On 7 February 2017, the Granite Hall at the Council of Ministers became the venue of the second meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the partnership agreement. The Monitoring Committee was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for European Funds, Ms. Malina Krumova.
During the session, Mr. Ilia Karanikolov, Deputy Chairman of the Managing Board and Executive Director of the Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria EAD (FMFIB EAD) made a presentation on the progress made by the Fund of Funds in setting up its operations. The main focus was on the development and launch of the financing instruments within the four Operational Programmes with which the Fund has already signed agreements: OPHRD 2014-2020, OPIC 2014-2020, OPRG 2014-2020 and OPE 2014-2020.
‘Our plans are to implement six financing instruments this year, starting with the selection of financial intermediaries for shared-risk micro-financing under OPHRD 2014-2020. We have been working actively to prepare the Technology Transfer Fund and the Seed/Acceleration and Start-up Fund. Very soon, we will launch market test consultations for the Mezzanine Fund’, Ilia Karanikolov told the members of the Monitoring Committee. He underlined that FMFIB EAD continues to discuss actively the implementation of the financing instruments on the market with the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The company has a team of highly-qualified professionals experienced in the area of EU funds and public procurement, and in the implementation of financing instruments. ‘We are very serious about developing the capacity of the company and believe that, together with the Managing Authorities, we are on the right track’, Ilia Karanikolov said.
The main topics discussed by the Monitoring Committee included the financial implementation of the programmes, state aid, the legal framework concerning the European Funds, and the audit engagements under the programmes, EUMIS 2020, the National Communication Strategy 2014-2020, etc.
