Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova discussed the Joint Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation with the Greek Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism, Mr. Giorgos Stathakis

The Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Mrs. Denitsa Nikolova,  held a meeting with the Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism of Greece , Mr. Giorgos Stathakis during the joint session of the Bulgarian and the Greek governments in Sofia.

The main focus of the discussion was to create conditions to successfully implement the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Greece – Bulgaria 2014-2020, keeping the indicative timetable and requirements of the European Commission for absorption of funds and covering specific indicators until 2018. Within the meeting was discussed the issue to prepare and sign as soon as possible the Memorandum for implementation of the Programme which during the previous programming period proved as a good tool for efficient allocation of the responsibilities and facilitating the process of projects implementation. Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova said that the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Greece – Bulgaria is very important for the development of the cross-border region. It meets specific challenges in the region and is an excellent prerequisite for establishing partnerships between operators from both countries. 

Mrs. Denitsa Nikolova and Mr. Giorgos Stathakis also considered some open questions on the different priority axes of the Programme such as the scope of support for small and medium enterprises and the possibility for providing direct support, implementation of joint strategic projects to reduce flood risk in the cross-border region, implementation of the joint project for development of Rudozem - Xanthi border checkpoint, etc.
A common view was that Bulgaria and Greece will continue to work actively in cooperation to make decisions which satisfy both countries.