First - 18 billion hole in the budget - there is none. What is more worrying is that for two weeks the Ministry of Finance, with its new leadership, cannot specify how much the revenues and expenses will be for January. Initially, Ms. Temenuzhka Petkova said that revenues would be 3.6 billion leva and expenses 3.2 billion leva, which is a surplus of 400 million leva. Then - they corrected themselves. They said that revenues would be 3 billion and 600, and expenses would be 4 billion. This makes a deficit of 400 million leva. The problem I have with this is that if we look at the revenues from taxes and social security contributions only for January 2024, the revenues are 4 billion and 435 million leva. That is - 750 million leva more than what the Ministry of Finance predicted. This was told to journalists by the co-chairman of "We continue the change" - Asen Vassilev, quoted by novini.bg.
"And this is provided that we have an increased minimum wage, respectively higher social security contributions that are paid into the budget. There is an increase in the VAT rate for restaurateurs and the VAT rate for bread. Why will we collect 750 million leva less revenue this January than last January," he asked.
And he made a historical reference: "In the last 4 years, January has been at least 400 million plus, that is - a surplus, not a deficit. The same applies to February and March. That is - all the forecasts that are made for the next three months are absolutely unrealistic, unless there is some dramatic collapse in budget revenues, which we have not heard about, since the acting minister said that last year they even exceeded what was in the budget in terms of tax revenue and social security contributions".
Assen Vassilev warned Temenuzhka Petkova - current Minister of Finance: "Instilling fear is unhealthy for the Bulgarian economy, for companies, business and citizens. I don't know what investors they will attract with such talk. My call is for them to stop talking, to write their numbers correctly. Then we can have a normal and professional debate," he appealed.
“This week we will request a hearing of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Transport. We are concerned about what is happening with “Vezhen”. All kinds of rumors are being heard about potential buyers of “Lukoil” - this cannot be happening under the surface. We need to be sure who the buyers are, and if there are any, how far the process has reached. We will request a hearing of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Economy. We cannot let the largest refinery in the Balkans be negotiated for in secret or without us knowing the information. The owner of “Lukoil” can overthrow governments in 2-3 weeks if he decides. Who and how manages this asset is an important topic for national security and we will want clarity on it”, said Kiril Petkov in turn.