The final version of the Partnership Agreement of Bulgaria with the European Union for 2014- 2020 will be completed by the end of February, stated the Vice-Premier and Euro Funds Minister Zinaida Zlatanova  during the question time held in the parliament on 29 January 2014. The agreement outlines the assistance that Bulgaria is going to receive from the European structural and investment funds in the period 2014-2020. The text of the agreement is drafted by the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs and European Funds Oversight and will be approved by the Council of Ministers before the start of the negotiations. The draft agreement foresees development of 67 cities of Bulgaria with funds from the Operational Program “Regional Development”.

MP Dzhevdet Chakurov expressed concern that the draft allocates more money to the big cities instead of the small ones, something that impedes the process of decentralization.

Answering a question of Coalition for Bulgaria MP Strahil  Angelov, Zinaida Zlatanova explained that the implementation of the Partnership Agreement will need amendments to certain laws, such as the Public Procurement, the Electronic Communications and the Waters Acts.