“The idea of mark-ups is not bad, I approve of it, I myself submitted it years ago. But I think that the implementation will not work. I saw the draft law. It literally has 5 articles, there is no specifics, control is assigned to the Ministry of Economy, but without a described mechanism. I think that it is practically impossible to do it – there are over 150,000 registered commercial establishments, the administration does not have the capacity to monitor the path of pricing. And I suspect that this can be used as a means of pressure, of blackmail, of bureaucratic pressure on small and medium-sized businesses, on small traders and that it will have a bad effect on them“. This was said by the leader of “Unruly Bulgaria“ Cornelia Ninova on the show “Studio Aktualno“.
“I have a thesis that I have been advocating for years in parliament – that corruption remains unpunished because it is already legal. The laws that have been adopted in recent years have set conditions for corruption“, she said and gave an example of the possibility of not holding auctions for medicines in private hospitals, as written in law. “Or 50 million leva per kilometer of highway. If they steal half – no one can punish them. The law says that they can take 50 million for 1 kilometer. They have taken corruption to a higher level – not just petty theft, racketeering and bribery, they are starting to write it into the laws, this is extremely dangerous“, Ninova pointed out.
Asked about the state-owned shops in the post offices, she emphasized: “The scheme for shops in the post offices will be financed through a loan from the Bulgarian National Bank. It is unlikely that this loan will be serviced well and regularly, since the markups in these shops will be very small. And I fear that through the unserved loans, a hand will be laid on the post offices. They are on the prohibited list for privatization and what I am observing may be a way to bypass the prohibited list and privatize the post office buildings“, said Cornelia Ninova.
According to her, the budget for 2025 is neither realistic nor feasible. “Unrealistic because of the high revenues from VAT that are set, which are impossible to fulfill and the first months are already showing it. Anti-social - because many social payments have been frozen. My concerns are about the economy - this budget will be a serious blow to the economy. Instead of the opposite - to stimulate the economy in order to provide money for social policy. I will give examples again: the reduction of VAT registration. For small and medium-sized businesses this is a huge scourge“, Ninova pointed out and added:
“If I were you, I would finance science and education. Through science and education, high technologies to revive the economy and GDP. I should note that Europe has rated Bulgaria highly, for which we deserve admiration - it has allocated 90 million euros for an artificial intelligence factory in Bulgaria, at the “Insight“ institute, where many cool, young, smart people work. The budget should co-finance this project - not a single lev is foreseen. We will lose this money, although highly rated, along with 5 other countries. And there the projects are uniquely useful for society and the economy. For example, there is a project for one-stop service through artificial intelligence for state, public and private structures“, pointed out the leader of “Unruly Bulgaria“.
Ninova gave more examples: “The ministries want certain money, I would say this: Okay, you want 100 million. We give you 100 million, but in return we want you to remove, for example: 10 regulations, 20 instructions, guidelines, in general the bureaucratic burden on business. One of the reasons we succeeded in the government in which I was a minister is that we freed business from pressure and racketeering. And one of the reasons we came out on top in Europe in industrial production“.
In her words, this is a good example, because this budget with 19 billion. loans, without support for the economy, with corruption schemes embedded in the budget law itself, condemns Bulgaria to regression.
Entering the Eurozone: “If the assessment is objective – we should not have entered because of the deficit. The money under the PVA from the second tranche will not come – it is one and a half billion. And the budget states that it will come. If we remove it, here is another hole, an even higher deficit. The money that we have to give additionally for independent European defense is one and two hundred billion for this year – they are not in the budget as an expense. Add that to it, and we are far above the 3% deficit. If you look at the numbers realistically, we do not meet the criteria“, commented Kornelia Ninova.
About the elections: “The Constitutional Court should have ordered an inspection of all the sections that we signed in the complaint, because I am also one of the complainants. We wanted a complete annulment of the elections, because you saw what happened – from 2 thousand sections 12 deputies, fake. I can imagine what would have happened from 12 thousand sections. The decision is half-hearted for us too – incorrect“, said Ninova.
And in her comment on the news of the day – the swearing-in of the new constitutional judge, she said: “I am surprised that President Radev went to legitimize the election of the new constitutional judge – GERB candidate, Peevski, BSP supported him. In my opinion, he should not have gone. The president took a series of steps that I think are wrong: He did not challenge the elections at all - he could have challenged the elections before the Constitutional Court. He legitimized this majority in parliament by going to the opening of the 51st parliament. Now he is legitimizing this constitutional judge – this raises many questions“, commented Kornelia Ninova.
In response to a question in the studio, she confirmed: “This majority is completely dependent on Peevski“.
In the political conversation: The leader of “Unruly Bulgaria“ described the entire parliamentary government as schizophrenic: “Peevski, who declares himself an opposition, supports the government and the budget. The opposition, which declares itself as such in some of its parts – supports part of the budget. The rulers give up their own government – Borisov comes out and says: this is not my government. Complete madness. This is absurd and has never happened in the Bulgarian parliament“.
In her words, this schizophrenic situation speaks of a dead excitement below, under the surface, of hidden agreements - the votes are only an expression of these hidden agreements. “Here, Peevski supports the constitutional judge, even though he is in opposition – it is obvious that he stands behind him“.
