Bulgarian projects are expected to receive nearly 12 billion euro from EU's structural funds from 2007 to 2013.

According to agreements, EU financing should be less than 75 per cent of the total project value. The state would have to provide another three billion euro, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Bulgaria lacked companies investing in high technology development, Damyan Damyanov from the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria said. In this manner EU funds were the best source of financial resources for such projects, said he.

Over 99.7 per cent of Bulgarian companies are medium or small sized and over 89 per cent of those fail to introduce any innovations to the production process, Damyanov said.

Other possible sources for funding of innovations and scientific projects include state financial aid, bank loans, foreign investment and volunteer sponsorship, said Damyanov.