We are second in the number of inspections for fraud with EU funds

Bulgaria is in second place in terms of the number of inspections carried out last year by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). This is shown by the data from the annual report on the service's activities, dariknews.bg reported.

In our country, 14 inspections were carried out, and recommendations for follow-up actions were issued in five cases. The most numerous inspections were in Romania (16), and 10 recommendations were issued due to detected irregularities.

The report shows that last year a total of 265 inspections were completed in EU countries and in other countries where projects with EU funds are being worked on, and 190 new investigations were initiated . OLAF issued recommendations for the recovery of €1.04 billion and prevented the misuse of €209.4 million.

Among the internal investigations, the most numerous were related to the activities of employees of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European External Action Service. Most of these cases ended with OLAF's recommendation for further action.

It is noted that with the participation of OLAF last year suspicions of circumvention of the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia and Belarus due to the military attack against Ukraine were investigated. The European Office has also checked data on secret trade agreements, manipulation of public procurement procedures, suspected conflicts of interest, forged invoices, duty evasion and smuggling.