The funds are being provided as part of a cohesion mechanism for Swiss contributions to selected EU member states, with Bulgaria being the first out of 13 countries to end negotiations with an agreement, the government said in a statement.
In what is the second Bulgarian-Swiss cooperation programme, the Swiss support will be organised through nine local programmes across the areas of education and training, culture, the environment and civil society. The grants will not be combined with other types of funding.
As much as 5 million Swiss francs will be disbursed to promote dual vocational training and education to reduce youth unemployment.
Scientific research and development will receive a boost of some 10 million francs, through the SCIEX and PROMYS programmes, while a total of 9.2 million francs has been set aside for initiatives related to security and migration, such as the prevention of crime and human trafficking, as well as the fight against corruption.
Environmental goals such as improving air quality, waste management, energy efficiency and nature conservation will receive a total of 45 million francs, whereas initiatives in healthcare, health prevention and the integration of vulnerable groups will be supported to the tune of 11.5 million francs. As much as 10 million francs is set aside for promoting active citizenship.
The first agreement for a bilateral cooperation programme between Bulgaria and Switzerland was signed in 2010. As many as 66 projects and 118 organisations were financed under it until 2019 for a total of 76 million francs.
The second Swiss contribution, managed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), foresees the provision of total grants of 1.302 billion francs between 2019-2029 to 13 EU member states -- Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
(1 Swiss franc = $ 1.034/1.037 euro)
