Bulgaria is unprepared to utilise EU funds for environmental protection, Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov said.

Chakurov sent a letter to State Administration Minister Nikolai Vassilev to address the issue, Novinar newspaper reported.

Seminars and meetings with municipality representatives showed that European funds are not utilised well and the people responsible for the process constantly change, Chakurov said.

To deal with the issue, each municipality should have a team preparing staff to deal with European funding, the letter said. The same teams should attend seminars, in order to guarantee satisfactory fund utilisation results.

In another letter to Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski, Chakurov said that all minister, dealing with EU programmes and funding, should meet to co-ordinate procedures.

Bulgaria should provide material stimuli to municipal representatives responsible for fund utilisation, Chakuroiv said.