17.12.2021
“Bulgaria will make revisions in its Recovery and Resilience Plan.” This was announced by Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov after he met with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. The Prime Minister stressed that the main task would be to eliminate corruption as it is one of the big obstacles to the successful RRP implementation. The RRP would guarantee that the country receives funding that makes up nearly 10% of the GDP but for the funds to be fully absorbed corruption schemes must be stopped. This practice must be abolished with respect to EU funds and to the whole national economy. The Prime Minister emphasized that even if the revision of the Plan takes two or three weeks, it is more important that the work be done accurately to ensure that the funds are absorbed in a way that is best to the target.
In a reply to a media question the Prime Minister again stressed that the moratorium on electricity and heating tariffs is to be a temporary measure to allow the government to make a full analysis of the system. Mr. Petkov was firm that there would be no power cuts.
Another focus of the Bulgarian Prime Minister’s talk with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen was the Covid pandemic. The Prime Minister stressed that the main task for the country is to urgently accelerate the level of vaccination. The Prime Minister has been informed that the new wave of infection is expected within a month. The new government will launch a strong public awareness campaign whose purpose is to bring in an authority that people will trust. Thus the main source of information about the disease will be experts and not fake news released by various sites. Workgroups composed of various medical specialists are to be set up. Their main task will be to explain the effect of vaccines on people suffering from specific and chronic diseases.
Concerning the Republic of North Macedonia, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov stressed that it is very important to reverse the rhetoric on the topic to accentuate on the positives, rather than on the negatives only. The Prime Minister put an emphasis on good neighborliness and dialog along with the protection of our national interest. Mr. Petkov pointed out the need and the advantages of a common cultural calendar, the implementation of joint business projects and infrastructure connectivity. Workgroups to be set up will outline and analyze the parameters in these areas. The Prime Minister said that he would request to meet the new Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia as soon as he takes office to specify the workgroups.
