The European Commission is expected to resume suspended payments under OP Environment by mid-November

The European Commission is expected to resume suspended payments under OP Environment within two weeks, Deputy Prime Minister on the Management of EU funds Iliyana Tsanova said at a briefing in the Council of Ministers. This emerged following a conversation with Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn on Tuesday.

After completing the checks, the Commission has confirmed that the management and control systems of OP Environment were functioning. Deputy Prime Minister Tsanova thanked the administration for its efforts to improve the systems. “Much of this work remained invisible to the public. For us this was a priority”, Tsanova said.

Until the end of this week and prior to the payments being resumed, Bulgaria will submit to the European Commission a payment request including a financial correction of 9.5%.

We expect BGN 700 million from the EC under OP Environmen until the end of the year, the Deputy Prime Minisetr said. About BGN 450 million had been paid so far with State Budget funds under OP Environmen and the two suspended axes of OP Regional Development. Resumed payments by the Commission would have a positive effect on the State Budget, Iliyana Tsanova said.