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Atanas Pekanov
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The Cabinet of Ministers has highlighted in the Recovery Plan three priority topics – health, education and energy
We should not concentrate all economic activity in Sofia. The capital is developing well anyway, but the other regions remain the poorest in Europe. We share that the metro is important, but we do not see why Sofia is not looking for a way to finance some of these large infrastructure projects on its own, and not only from the state budget. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov in the program “The day begins with Georgi Lyubenov” on BNT.
He recalled that 5% of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan is set aside only for projects in the capital. It may seem small, but if we compare it with all other cities, there are fewer projects. BGN 560 million in the plan were set only for things that are for Sofia, Pekanov said.
The project for the Sofia metro will not be damaged, it will be realized. We are looking for opportunities from these BGN 560 million, which are especially for Sofia in the Recovery Plan, some reduction so that we can redistribute them elsewhere in the country.
All capitals pay the most taxes. Part of the role of the budget is to seek redistribution and direct some of the funds to other cities. He is convinced that the citizens of Sofia are also interested in this.
This is the case in all member states – the capital is a separate administrative region and receives less than European funds. Sofia is part of the Southwest region and so this region receives less, but it is also perceived as richer, explained the Deputy Prime Minister.
Strengthening the money for health, education and energy – this was done by the Cabinet in the Recovery Plan, the project for which has already been sent to the European Commission.
We have found projects in which there were unnecessary costs, from there we transfer to others that are our priority, said Pekanov. According to him, some projects are good and build on them.
We have a serious problem with the Irrigation Systems project. There are fears that it will harm the environment in the way it is set, he said.
Additional assistance will be requested from the EC in order to improve the capacity of the administration in our country, and it will be prepared to control the spending of money and the implementation of the plan, Pekanov said.
BGN 1.6 billion will be received this year in the Bulgarian economy after the final approval of the plan in Brussels, the Deputy Prime Minister specified. According to him, there is no danger that our country will lose funds due to the delay. The money is not in danger, he said.
The EC services already have our draft plan. They have a technical time of 1-2 weeks to give us back what meets the criteria and what does not. In the meantime, we are preparing for a public discussion in mid-July. And at the end of July we will be ready with our version of the plan, explained the procedure Atanas Pekanov.
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