24.02.2022

WITHOUT EU FUNDS IN 2022

Zero years under the old operational programs are announced by the ministries that manage EU funds, according to data for 2022. Due to depleted resources, some of them will not open any procedures, others have little money and will go to a limited number of beneficiaries.

There are no programs for the new programming period 2021 - 2027 yet, there was a big delay in the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability.

In this regard, Finance Minister Asen Vasilev said the government would be able to cope with an ambitious plan to make more national investments without EU assistance. On the other hand, it is already clear that the year will be problematic due to high inflation, which affects the implementation of existing and unfinished construction contracts.

In October last year, the Ministry of Ecology announced that it would not publish an annual program for 2022, as it does not plan new procedures, reminds Sega.

At the end of January this year, the executive agency, which manages the operational program "Science and Education for Smart Growth", also announced zero 2022 for new procedures due to depleted financial resources. The Innovation and Competitiveness Оperational рrogram will also not announce new procedures under the old programming period due to lack of funds.

The good news is that there are still several departments that will recruit projects this year. Under the Transport and Transport Infrastructure Program, only one project will be running with direct provision of funds to a specific beneficiary - BGN 166 million for improvement of the railway infrastructure for National Railway Infrastructure Company. There will be a single project under the Good Governance Program - BGN 850,000 for the NSI for the implementation of a single entry point for the submission of annual activity reports and integrated use of data from the NSI, NRA and the Registry Agency. A few more projects will be implemented in 2022 under the Rural Development Program, but even there the resources are very limited.

Under many of the operational programs, finances have been exhausted due to the redirection of funds to measures related to Kovid-19. This means that there will be no risk of loss under such programs, but the year is expected to be quite poor in terms of European funding.

The approval of both the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan and the new operational programs has been delayed and actual implementation can be expected in the second half of the year. The Ministry of Finance has already announced that under the Plan this year we can expect a maximum advance payment of BGN 1.6 billion.

It is unclear whether Bulgaria will be able to cope with the requirement to negotiate 70% of the resource of nearly BGN 13 billion by the end of 2022 and 100% by the end of 2023. We remind you that the business insisted on projects ready for implementation to start without waiting for final approval, which is allowed by European regulations.

With the budget for 2022, the government already promises to have large national investments, despite the lack of sufficient EU revenues, but here too the implementation time is starting to be a problem. It is still unclear whether and how the issue of more expensive construction materials and the already in question construction projects under the European programs will be resolved, Sega reminds.