EC Slaps Hefty SAPARD Fine on Bulgaria

The Director of the Bulgarian "Agriculture" Fund, Kalina Georgieva, says the previous cabinet is to blame for the SAPARD fine imposed by the EC. Photo by BGNES

The European Commission has imposed a BGN 13 M fine on Bulgaria over violations of agreements for the EU SAPARD funds, the Director of the "Agriculture" Fund, Kalina Georgieva, informs.

The Fund is Bulgaria's SAPARD payment agency.

The letter was sent from Brussels and dated September 24.

Ilieva explained the reasons for the sanction are irregular payments to certain businesses on the part of the previous cabinet during the 2007 -2008 period.

She reminded that in the summer of 2008 the EU froze SAPARD financing for Bulgaria and gave the Fund a three-month deadline to fix the violations. Instead, the former leadership of the Fund concealed the companies which abused the resources by not including them in the list of those owning money back.

Ilieva said the cabinet would attempt to ask for a reduction of the fine.

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