The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria through the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of Albania announces a procedure for accepting and selecting proposals for projects to be implemented with a grant within the framework of the Official Development Assistance of the Republic of Bulgaria, with an initial deadline for launching in 2020.

Priority Areas and Directions for Implementing Projects on the Territory of the Republic of Albania are:

·         Enhancement of the administrative capacity in order to strengthen the rule of law and democratic governance;

·         Protection of human rights, with a focus on children's rights and minority rights;

·         Protection of the environment;

·         Improvement of the quality of education and the school infrastructure;

·         Protection of cultural diversity and promotion of intercultural dialogue.

1.      Objectives and Scope of the Projects:

·         Providing support for democratic reform processes, building administrative capacity, strengthening the rule of law;

·         Protecting human rights and minority rights, including support for disadvantaged children;

·         Sharing good practices in the field of sustainable management of natural resources, use of renewable energy sources, environmental protection, awareness of and response to climate change;

·         Protecting cultural diversity and promoting cultural exchanges.

2.  Target Groups:

·         state and local administration;

·         local self-government organizations;

·         educational institutions;

·         non-governmental organizations;

·         cultural institutions.

3. Outputs/Results:

·         improving socio-economic development, strengthening the rule of law and democratic governance in the Republic of Albania;

·         protection of human rights, protection of cultural diversity and ethnic tolerance

·         reducing poverty and increasing wealth;

·         deepening the interaction between institutions at central, regional and local level;

·         supporting efforts to protect the environment;

·         affirmation of the reputation and international authority of the Republic of Bulgaria.

 4. Eligible Project Budget:

Minimal amount of the project is 5 000 BGN (about 2 500 EUR).

5. Implementation Deadlines and Duration of the Projects:

5.1. Project proposals must contain an indicative start date for the implementation of the project after March 1, 2020 and no later than November 30, 2020.

5.2. Projects must be completed no later than December 31, 2022 (the third year of the Bulgarian three-year budget forecast).

6.  Eligible Candidates:

No natural or legal person can apply for whom there are circumstances under Art. 23, para. 3-8 of Decree No. 234 of the Council of Ministers of 01.08.2011 on the policy of the Republic of Bulgaria on participation in international development cooperation.

7.   Eligible Activities and Project Costs:

7.1.  The Costs of Project Implementation must Meet All of the Conditions below:

·         be lawful;

·         be executed only with the necessary invoices or supporting documents, testifying the expenditures incurred;

·         be within the budget limits of the project;

·         not funded by any other project, program or any other financial scheme, related to the national budget, the EU budget or any other donor.

7.2.   Compulsory Activities to be provided in the Project:

·         providing of an audit report by an independent financial auditor;

·         ensuring the visibility of the financial assistance provided, in accordance with the Guidelines for publicity and visibility of Bulgarian development aid.

7.3. Examples of Activities Eligible for Funding:

Eligible activities contributing to the strengthening of public institutions in partner countries responsible for developing and implementing national policy in priority areas and aimed at contributing to the enhancement of their transparency, accountability and effectiveness and contributing to strengthening of the civil society development and enhancing the contribution for its social justice, democracy and sustainable development, for example:

·         Organizing and conducting trainings, seminars and conferences aiming at building administrative capacity and public commitment to implement and support democratic reforms, focusing primarily on the border municipalities and on those in mountain areas;

·         Supporting the development of municipalities for European cohesion;

·         Building skills for preparation and implementation of projects with European funding;

·         Activities to raise awareness civic sensitivity and supporting disadvantaged children;

·         Sharing good practices in the field of sustainable management of natural resources, use of renewable energy sources, environmental protection, awareness of and response to climate change;

·         Reconstruction of kindergartens, schools and other educational centers;

·         Activities to promote multicultural dialogue;

·         Organizing young artists' plenaries;

·         Exchange of good practices in the restoration of cultural objects and artifacts.

8. Required Documents for Application:

An Application Form is available in Bulgarian and English.

All fields of the application form should be filled in clearly and properly in either Bulgarian or English. In case of omissions that hinder the evaluation of the project proposal, the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of Albania may require additional information within a short period of time. Failure to provide such information within the deadline shall be considered a ground for rejecting the proposal.

9. Method and Deadlines for Projects Applications:

The project proposals will be accepted:

·         at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of Albania (12, Skënderbej Str., Tirana);

·         e-mail with a scanned copy of the original Application form as well as a digital copy of the completed Application form) to [email protected]

·         by registered post.

The projects should be in Bulgarian or in English, signed and stamped.

 Project proposals will be accepted by 28 June 2019 inclusive.

10. Additional Information:

Candidates shall be informed of the results of the evaluation within 10 working days of the decision of the competent authority. The Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of Albania has no obligation to inform candidates of the grounds for approval or refusal of the submitted project proposals.

Annex 1

Decree No 234 of the Council of Ministers of 01.08.2011 on the policy of the Republic of Bulgaria regarding its participation in international development cooperation (excerpts)

Article 23(3) A legal person seeking to apply for the provision of development aid must not:

1.                   be declared bankrupt;

2.                   be in liquidation proceedings or in a similar procedure under the national laws and regulations;

3.                   be in open insolvency proceedings or must not have entered into an out-of-court settlement with its creditors within the meaning of Article 740 of the Commerce Act, and if the applicant is a non-resident – it must not be in a similar procedure under the national laws and regulations, including if its activities are under the court's control or it has ceased its activities;

4.                   be disqualified from practicing a particular profession or activity under the law of the State in which the offense was committed;

5.                   have any monetary debts owed to the State or a municipality within the meaning of Article 162, paragraph 2 of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code established by an act of a competent authority which has entered into force, unless rescheduling or deferral of the debts has been allowed, or monetary debts relating to the payment of social insurance contributions or taxes under the legal provisions of the State in which it is established;

6.                   have any outstanding private debts owed to the State listed in Article 3, paragraph 7 of the National Revenue Agency Act.

(4) A legal person seeking to apply for the provision of development aid must not have a member of the management body that:

1.                   has been convicted by a final sentence for indictable offense;

2.                   has not fulfilled his/her/its obligations relating to the payment of social insurance contributions or taxes in accordance with the applicable law;

3.                   has provided deliberately false documents when providing information requested as a condition for financing development aid activities or has not provided such information;

4.                   has been disqualified from practicing a particular profession or activity under the law of the State in which the offense was committed;

5.  is a legal person for which any of the circumstances under paragraph 3 exist;

6.                   has any outstanding private debts owed to the State listed in Article 3, paragraph 7 of the National Revenue Agency Act.

(6) Where the members of the management bodies are legal persons, the requirements of paragraph 5 shall apply to their representatives in the relevant management bodies.

(7) Persons seeking to apply for the provision of development aid must not:

1.                   have a member of a management or supervisory body, as well as such person ad interim, including a procurator or a commercial agent who has “close links”, within the meaning of § 1, item 1 of the Supplementary Provision of the Conflict of Interest Prevention and Ascertainment Act, with the agency administering the relevant project or with senior employees in his/her organisation;

2.                  have entered into a contract with a person under Article 21 or 22 of the Conflict of Interest Prevention and Ascertainment Act.