On November 2, 2011, the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds discussed with representatives of the Executive Power the current state and the progress of the projects under the:

• “Transport” Operational Program 2007 – 2013 and the
• ISPA Program/Cohesion Fund (Regulation 1164/94) in the “Transport” sector.

The Committee Meeting has been joined by Mr. Ivaylo Moskovski - Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Mr. Lazar Lazarov – Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency, Mr. Hristo Alexiev – Deputy Director General of the National Railway Infrastructure Company and other Executive Power representatives. The Committee Meeting has also been joined by Mr. Ivan Valkov – Chairperson of the Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Committee at the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria.
In the framework of the Hearing some key issues regarding the European funds management process in the “Transport” sector in the country have been discussed. The following accents can be highlighted:

• The implementation of the “Transport” Operational Program 2007 – 2013 has been significantly speeded up since the beginning of 2011. Ten Infrastructure Projects are already under implementation. At October 31, 2011, 72,2% of the envisaged budget for the present Programming Period have been contracted and 18,4% have been paid. Within January 1, 2011 – October 31, 2011, 59% of the total contracted funds for the period January 1, 2007 - October 31, 2011 have been contracted and 71% of the total paid funds for the period January 1, 2007 - October 31, 2011 have been paid;

• The forecasts of the “Transport” Operational Program 2007 – 2013 Managing Authority show full contracting of the budget for the current Programming Period by the end of the year together with reaching 26,3% level of payments;
• The recommendation of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds formulated in the Interim Report on the absorption of the European funds in 2011 concerning the opportunity for considering the funding of ready-to-go projects addressing real public necessities instead of significantly delayed in terms of preparation projects has been taken into consideration. A proposal for reallocation of funds from the Batin – Belene project towards Stage III of the Metro Extension project is in process of elaboration;

• The results of the “Transport” Operational Program Mid-term evaluation will be presented at the forthcoming Monitoring Committee Meeting (December 7-8, 2011);

• The current state of key projects under the ISPA Program/Cohesion Fund (Regulation 1164/94) in the “Transport” sector has also been discussed.

The Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds congratulated the Executive Power representatives for the serious progress in the management of the European funds in the “Transport” sector for the last months.

The presentation and discussion of the information on the progress under the Programs and projects above is a part of the series of hearings before the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds aimed at exerting political control over the activity of the state administration structures engaged in the management of the European funds in the country. The materials and the debates of the meetings will be used in the elaboration of the Interim and Annual Reports of the Committee on the absorption of the EU funds in the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Report from the hearing can be found at (available only in Bulgarian):
http://parliament.bg/bg/parliamentarycommittees/members/240/reports/ID/3021