Mayors of Small Municipalities Object to Distribution of Funding under Regions in Growth OP 2014-2020

Mayors of small Bulgarian municipalities have complained that the funding granted under operational program Regions in Growth 2014-2020 will go to urban development activities in 39 big cities which are still using resources from the 2007-2013 programming period.

Concerns over the fair distribution of EU funding have been expressed by the mayors of the municipalities of Troyan, Zlatograd, and Berkovitsa.

Donka Mihaylova, Mayor of the Troyan Municipality, told the Bulgarian National Radio that the step would deepen inequalities between the different regions.

She so-called "4th level municipalities", a total of 26 or 28 municipalities, were to receive EUR 105 M in the 2014-2020 programming period, or EUR 3.5 M per municipality, which was "a negligibly small sum of money."

Dimitranka Kamenova, Mayor of the Berkovitsa Municipality, noted that big cities which had been granted EU funding in the 2007-2013 programming period would get even bigger opportunities to develop.

Kamenova said that it was good that the European Commission had approved the funding applications of new towns and cities, stressing that it would give smaller settlements a chance to kick-start their development.

She pointed out that there would be opportunities to apply for funding under other operational programs such as the Rural Development Program.

Kamenova also noted that Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova had assured mayors that they would also be entitled to national funding which would be available as of 2016.