BGN 24 million from the OP “Regions in Growth” 2014-2020 will be directed to municipal projects

BGN 24 million saved resources under the Operational Programme “Regions in Growth” 2014-2020 to be allocated additionally for municipal projects. This was proposed by the Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works and Head of the Managing Authority Denitsa Nikolova during a meeting of the Programme Monitoring Committee, which is being held in Plovdiv. Participants in the forum include Aurelio Cecilio, Rachel Beaumont and Jo Govaerts from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.

About BGN 41 million have been saved from the public procurements and projects implemented so far. Of these, BGN 24 million, by decision of the committee, can be redirected to finance additional projects, and the rest will remain as a reserve under the programme. It is envisaged that the Road Infrastructure Agency will also be given the opportunity to use the saved resources to finance more road projects.

Before the participants in the 13th meeting of the Monitoring Committee, Deputy Minister Nikolova reported the implementation of the European programme as successful. So far, 553 contracts worth BGN 2.5 billion have been concluded, i.e. about 85% of the available financing has been agreed, which for the programming period is over BGN 3 billion. 50% of the already agreed funds have been paid, and 17% have been reported to the EC. “This shows that 2 years before the end of the programme we are going at a high pace of implementation,” she said. The Regional Deputy Minister called on the beneficiaries to accelerate their work on the implementation of projects in the field of culture, sports and cultural and historical heritage, which generate revenue and are financed by low-interest loans from the Fund of Funds and financial intermediaries.

Until the end of the year, the negotiation of up to 100% of the resource under the operational program will continue, and all measures are open for application. To date, 74 projects for modernisation of educational infrastructure, road sections, sites of the urban environment – parks, bike lanes, public transport, measures for the supply of new buses, trolleybuses and trams for the capital have been implemented and completed. “Success gives us hope that in the new programming period we will be able to make the most of at least the same resource for regional development, including new models for business and economic coverage," said Nikolova.

In front of journalists, the Deputy Regional Minister commented that the Municipality of Plovdiv is implementing its projects financed by the OPRG at an accelerated pace. “At the moment, all the funds for which the municipality is applying have been agreed, the interim results have been achieved, which is a serious achievement. The projects for the modernisation of the urban environment, the project for the public transport, the renovation of the educational establishments are to be completed. We do not have a fully completed project, but the projects have been appealed. The bad weather conditions also do not allow to work very fast, and these projects require time, investment steps in the name of quality cannot be missed, commented Deputy Minister Nikolova.