Central Coordination Unit

Director of the Directorate - Ivan Ivanov

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The Central Coordination Unit Directorate supports the Minister of Finance in implementing the overall organization, coordination and control of the EU funds management system.

The Directorate has four Divisions – “Strategic Planning and Programming”, “Monitoring and Analysis”, “Information Systems” and “EU Funds Communication” – and performs the following functions stipulated in Art. 34b of the Rules of Procedure of the Ministry of Finance:

• coordinates and communicates with the European Commission at an expert level with regard to the implementation of programs and instruments co-financed with EU funds;
• ensures coordination among the bodies within the system for coordination, management, control and audit of the funds from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and the European Shared Management Funds (ESMF);
• performs analyses and current monitoring of the functioning of the management system of the European Structural and Investment Funds for the 2014-2020 program period and the European Shared Management Funds and introduces proposals for streamlining it;
• coordinates the processes of planning and programming of the Partnership Agreement, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and the programs co-financed by ESMF and other donors, as well as their amendments;
• coordinates the implementation of programs co-financed by ESIF, ESMF and other donors, and ensures their complementarity with other programs, instruments and mechanisms;
• drafts and develops the regulations for the management of ESIF and ESMF and prepares methodological guidelines and general guidelines in relation to the implementation of the programs co-financed by these funds and by other donors;
• monitors the implementation of the Partnership Agreement and the programs co-financed by ESIF, ESMF and other donors, coordinates the activities of assessing the effectiveness of the invested resources and the implementation of the set targets, carries out horizontal evaluations related to the implementation of the Partnership Agreement, and proposes measures to increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness;
• conducts current monitoring of the implementation of the milestones and targets under the NRRP by monitoring their timely implementation, verification of the implementation of reforms and supporting the reporting of the digital and green contribution of investments, the common indicators and the level of social expenditure;
• analyzes the risks to the implementation of the objectives and policies of Next Generation EU instruments and proposes measures to overcome them;
• provides methodological support to the management and control bodies of the programs co-financed by ESIF, ESMF and other donors directed to the implementation of a unified approach regarding the horizontal principles and rules for the implementation of the programs;
• provides methodical support to the participants in the implementation of the NRRP in connection with the implementation of a unified approach with regard to horizontal aspects, such as the "do no significant harm" principle, equal opportunities, etc.;
• plans and coordinates the measures supported by international financial institutions, instruments, European initiatives, etc. with a view to the effective implementation of ESIF, ESMF and NRRP;
• coordinates the planning and implementation of the measures to build and maintain the administrative capacity for the implementation of the Partnership Agreement and the NRRP;
• acts as a National Coordination Unit for bilateral programmes from other donors;
• manages the Fund for Bilateral Relations (FBR) and the Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) under the Financial Mechanism (FM) of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (NFM), as well as the Technical Assistance Fund and the Fund for project preparation under the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme (BSCP);
• analyzes, develops and implements information systems for management and monitoring of public investments from EU funds and other donor programs in order to ensure their effective spending;
• ensures the planning, development, management and maintenance of the Information system for management and monitoring of EU funds in Bulgaria and the National Investment Management System, as well as performs the functions of the Systems’ Technical Support Unit;
• performs the functions of the central coordinator at the national level of the Commission's fund management systems: SFC 2007, SFC 2014, SFC 2021 and ARACHNE;
• coordinates the work of Working Group 19 "Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments" under the Council for European Affairs;
• ensures the activity and performs the functions of Secretariat of the EU Funds Management Coordination Council;
• coordinates the information and communication activities regarding ESIF, ESMF, NRRP, BSCP, FM of the EEA and NFM;
• develops and coordinates the implementation of national communication strategies for ESIF and ESMF, as well as a strategic framework for the implementation of information and communication activities in relation to NRRP;
• organizes and implements campaigns to raise awareness about the financing opportunities under EU funds and other donor programs, as well as about the results achieved by the financed investments;
• develops, coordinates and manages the network of information and communication officers of the programs co-financed by ESIF and ESMF;
• develops and coordinates the network of 27 information points for the promotion of ESIF and ESMF;
• maintains and coordinates communication between the network of information and communication officers of the programs co-financed by ESIF and ESMF, and the network of 27 information points for the promotion of ESIF and ESMF;
• creates, develops, manages and maintains the Single Information Web Portal for general information on EU funds.