EU aid boosts Bulgaria growth, employment: minister

(SOFIA) - EU aid money has helped Bulgaria boost economic growth, lower unemployment and increase salaries, the government said Tuesday, forecasting further benefits to the economy by 2015.

"Over 15.6 billion leva (8.0 billion euros, $10.4 billion) were made available to Bulgaria during the first five years of EU membership since 2007 under the seven cohesion policy programmes," EU Funds Management Minister Tomislav Donchev told a press conference.

Ninety percent of the money for the 2007-2013 period has been allocated to different projects, and 27 percent paid out, he said.

As a direct result, Bulgaria's gross domestic product in 2011 was 1.5-percent higher than it would have been without the EU aid, government data showed Tuesday.

Unemployment in the EU's poorest member was also 1.7 percent lower last year than it would have been otherwise, while the number of employed was 2.6 percent -- or about 100,000 people -- higher, it added.

Net salaries were meanwhile 2.3 percent higher.

If Bulgaria succeeds in making the maximum use of its EU cohesion policy money by 2015 -- the deadline for payments -- it will boost growth by 9.3 percent, improve unemployment by 1.5 percent and boost salaries by an impressive 34.6 percent, according to government estimates.

"The effect of this money is extremely important especially at a time of crisis, not only for Bulgaria but also for the other EU member states," Donchev said.

As an example, he highlighted local road and railroad projects funded with the money, that will help boost investment and facilitate exports across the bloc.

"This could be a very strong argument in the ongoing debate on the future of EU cohesion policy," Donchev said, adding he hoped Bulgaria's improved results and better image will help it obtain approximately the same amount of aid for 2014-2020.

Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 but corruption concerns and lack of good projects have severely delayed the start of its cohesion policy programmes with the current rightwing government vowing to catch up when it took power in 2009.