The European Commission expects Bulgaria to recover another 28.7 million euros from the EU budget for the construction of so-called guest houses in Bulgaria.
This was announced by Christina Bohman, a representative of the EC Directorate for Agriculture during a hearing in the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control.
According to her, the rest of the funds to be reimbursed have already been returned from our country. Bochman noted that the Bulgarian authorities themselves have decided in the new EU budget until 2027 not to pledge more such projects. According to her, only in Bulgaria there are so many suspicions of irregularities with the funds under this fund, although 21 inspections have been carried out in 10 EU countries, BTA reported.
The Director General of the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Ville Itala, said that out of 746 guest houses in our country, which received more than 103 million euros in funding, 377 had been inspected and none of them met the diversification targets. economic activities at regional level and job creation.
He reported that the Bulgarian authorities had inspected 288 houses and found violations for 253 – 88 percent.
Itala added that for 158 houses, it was recommended that the EU funds be returned in full. A total of 456 houses have not been inspected because the deadlines have expired, he explained.
Representatives of the European People’s Party in the parliamentary committee called the case of Bulgarian houses “horrifying”. On behalf of the Socialists and Democrats, MEP Tsvetelina Penkova called for accountability and noted that no convictions have been handed down so far.
According to the Greens, the report on the guest houses is devastating.
MEP Andrei Novakov (EPP / GERB) described the data as alarming and expressed the expectation that those who have deliberately abused and are on trial will be held accountable. Such shameful acts create the image of an entire country, he said. Novakov recommended that the EC and OLAF develop ways to detect irregularities earlier.
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