Bulgaria loses 220 MN Euros worth of PHARE funds

The European Commission maintains the decision it took in July – to withdraw the accreditation of the two Bulgarian payment agencies. The country thus loses some 220 million Euros from the PHARE funds. The sum should have been contracted until November 20.

The Commission initially suspended 550 million Euros out of the PHARE funds destined to Bulgaria. 340 millions are already contracted. The rest of 220 million, from the point of view of officials in Brussels, can no longer meet the November 30 deadline.

Enlargement Commissioner’s spokesperson, Cristina Nagy, announced in a press briefing that Bulgaria didn’t have convincing results since July, despite the plans of action designed so far, the consultants it employed and the legislation initiatives on the issue.