site.btaDeputy PM Pekanov Says SME Funding Audit Ordered over Selection Concerns

An extraordinary audit of a funding procedure for small and medium-sized enterprises was ordered over concerns about project selection, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov said during quick question time in Parliament on Friday. He was responding to Continue the Change (CC) MP Radoslav Ribarski.

Ribarski said more than 1,100 enterprises had passed assessment under the procedure but were still waiting for funding decisions because of the audit. He asked why the audit was needed, when the procedure would resume, and whether projects without identified problems could be financed separately.

Pekanov said the Just Transition Fund had more than BGN 1.1 billion for coal regions, but only about 40% of the money had been contracted and 7.5% paid out. Serious concerns in Bulgaria and the European Commission over the SME support procedure led to the audit, he added.

“We have concerns about whether the criteria and the way in which the procedure was carried out were correct,” Pekanov said. The audit has not been completed yet, and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works will make the results public once it is over. Pekanov said the check concerned the legality of the procedure itself, not individual companies.

Applicant enterprises deserve clarity and a chance to receive funding, but the Government will not let the procedure continue if the audit finds breaches, Pekanov said. “These funds must be used where they have the greatest effect and where they will create the most jobs,” he added.