Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova: Projects totaling over EUR 15 million from Bulgaria have been submitted under the First Call of the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Romania – Bulgaria 2014 – 2020

A total of 36 projects have been adopted by the Monitoring Committee of the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme INTERREG V – A Romania – Bulgaria 2014 – 2020. The 36 projects totaling EUR 24,937,162  are for implementation of soft measures under the following priority axes of the Programme – ‘A well-connected region’, ‘A green Region’ and ‘ A safe Region’. The estimated budget for the Bulgarian partners is EUR 15,23 million.

The third session of the Committee during which the project proposals were considered, was held in  Bucharest, Romania.  Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Denitsa Nikolova, took part in it as a representative of Bulgaria. She expressed her satisfaction with the rapid pace of the implementation of the Programme and emphasized the necessity of active participation and responsible position of all Committee members.

Within the First Call 117 projects have been submitted, as the largest interest is in Priority Axis 2 ‘A Green Region’ with 89 submitted proposals. For 70 projects Bulgarian organizations and institutions are leading partners as the most active are Vidin, Ruse and Dobrich Regions .

The FIRST CALL was announced in March 2015, as the deadline for submission of project proposals for soft measures was 30 June while that for investment measures - 30 September. The total amount of funding is EUR 208,130,964, of which EUR 180,972,413 (87%) for investment projects and EUR 27,158,544 (13%) – for soft measures. 

Within the held session Application Guidelines under the SECOND CALL for project proposals, aimed at the establishing a strong partnership in the eligible territory by financing both soft measures - such as strategies, seminars, exchange of experience and knowledge and investment projects with particular impact on cross-border territory, were considered and adopted. These activities will be funded under Priority Axis 4 – ‘A skilled and inclusive region’, which aims to create an integrated cross-border region regarding employment and labour mobility as well as Priority Axis 5 – ‘An effective region’, aimed at increasing the capacity for cooperation and effectiveness of public institutions in the context of a cross-border region.

The total available budget of the two Priority Axes amounts to EUR 30,458,192. These funds will support two types of activities - soft measures /studies, strategies, seminars, exchange of knowledge and best practices / and investment activities with a specific effect on cross-border territory.
The amount of funding for a particular operation will range between EUR 100,000 and EUR 1, 500,000 depending on the operations’ goals and priorities.
The deadline for submitting project proposals for soft measures is March 15, 2016
Further information can be found on the official website of the Programme.