Bulgaria set to lose 130M leva in Sapard funding
Bulgaria was likely to lose 130 million leva in funds allocated under the European Union's pre-accession aid programme Sapard for 2008, Dnevnik daily reported on June 25 2009.
Sofia was warned about such an outcome by Wolfgang Burtscher, the head of the audit department at the directorate-general for agriculture of the European Commission, who sent a letter to the Bulgarian Finance Ministry on June 16, the daily said.
Burtscher reportedly said that his department would not audit spending on projects paid for in 2008 because the State Fund Agriculture, which oversees Sapard funds distribution, did not apply the proper control procedures specified in the Public Procurement Act.
Without the audited reports, the EC would not reimburse Bulgaria for the money spent, Dnevnik said.
The Commission has repeatedly criticised Bulgarian authorities for the weak administrative capacity of its institutions responsible for handling EU funding and State Fund Agriculture has been no different. In March 2008, the EC froze 140 million euro worth of funding over suspicions of fraud and conflict of interest in the awarding of contracts.
Sofia was warned about such an outcome by Wolfgang Burtscher, the head of the audit department at the directorate-general for agriculture of the European Commission, who sent a letter to the Bulgarian Finance Ministry on June 16, the daily said.
Burtscher reportedly said that his department would not audit spending on projects paid for in 2008 because the State Fund Agriculture, which oversees Sapard funds distribution, did not apply the proper control procedures specified in the Public Procurement Act.
Without the audited reports, the EC would not reimburse Bulgaria for the money spent, Dnevnik said.
The Commission has repeatedly criticised Bulgarian authorities for the weak administrative capacity of its institutions responsible for handling EU funding and State Fund Agriculture has been no different. In March 2008, the EC froze 140 million euro worth of funding over suspicions of fraud and conflict of interest in the awarding of contracts.