Deputy Minister Delyana Ivanova: Over 207 million euros will be invested in the development of the border regions of Bulgaria and Romania

Over 207 million euros will be invested in the development of the border regions of Bulgaria and Romania in the period 2021-2027 by the Interreg VI-A Cooperation Program between the two countries. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works- Delyana Ivanova, who co-chairs an online meeting of the Joint Working Group for Strategic Planning and Programming of the programme. At the meeting, both sides approved the final version of the programme, which is to be presented to the EC. The working meeting was attended by Julia Herzog - Co-Chair of the Joint Working Group on Strategic Planning and Programming and Head of the Managing Authority of the Programme, and Maud Scäringer - representative of DG "Regional and Urban Policy" at the EC.

Protecting the environment and combating climate change, improving connectivity in the region through the development of railway-networks and an integrated system for navigation on the Danube, tourism development, and financial support for small and medium-sized businesses are among the main priorities, said the Deputy Regional Minister.

The largest share of the programme's funds - nearly 93 million euros - is earmarked for activities contributing to the implementation of the "Green Deal" and climate change. The strategic investments and open calls will be focused on joint projects between the two countries, for the prevention of disasters and emergencies, the construction of green infrastructure and the reduction of pollution in the settlements along the Danube. More than 70m euros are expected to be invested in an integrated territorial strategy, in support of local communities on both sides of the border, which will be able to set their own priority investments in tourism and related sectors.

Among the strategic priorities in this direction is the completion of the bicycle route " Eurovelo 6" in Bulgaria and Romania, said Deputy Minister Ivanova. Through it we will have access to a bicycle route of 3653 km, connecting important tourist attractions in Europe. This will increase tourist activity and ensure a sustainable transport corridor between the settlements on the Danube. It is also envisaged to improve connectivity through the development of greener transport through investments in railway transportation. "I believe that with the projects for improving the conditions for navigation on the Danube and improving the railway connectivity we will create conditions for increasing economic exchange and will improve the mobility of business and the population," Ivanova added.

As part of the integrated strategy, micro, small and medium-sized businesses on both sides of the border will also receive support from EU funds to develop joint solutions to increase its competitiveness within the common market. The aim is in this way to overcome the negative consequences of the health crisis.

Deputy Minister Ivanova stressed that the new programme is more focused and results-oriented. We were able to ensure a good balance between priorities by providing support for strategic projects and bottom-up initiatives, i.e. proposals from local communities that know their problems best and have good ideas for the development of border settlements, thus bringing European funds closer to people and businesses in the regions, "she added. Deliana Ivanova expressed hope that the program would become a benchmark for measuring the success of cross-border cooperation at European level.

According to Deputy Minister Ivanova, with maximum mobilisation of the countries under the programme, investments in the regions may begin by the end of 2022.