Bulgaria was going to receive more than 12 billion euro from the EU funds in the coming seven years, Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski said.

If the funds were utilised efficiently, they could affect significantly Bulgaria’s economic and social development, Dnevnik newspaper quoted Oresharski as saying.

The Finance Ministry was concerned by the lack of administrative and business capacity for the utilisation of such funds.

Bulgaria was performing poorly on the utilisation of ISPA funds, Dnevnik reported. Only 20 per cent of the provided funds were utilised.

The percentage was going to increase in the coming four years, Oresharski reported. Bulgaria managed to utilise nearly 60 per cent of the PHARE and more than 50 per cent of the SAPARD funds, said he.