Minister Valentin Cerovski received the M.P. from the European Parliament Brian Simpson – a member and speaker of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport, and Tourism

The Regional Development and Public Works Minister Valentin Cerovski received the M.P. from the European Parliament Brian Simpson – a member and speaker of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport, and Tourism. The meeting was also attended by the Mr. Remzi Osman, a chairman of the Committee on Local Self-Governance, Regional Policy and Public Works in the 39th National Assembly, which has invited Mr. Simpson to Bulgaria. The M.P. from the European Parliament visits for the first time Bulgaria as the goal of his visit is to get a firsthand experience of the work of his colleagues from the Bulgarian government on questions within its competence. A main topic of the conversation was the development of the transport infrastructure in Bulgaria. Minister Valentin Cerovski acquainted his guest with the work of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works /MRDPW/, as special emphasis was put on the priority projects in the field of the road and water and sewerage infrastructure, and the attraction of investment from the private sector for implementation of the projects. Minister Cerovski also presented the MRDPW policy in terms of development and construction of motorway infrastructure. With reference to the negotiations of Bulgaria for EU accession, he expressed a hope that Chapter 21 Regional Policy will have been closed by the end of the Irish presidency of the EU. On his part, Brian Simpson hailed the efforts of Bulgaria to finalize the negotiations under Chapter 21. In this connection, he emphasized that the skill to attract and absorb the EU funds would be of vital importance for Bulgaria in the future, and underlined that it is not absolutely obligatory for the state to cover the other part of the assistance by the Euro funds, but to attract investment applying the scheme of public-private partnership. Photo: /from left to right/ Mr. Remzi Osman, Mr. Brian Simpson and Minister Valentin Cerovski PR & International Relations Directorate