SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 23 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Friday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bulgaria in support of the country’s efforts to make best use of EU funds.
“We stand ready to help the government design and implement sustainable, commercially viable solutions and projects with a positive impact on the economic transformation of the country,” Larisa Manastirli, EBRD director for Bulgaria, said as quoted in a statement by the lender.
“We are also ready to assist in strengthening the capacity of public institutions to implement EU directives and best practices and to provide efficient, high-quality services to businesses and the public,” she added.
The offered assistance will cover support to Bulgaria in drafting sector policies and strategies, designing and implementing priority projects as well as capacity-building assistance to make full and effective use of EU structural and investment funds in the 2014-20 programming period, the statement reads.
The EBRD has invested a total of 3.6 billion euro ($4 billion) in Bulgaria to date, with 620 million euro invested in 2016 alone. The lender will aim to keep its level of investment in Bulgaria at around 200 million euro annually in the following years, the lender has said.
($ = 0.8958 euro)