A total of 7 projects in the reserve lists will be backed with 3.5 million EUR by the Interreg Bulgaria-Türkiye programme. These reserve projects from Priority 1 and 2 will receive grants following the decision of the Monitoring Committee to give green light for overcontracting of up to 15% of the programme budget. Five of the projects are of SMEs that will boost energy efficiency and shift to circular economy. The rest two are investments in the tourism and cultural heritage of the cross-border region. The overcontracting aims to promote all quality projects, to increase financial flexibility and to ensure the programme's resources are fully utilized.
“Despite the late kick-off of the 21-27 programming period on an EU level, now we have topped a selection rate of 79%. This is above the Interreg average and it represents the joint dedication of the Monitoring Committee, the Managing and National Authority, Joint Secretariat and the European Commission”, said Desislava Georgieva, Director of Territorial Cooperation Management Directorate at the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. She added that 21 million euros are in the pipeline of contracting and pretty soon they will foster the tourism, competitiveness and the green transformation of the cross-border region.
“Our programme is an example to follow how different institutions from different countries can manage complex issues in a timely and precise way. The investments we support tackle one of the most important priorities of the region and people recognize us as a powerful instrument”, added Serdar Öztürk, Deputy General Director to the Directorate General of the Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation at the Directorate for European Union Affairs, Türkiye.
Another important decision of the Monitoring Committee was the approval of the Guidelines for applicants for upcoming strategic call for fire prevention, addressing the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters, particularly in light of recent devastating wildfires. 5,1 mln. euro are allocated for interventions by the fire authorities of the two countries - the Bulgarian General Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection and the Turkish Istanbul Regional Forestry Directorate. The main activities to be supported include trainings on fire management, development of joint disaster response plans, setting unified standard operating procedures on interaction for fire and supply of specialised firefighting machinery. This strategic decision of the Monitoring Committee marks the launch of 100% of the Programme resources through call for proposals.
Members of the committee also reviewed the progress under the performance framework of the programme, taking into account the approved projects in the three priorities. From a total of 19 indicators, 13 are secured 100% and above through the selected projects, 4 indicators are secured more than 50% and the rest will be covered after implementing the forthcoming intervention on wildfire protection.
The Forth meeting of the Monitoring Committee in Edirne was chaired by Serdar Öztürk from the National Authority, Desislava Georgieva represented the Managing Authority and Margarita Grantcharska-De Muynck - programme manager at DG Regio in the European Commission.
