The institution hired to certify the Paying Agency (PA) gave four of the fifteen required performance criteria a "weak - 2" grade, Marii Apostolov of Grant Thornton Bulgaria said on Thursday.

The weaknesses the auditors found were in the lack of adequate resource collateral; of clarity of account keeping; of adequate personnel in regional offices; and of an inadequate level of internal control, BTA is reporting.

Apsotolov said that inaccurate information had somehow been divulged in the media that the PA had got a grade of "1", which is wrong, and would be so low as to mean the inability of the
agency to function.

The European Commission has also mentioned the low-scoring criteria in its report to the State Agriculture Fund.