Minister: Regional Development Ministry Is 'No. 1' in Bulgaria

Rosen Plevneliev, Bulgaria's Minister for Regional Development, claims his ministry is the first from Bulgaria to submit an EU compliance assessment. Photo by BGNES

Rosen Plevneliev claimed that his was the first and most ambitious of all Bulgarian ministries, when opening a Sofia conference on "Progress on implementation of Operational Programs (OP) Regional Development".

The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works based his claim on the fact that it had already sent its compliance assessment to the European Commission. Plevneliev said on Thursday that he hoped to receive a positive assessment from Brussels within six to eight weeks.

According to him, the results of the projects included in the operational program are already available. "We already have European schools, European kindergartens, and European roads," he stated.

Payments under contracts of OP "Regional Development" are worth EUR 60 M at present, said Liliana Pavlova, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works.

She noted that, only a month ago, the payments were worth over EUR 30 M, and said it was necessary to continue accelerating the pace of settlement of the projects.

The total cost of the program is EUR 1,6 B, Pavlova stated. She added that, once the Bulgarian government approves the concept for restructuring hospital care in the country, an open scheme for the operational program will begin, which will provide funding to state hospitals to a total of BGN 148 M, with BGN 100 M going to municipal hospitals.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!