Stanshev, issued an official statement about the funds' release, saying the EC decision is the right one, giving high marks to the country's demonstrated will to make changes and his Cabinet's efforts to turn around the ways EU funds are absorbed.

The unfrozen money comes from a pre-accession ISPA programs for infrastructure projects, which aim to improve Bulgaria's dilapidated roads. Funds from a technical assistance program for acceding countries and for agriculture remain suspended.

On July 23 2008, the EC halted intermediate payments from the cohesion fund for the "Lyulin Highway and Sofia Beltway" and "Technical Assistance for Road Planning for European Transportation Corridors (TEN-T)" projects, due to lack of control and transparent management at the then "Republican Road Infrastructure" Fund. The blockage was preceded by a huge corruption controversy after the Road Infrastructure agency's head Veselin Georgiev was charged with awarding contracts worth tens of millions of BGN to companies run by two of his brothers.

In order to be able to access the money, Bulgaria had to undertake several measures: adopting the Conflict of Interest Act, changing the Public Tenders Act and the Road Act, reorganizing the Road Fund, among others.

The unfrozen funds will come as an unexpected bonanza for Bulgarian Socialist Prime Minster Sergey Stanishev ahead of the general elections on July 5, which are highly likely to be won by the popular party of Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov.

 

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