The two agencies that dealt with distribution of funding under the European Union's Sapard pre-accession programme whose accreditation had been suspended by the European Commission (EC) could still continue functioning, holding procedures and negotiating, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Meglena Plougchieva told private broadcaster bTV.

The agencies’ activity should be accompanied by a strict fulfilment of a number of conditions and engagements recommended by the EC, so that their creditability could be restored.

Projects worth 136 million euro were to be negotiated, Plougchieva said.

The EC receives information from many sources, but the main and most basic information it uses comes from governments and governmental agencies, Zinaida Zlatanova, head of the representation of EC in Bulgaria, told bTV.

“Bulgaria is not the only negative example of a country for which the EC had frozen projects that were EU-funded,” she said.

Bulgaria should take all necessary measures for the culprits of EU funds malfeasances to be punished and to impose administrative measures to prevent such crimes.