It is good for Bulgaria to have a government. We have clearly stated that our support ends after the declaration is signed with all the steps in it and with an equally distant prime minister. Some of them are being implemented - the Law on the Judiciary. Until we see what this thing looks like, we cannot comment on it. If it looks like the way the gossip is going at the moment, we are not expected to personally support such a cabinet. This was said to bTV by the co-chair of “We continue the change“ Assen Vassilev regarding information that a government has already been agreed upon between GERB-SDF, “BSP-United Left“ and “There is such a people“.
“The colleagues from the DB who are participating in the negotiations raised the issue of the equally distant prime minister. This question has not been answered. It is too early to speculate on some gossip. As far as is publicly visible last night, they did not reach an agreement. I cannot say where they reached agreements“, he added.
Vassilev stated that if the sanitary cordon is enshrined in a coalition agreement, the PP will consider it, but recalled that GERB categorically refused to sign the declaration.
He again distinguished the PP from participating in the negotiations for a government with GERB-SDF.
„The DB does not have a mandate to negotiate on behalf of the PP and we clearly stated that they are negotiating on behalf of the DB, not on behalf of the parliamentary group. There are no participants in these negotiations from the PP. Our talks with the DB were that when they reach some agreement - to come and inform us so that we can make a decision whether we will support or not support such a thing“, said Assen Vassilev.
Budget 2025
According to Vassilev, this is the first budget in years that violates the spending rule.
“In principle, the Public Finance Act has a restriction that the state's total spending cannot exceed 40% of GDP. All budgets since 1998 have complied with the rule that limits how much we spend. This is the first budget that violates the rule and is at 46%. "Zero of this is due to me," he said.
According to him, in the expenditure part of the budget there are also expenses that are "either unreasonable or have been set in the wrong way."
“There are some expenses that are made by decree of the Council of Ministers, because it is not clear what their value will be - for example, compensation for children not accepted into kindergartens, etc. For the first time since 2021, it has not been said how this money will be spent and what it is intended for. They have been put in a common pot in a gray fund and have been increased by 1.6 billion leva. We asked the Finance Ministry to outline the distribution of the money and explain why it was increased in the 2025 budget,” added Vassilev.
In order to have more revenue in the budget, the PP proposes to return the fee for the transmission of Russian gas.
„We are already in Schengen and we propose to introduce the fee right now with the budget extension law. These are 3 billion leva, which will be taken from the gas transit only via „Turkish Stream“ and can be used for schools, hospitals and all kinds of programs for Bulgarians. We expect all parties to support us“, said Assen Vassilev.
He described as irresponsible the decision of all parties, including the DB, to postpone the consideration of the 2025 Budget.
„Even if there is no government, there must be a budget. "If, God forbid, the negotiations break down and a cabinet is not reached, the adoption of a budget cannot be done in a week. It takes up to 5-6 weeks," the PP co-chair reminded.