Asked about how these irreconcilable parties can unite in opposition, Kornelia Ninova replied: “With a common goal. In recent years, a division has constantly been established, which for me is artificial: Euro-Atlantics and those who are not Euro-Atlantics, those who are for the eurozone and those who are not. I would establish another dividing line – everyone against this mafia, backstage, deep state, which is personified by Peevski and Borisov“.
And in response to a question from the host, she added: “It is obvious to everyone who the corruption is. In recent years, Borisov has been governing, of course, so far in a hidden cohabitation with Peevski, now the marriage is official. 2020 is the year to recall the protests we attended – it was against the model, it was “Mutri out“. Now it is curious why the fist has been lowered. And there is no more “Mutri out“. “Mutri“ is already in parliament“, commented Ninova.
“It seems to me that 3 personalities in politics are regrouping in different ways according to their interests and governing our lives and society – these are Peevski, Borisov and Radev. In different combinations - two against one, then one against two, but always in some secret collusion, from below, under the visible part. Borisov is looking at how to save himself, Peevski how to impose himself, Radev how to enter politics in another image, outside the presidential institution. But, this is all just personal interest and redistribution of the deep state“, pointed out Kornelia Ninova in her comment.
On the question about the MECH case: “It is not important the formal vote or which party it is – today it is MECH, tomorrow it may be another, but the dependencies. Kiselova is a dependent person, in my opinion. This decision is not hers – she fulfilled someone else's will. Her resignation was necessary to show that she cannot continue like this. A convenient person puts himself in order to listen and execute. Smart, awkward, rebellious people are not put in place because they will not carry out their orders“, said Kornelia Ninova.
She predicts early elections by the end of the year. “From my experience and observations – I believe that Borisov will bring down the cabinet. We will wait for the convergence report in June and then Borisov will step down, he will find an excuse. If the report is positive - he will hang it on his badge and demand early elections to reap the laurels. If it is negative – there will be a reason to resign, but in any case he will not want to bear the negatives of this government from now on“, said Cornelia Ninova, emphasizing:
“He is already distancing himself: he says “the finance minister is not mine, “Rosen Zhelyazkov should secure a majority“, “if I were prime minister, it would be different“. At some point he will overthrow the government so as not to bear the negatives of this government. He will transfer them to the little unfortunate crutches. He is already saying “I am a crutch of the BSP and ITN“. That is, he will finish these parties off – they are finished, like many others who got involved with him“, commented Ninova.
When asked about her assessment of her former party colleagues, she replied: “Betrayal of the voters, selling the name, the years, the authority of the BSP for personal purposes, a crutch of the backstage, are now part of this backstage. Purely professionally as ministers – Zafirov is not a minister, he is without a portfolio - a straw man there, Gutsanov is the embodiment of anti-social politics. Raising pensions is not Gutsanov's merit, it is mandatory according to the Swiss rule. What is more worrying is that they blocked young families. We had done a lot of good things – tax breaks for young, working families – 600 leva for one child, 1200 for a second. And this had to grow. Now it won't happen. Motherhood is frozen – for raising a child in the second year 780 leva, given that they raised their salaries outrageously“.
According to her, money should be given for real reforms in the sectors. The other is pouring into broken systems and buying votes.
Kornelia Ninova raised a more important, in her words, problem: water shortage. “150 thousand people are currently without water – imagine what will happen by June. There was a committee in parliament, whose term of work was extended by 3 months, until June. In connection with continuing the fight against the backstage and solving a problem, let me say what I would do: Stop the private hydroelectric power plants. Currently, the dams are 60% full. We will need water in the summer. Stop them temporarily and fill the dams“, she reacted, recalling:
“As an MP, I took a step for which I received a lot of slaps – I officially asked all ministers to tell me what private hydroelectric power plants there were in their portfolio. It turned out that there were over 250. And now these 250 hydroelectric power plants are working, earning someone millions, while 150 thousand people are without water and in June they will probably become 250 thousand, as they were last year. Here is one concrete step - let's see who is willing to do it, because even BSP MPs have private hydroelectric power plants“.
Asked for names, she said: “I will publish what the ministers gave me“.
The new party: “At the end of April is the Constituent Assembly of “Unruly Bulgaria“ as a party. The movement is currently collecting signatures, thank you to all the people in the country who are helping us“, said Cornelia Ninova and added categorically: “There is a blatant need for an alternative to everything that is happening in Bulgaria. For me, the biggest alternative that needs to be sought now is the moral one. We will argue a lot about policies“.
In response to a remark by the host about the exclusions in the BSP, Kornelia Ninova, she said: “I am being attributed with many exclusions that I did not make. However, Kiril Dobrev and Georgi Gergov are my merit and if I were in the same situation - I would do it again. Because, this is part of the behind-the-scenes that was inside the BSP. Which served GERB. And it was visible - they removed me and this behind-the-scenes teamed up with GERB. So, I would still exclude these people on a principled basis. Because, both then and now, I believe that parties and business should not mix. They had turned the BSP into an instrument for personal gain. I do not regret it. "In fact, it is part of what I want to continue to fight against - against the backstage and the use of politics for personal interests," she was categorical.