Over the past four months, the state administration has signed 1479 contracts under European Union operational programmes (OPs) worth a total of 1.2 billion leva, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Management Meglena Plougchieva told an October 6 2008 news conference, Bulgarian news agency BTA said.

Plougchieva gave a briefing on the implementation of an action plan on improving administration's work with EU funds. Beneficiaries have received 20.5 million leva, she said.

Bulgaria has completed its review on the implementation of three OPs as required in the action plan: Human resources, Competitiveness and Administrative capacity. The reviews four other OPs should be sent to the EC by November 7, Plougchieva said. The EC would have to check the review in three months.

Unfortunately, the work on OP Fisheries and Aquaculture was in its initial stage, Plougchieva said and added that another problem was the still unsatisfactory work of the recently reformed State Road Infrastructure Agency. The agency succeeded the National Road Infrastructure Fund, the institution in the eye of the row that caused the EC to freeze funding for Bulgaria after its head Vesselin Georgeiv was found to be in conflict of interest that benefited a road construction company run by his brother.

The action plan was adopted shortly after in July the European Commission decided to freeze more than 800 million euro in funding to Bulgaria over doubts about the country's ability to cope with corruption in dealing with EU funds.

As part of the Government's efforts in coping with the consequences of the EC' decision, Plougchieva's post was created and she was summoned back to Bulgaria from Germany where she was Bulgaria's ambassador

Bulgaria is currently having access to seven EU operational programmes that provides structural funds. These are Human resource development, Transport, Administrative capacity, Regional development, competitiveness, environment and Technical assistance.