Finance expert Nikolay Vassilev, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and State Administration, called for a large-scale government communication campaign and a media debate between supporters and opponents of the eurozone.
In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, Vassilev expressed sharp criticism of the lack of an information campaign about the benefits of joining the eurozone.
"In recent years, only the voices of opponents have been heard, and most of the things they say are not true!", the former Deputy Prime Minister was categorical.
He emphasized that none of the last 16 governments has made an effort to convince the public of the benefits of joining the eurozone.
"16 governments have not spent even 1 minute to convince the public that the eurozone is the future of Bulgaria," Vassilev told the Bulgarian National Radio.
Especially sharp in The former minister's criticism was directed at the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), calling it a "typical Bulgarian failure".
"Like everything else in the last 4 years. It's not that surprising. Everyone is to blame after the spring of 2021, when a draft of the RRP was left by the "Borisov 3" cabinet. It may not have been perfect, but the main task of these plans, where the state is to receive billions from the European budget, is to implement them," stressed Vassilev.
The financier accused the new political formations of having delayed the process by more than a year and a half in attempts to renegotiate the plan.
"When the new parties appeared, they spat on the previous plan, but did not improve it in any way, but simply replaced some projects that they called lobbying with others that were certainly lobbying," commented Nikolay Vassilev.
According to Vassilev, the country is losing tens of billions of euros from unrealized investments in private sector projects due to the lack of concessions for important infrastructure projects such as highways, railways, ports and airports.
The former deputy prime minister expressed serious concern about Bulgaria's inclusion in the so-called "gray list" of the countries placed "under enhanced surveillance" by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
"This means missed opportunities, lack of investments, losses.... How does it sound that we have been citizens of an EU country for 18 years and are on this gray list for money laundering and financing of international terrorism?", Vassilev was indignant.
He criticized the institutions for the lack of concrete actions to get off the list, stating: "Who in Bulgaria is responsible for this? In my opinion - no one!... This is a matter of image and we need a special state policy to get off this list. But there is none".
In conclusion, Nikolay Vassilev emphasized the need for budget surpluses instead of deficits and outlined the main priorities that, in his opinion, should be facing the government - the demographic crisis, rearmament of the army, border protection and accession to the eurozone.