Hungary will not lose a cent of European Union funding if it draws down 2,100 billion forints (EUR 6.6bn) and fulfills plans to pay out another record sum, Deputy State Secretary for Development Policy Communication Nándor Csepreghy said on Monday.

Nándor Csepreghy told public television M1 that a total of 1,863 billion forints of EU support was disbursed last year, twice as much as the 2007-2012 total.

The Government has simplified administrative procedures for applicants to draw down support. The new system has been basically set up to make funding applications easier in the 2014-2020 period, though the new rules were already applicable for the implementation of 2007-2013 projects, the Deputy State Secretary said.

The focus of development policy in the upcoming period will be economic development and job creation, he underlined.

He also noted that Hungary has submitted ten Operational Programmes (OPs) for the 2014-2020 financing period to the European Commission, out of which six have been approved, adding that the launching of related tenders could begin in March-April.

(Prime Minister's Office, MTI)