06.07.2023
On 6 July 2023, thirty days after the Denkov-Gabriel cabinet took office, it reported what it had accomplished over the said period as follows:
State budget and revenues to the treasury
Owing to the budget policy and the energy subsidies for businesses Bulgaria reported 3.9% growth according to Eurostat, the highest export growth within the European Union and is second best in industrial production growth across the EU while the wage growth is the highest in the EU.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) achieved a surplus of BGN 0.2 billion as of June 2023. This is tantamount to about 0.1% of the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first half of 2023. At the end of May 2023, the debit balance was BGN 1.2 billion; however, in June the collected revenue exceeded BGN 1.4 billion over the expenditure and thus the gap was filled in.
The MoF stood behind the prolongation of the reduced VAT rate of 9% for the vacation industry (restaurants, catering and general tourist service) in the budget draft until the end of the year. The measure seeks to “illumine” the sector as one of the cabinet’s priorities.
The clear course towards Europe is visible in the 2023 draft state budget submitted to the National Assembly. The 3% budget deficit fits into the requirements of the Eurozone. There will be no tax increases; social payments will remain as they are; the investment program is unmatched with its over BGN 8 billion earmarked for infrastructure projects.
Despite the complicated financial circumstances, an increase of over BGN 700 million was approved for education and science over the allocation in the preceding year. The amount pledged by the cabinet exceeds by BGN 20 million what the caretaker government’s draft budget had provided for this spending despite the huge difference in the planned deficit.
Start of the reform of the Judiciary
In his capacity of Presiding Officer of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov initiated and completed the proceedings of the earlier release of the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev in keeping with the amendments to the Judiciary Act. The Minister initiated the hearing of SJC members who had complained of pressure exerted on them after the opening of the proceedings for Geshev’s removal from office.
Justice Minister Atanas Slavov approached the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) with a challenge of the election of Borislav Sarafov as Prosecutor General ad interim from the SJC Prosecutors Chamber and deemed the decision void. Further, he introduced an item to the SJC agenda to suspend the procedure to elect a new Prosecutor General and the SJC Plenum approved it.
International activities
The Bulgarian government voiced its clear position in support of Ukraine in the war that Russia started. The visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Bulgaria brought the country back onto the international scene.
The government approved a new package of military assistance for Ukraine in keeping with the National Assembly’s decision. The list approved is commensurate with the previous aid provided by the caretaker government following a decision of 22 December 2022.
In Sofia President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Acad. Denkov signed a bilateral political declaration to support Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration when it becomes possible, i.e. after the end of hostilities. The government is driven by the national interest as Ukraine’s accession to NATO moves the dangers away from Bulgaria.
The second document signed was a memorandum of cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector. The Bulgarian and Ukrainian experts had their first working meeting to discuss the possibility of selling equipment stocked on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) site to Ukraine.
Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov firmly defended the Bulgarian rose oil and other attars in the European Union against the draft CLP Regulation (Classification, Labeling and Packing of chemical substances) as it puts essential oils into the box of hazardous chemical mixtures.
At a meeting at the UNESCO headquarters, Bulgaria vowed that it is willing to draw up a plan for the conservation and management of Nessebar and that it will be the first plan to include marine heritage.
Fight against illegal migration and progress towards Schengen
Bulgaria takes targeted action to protect the European Union’s external border and to fight illegal migration. Large-scale police operations are launched to intercept the trafficking in human beings and to crack down on the organized groups of traffickers. For comparison: between 26 June and 2 July 2023 there was a decrease of 29% of the cases and of 37% of the number of individuals who tried to cross the state border as compared to the previous week.
Regarding Schengen, the cabinet continued its active political dialog with the European Commission, the Spanish Presidency and the EU member states to seek to attain a positive decision by the end of this year.
Natural disasters and road bloodbath
Relief was offered to the flood-stricken households in Northwest Bulgaria. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy organized the payment of a single lump sum in an emergency order to the afflicted while 135,000 liters of drinking water were released from the State Reserve and supplied to the people in the most hit areas where the water supply was disrupted. Contracts were made for repair and maintenance of the national motorway network. Spraying against mosquitos started belated though in the communities along the river Danube.
Large-scale measures were taken to stop the bloodbath on the roads. The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) will make its priority the repair in the most accident-prone sections based on the map of the Road Safety Agency. In September this year another three sections will be staked out, as the measure kept the Kresna Gorge free of accidents for one whole year.
Holidaymaking and the Black Sea
The safety of holidaymakers along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is ensured by the continuous monitoring of the seawater for polluting agents following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam wall in Ukraine. The monitoring is exercised by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW) and is coordinated with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Tourism so as to make sure the summer season runs smoothly.
The MEW daily communication of data about the non-pollution of the Bulgarian Black Sea water has become the main source of information for the media and the people and has helped alleviate the initial concerns and fears. As of this date, the possibility for contaminated water to reach Bulgarian shores is nil.
