The European Commission (EC) has lifted the ban that it imposed on Bulgaria in February 2009 on signing water and sewerage contracts under the Environment operational programme.

The decision follows the overhaul of the Waters Act and the Concessions Act, which regulate the ownership of Bulgaria’s water facilities, Meglena Plougchieva, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU funds absorption, said after a meeting at the EC’s Regional Policy Directorate-General.

However, director-general Dirk Ahner granted the permission on conditions of strict monitoring and financial efficiency. Already agreed projects of more than 500 euro per capita will be subjected to additional screening, Plougchieva said.

Directorate officials said that a range of projects in small municipalities should be revised because of suspiciously vast price tags.

Moreover, local governments will have to provide up to five per cent of the cost of construction work.

Unless these conditions are met within the next weeks, Brussels could veto the programme again, the EC said.

In the meantime, the EC sent the last round of advance payments to Bulgaria under the operational programmes of 64 million euro by 2013, said Regional Policy Directorate-General spokesman Dennis Abbott.

The fate of the 323 million euro blocked under the Phare pre-accession programme will be decided by the end of the month.

The Bulgarian Government is due on April 16 2009 to sift out the schemes which will be financed from the budget. Plougchieva said the Cabinet will back transport, judiciary and health care projects and buy new vehicles for the Interior Ministry and Fire Fighters. The Government is expected to spend up to 100 million leva of taxpayers’ money.

Source: Dnevnik.bg