Bulgaria has signed four agreements under the PHARE program, totalling EUR 48 M. The country will provide about EUR 10.209 M co-unding, according to the accord signed Monday by Bulgarian Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski and Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Sofia. Two of the fresh documents are designed to boost cross-border cooperation with neighbouring states Greece (EUR 20 M) and Turkey (EUR 5 M). Their cost stands at EUR 25 M funding by the EU and Bulgaria each.

After the signature, Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski said it is still undecided what types of projects will be funded under the program. Yet, he specified the majority of the financial aid would probably be allocated for personal data protection projects, development of a secret data system, as well as for industrial research. A big part of the funds under the remaining two lines will be allotted to Bulgarian municipalities affected by last summer's floods. A total of EUR 1.23 M will be granted for housing recovery, Oresharski said. In 2005 the EU has allotted some EUR 281 M under the PHARE program and more than EUR 500 M under all structural and cohesion funds of the Union , Kourkoulas said.