15.01.2014

\"Generation of employment - this is the added, eleventh criterion for assessing regional projects for yet more precise differentiation of proposals to be funded under the Public Investment Programme \"Growth and Sustainable Development of the Regions\", Minister of Finance Petar Chobanov announced at a press conference after the Council of Ministers by a decree approved the conditions, procedures and criteria for selection of projects and programmes, as well as the principles for transparent spending of the funds under the Programme. Thus the Government met the requirements of the National Assembly to ensure the transparent spending of the funds under the Programme and for selecting projects and programmes the implementation of which should be focused on achieving economic growth, sustainable development of the regions, enhancement of the competitiveness of the economy and creation of conditions for generating employment and income. The Decree also specifies the sectors in which projects and programmes could be funded - water supply and sewage systems and other activities related to the environment, transport infrastructure, social and cultural infrastructure and other sectors supporting social and economic development.

\"The projects of the ministries to be assessed for funding under the Programme should be focused on the regions\", Chobanov specified. Although not explicitly provided for the agreement in principle when the Programme was discussed projects not to exceed BGN 15 million would be observed, the Finance Minister said. The Ministry of Finance is not to apply with a project under the Programme and there will be no conflict of interest in the selection of projects to be funded. Enough number of provisions is laid down to ensure publicity and transparency in the implementation of the Programme, Petar Chobanov stated.

Minister Chobanov stressed the simplified rules for filling in the application form by municipalities and specified that the regional governors through their coordinating function would assist municipalities in the process of project preparation. The Finance Minister is not expecting delays in the Programme implementation arguing that requests by municipalities for additional funding are being submitted all the time to the MoF and therefore he expects the application forms to be quickly filed with the regional governors and submitted to the Interdepartmental Council for consideration. Regional governors will not have the right to reject municipal projects, thus the possibilities for \"sieving\" on political grounds are eliminated.

\"I expect the requests for funding central administration projects to amount to around BGN 150 million, the remainder of the funds will be granted to municipalities. There is no preliminary allocation of the funds by region and Minister Chobanov hopes for good quality projects in order the BGN 500 million under the Programme to be successfully absorbed. The Finance Minister reminded that the budget procedure and the ways of transparent public finance management and spending had proven themselves successful with time and they would guarantee the smooth implementation of the first for the country in the past 20 years public investment programme.

The Decree adopted today provides for the establishment of an Interdepartmental Council for evaluation, prioritisation and selection of project and programme proposals on a competitive principle for attaining the objectives of the Public Investment Programme \"Growth and Sustainable Development of the Regions\". The Minister of Finance is to head that body and the Minister of Economy and Energy, the Minister of Regional Development, the Minister of Investment Design, the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, the Minister of Environment and Water and the Chairperson of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria are to be its members. Regional governors are assigned functions related to the collection and nomination of specific projects/programmes of regional and local importance proposed by municipalities from the relevant region upon which they shall submit them to the Interdepartmental Council for evaluation, prioritisation and selection. The criteria according to which the Interdepartmental Council will evaluate and select projects are also specified. It is envisaged programme proposals of central administration structures to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance. The Minister of Finance will table a proposal to the Council of Ministers for their approval.

It is envisaged the Council of Ministers by decree to approve a list of the projects and the institutions responsible for their implementation, and the relevant financing. For the purpose of transparent spending of the funds granted to the projects approved their implementation will be monitored, regular reports provided, as well as annual progress report prepared. There is also provision for terminating the financing of projects and the funds will be reallocated to the project that is next in the list or to a new one.