The European Commission (EC) approved the allocation of 20.3 million dollars from the EU solidarity fund for flood damages in Bulgaria. A final decision concerning the funds will be taken during an upcoming session of the European Parliament, sources from the Finance Ministry said.
After the floods during the summer of 2005 caused extensive damage, the Cabinet requested aid from the EU solidarity fund. It applied twice, for the first time on July 29 2005, when Bulgaria requested aid for the damage caused between May and July. The cost of repairing the damage was evaluated at 75 million euro. The second application was submitted at the end of August. The EC approved the provision of 9.7 million euro for the first, and 10.6 million euro for the second application. This is the second time that Brussels has provided financial aid for flood damages. In October, the EU provided 12.3 million euro from the PHARE programme for the same aim, mediapool.bg reported.

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