The Minister of Environment and Water Rositsa Karamfilova and the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to Bulgaria His Excellency Raymund Furrer discussed the implementation of the Second Swiss Contribution in the field of environmental protection.

According to the framework agreement between Bulgaria and Switzerland adopted at the end of last year, half of the total financial contribution will be directed to investments in environmental protection, divided into three program. The MOEW will act as program operator for the three program focusing on air quality, waste management, and nature and biodiversity conservation.

Minister Karamfilova congratulated both teams on the progress achieved in the negotiations on the Second Swiss Contribution. “I will not hide that it will be a challenge for us to manage the financial resources in parallel in three difficult tasks and directions. Each of the programs is undoubtedly ambitious, but also extremely necessary,” said Minister Karamfilova. She added that despite the simultaneous management of the three programs, the quality of the results will not be compromised.

On the Swiss side, the meeting was also attended by Daniel Birchmeier, head of donor assistance. The talks are part of the first annual meeting of the Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation Program and took place at the Ministry of Environment and Water.