Topical Information

The NAMRB team on programs and projects of the municipalities presented to mayors of municipalities and employees of the regional administration of Taraclia, Moldova, the role of the Bulgarian local authorities and the Association in the investment of the EU funds.

The delegation from Moldova was on training in Gabrovo on April 5 and 6, dedicated to the European integration of the country and the management of projects supported by European funds. The event is organized by the regional governor of the Gabrovo region, Kristina Sidorova, and the chairman of the Taraclia region in Moldova, Ivan Paslar.

At the forum, Veselka Ivanova, head of department at the NAMRB, introduced the mayors from Moldova to the structure of local self-government in Bulgaria and the responsibilities of the Bulgarian municipalities. The long-term activity of the Association in support of the municipalities for the implementation of projects with European funding through the established unit in the NAMRB, the created and actively functioning network of Euroexperts from the municipalities, the trainings, the national meetings, the free consultations and manuals, the equipment delivered to the site, the daily information on all topics concerning the various EU funds and initiatives.

NAMRB's data show that since the beginning of the membership in the EU, the Bulgarian municipalities have agreed on over 9,200 projects with European funding only on the programs at the national level, which are for over 10 billion euros. There is no Bulgarian municipality without a European project, and on average each one has implemented or is implementing around 35 European projects.

The EU-funded projects of the Bulgarian municipalities cover almost all spheres of socio-economic development - from the provision of important social, health, educational and integration services, through the improvement of the living environment, urban transport, the expansion of opportunities for recreation, sports and culture to prevention of risk. Behind these successful investments are the enormous efforts and work of thousands of municipal employees and the municipal managements of several mandates of the local government.

The good practices of the Bulgarian municipalities in investing the European resource were also presented to the Moldovan mayors. A potential opportunity for joint European projects is the open invitation under the Program for the Black Sea Basin 2021-2027, for the inclusion of which the Moldovan mayors showed interest. The other topic presented by the NSORB team, which also aroused interest, was the role of the Association for twinning between Bulgarian municipalities and their foreign partners. Currently, 13 Bulgarian municipalities are twinned with local authorities from Moldova, mostly from the regions with a predominant Bulgarian diaspora. The mayor of the city of Tvarditsa in Moldova and the deputy chairman of the Taraklia region, Lazar Dermenzhi, who were part of the Moldovan delegation, highly appreciated their fruitful partnerships with Ruse, General Toshevo, Karlovo, Sliven and other Bulgarian municipalities, which allow them to share experience in various spheres.

The mayors of Gabrovo, Dryanovo and Tryavna shared their experience regarding the preparation and implementation of European projects. The role of the FLAG fund for the realization of the municipal European projects and the work on the pre-accession funds was presented by Dora Yankova, chairman of the Board of Directors of FLAG.

13 mayors of municipalities took part in the training in Gabrovo, including Tatiana Tsurkan, mayor of Vinogradovka, and vice-chairman of the Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova, as well as 6 representatives of the Taraclia region.