EU FUNDS FOR BULGARIA INCREASE BY 24%

The net effect of Bulgaria's membership in the EU recorded an annual growth of 24% and amounted to € 1.22 bn, according to data of the Bulgarian National Bank for November 2011. 

The net effect is calculated as a difference between the amounts received from the EU funds and the payments due from our membership together with the contributions to various funds and programs, including the current capital transfers of the State.

In the period December 2010 - November 2011, the country received a total of €743.6 mln from Bulgarians permanently living and working abroad, which means an increase of 8.4% on an annual base, showed the BNB data. These transfers account for about 5% of the country's GDP. As a result, the net effect of our EU membership, together with the transfers from Bulgarians working abroad was €1.99 bn for a year. As noted in the report of Eurostat on emigrants' cash flows in the EU, the deficit in the country's current account in 2010 would have been nearly 160% higher without the remittances of the Bulgarians working abroad. 

Tomislav Donchev, Minister for EU Funds Management, said recently that in 2012 Bulgaria expected to receive from the Cohesion and Structural Funds a total of €4.5 bn, which was 5.6% of the expected GDP of the country.