The focus is on changing the ownership of "Lukoil" in Bulgaria, and not on solving the real problem, which is what happens on November 21, when US sanctions against the Russian oil companies "Lukoil" and "Rosneft" come into force. This was stated by the former finance minister and leader of "We continue the change" Assen Vassilev to the Bulgarian National Radio, emphasizing that a refinery cannot be sold in 2 weeks:
"These are processes that take between 6 months and a year. ... If you enter to manage it and cut off the cash flows to Russia, set up an account where the funds will accumulate, and enter with funds with which you can buy oil, sell it in the country under existing contracts and at international exchange prices, and the refinery operates only on demand, then the sanctions do not affect you, because "Lukoil" itself does not have accounts, and the accounts are held by the one who operates the refinery. Second - you can go and ask for a derogation. This is a temporary solution, but now a real plan, a real assessment can be made and someone can be found to operate this company.
According to him, the proposal voted on for about 30 seconds did not come from the "Zhelyazkov" cabinet, but from MPs Pavela Mitova from ITN, Delyan Dobrev from GERB, as well as from "DPS-New Beginning":
"If Peevski thinks that he will come in to take over and manage the refinery, the result will most likely be like with "Bulgartabac". ... If they have turned to BEH, as Dragomir Stoynev said, this means that this is the way to make it difficult to refuse internationally to buy the refinery from the Bulgarian Energy Holding. And if it enters this black box, it will be like with "Belene" and with other projects - endless spending and in the end - nothing".
The result of Budget 2026 will be disastrous for the economy, he said in the program "Nedelya 150" to the former Minister of Finance.
GERB has completely given up on being a right-wing party, emphasized Vassilev and specified that so far taxes have not been raised despite the crises that have occurred - the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis:
"Taxes were not touched for 3 years and they showed the world how left-wing we were, and now the right-wing GERB comes and says that they will raise taxes - the Minister of Finance is from GERB, the Prime Minister is from GERB and the mandate of this government is from GERB. ... Cornelia Ninova cannot be more right-wing than you, colleagues from GERB".
According to him, the BSP cannot be blamed for the fact that the budget is lousy because of her demands:
"The budget is lousy because a lot of money is given to the scoundrels and because some money is set aside for piggy banks for stealing. ... If the money for the piggy banks and the scoundrels is stopped, this artificial income that is recorded in the budget and the corresponding expenditure can be removed, and we can get into the real 3%".
Young doctors have been lied to, believes Asen Vassilev and explained:
"There was an opportunity in the law to write down what the amount of their salaries would be, as well as that of medical specialists. There were three bills, we held an extraordinary meeting, we examined them in the hall and GERB voted against all three, rejecting their own proposal. Now in Budget 2026 we see that the money for hospitals will be increased. There is not a single text written about what will happen to salaries. ... If it is only said that more money for hospitals will be allocated, but it is not said that this money should go specifically for salaries and what these minimum salaries should be for young doctors, laboratory assistants, nurses, etc., it simply will not happen. The Constitutional Court (CC) ruled that the state can provide minimum levels of pay and can announce so-called support hospitals, which should be equipped with both staff and equipment, so that they can take on serious cases. The two funds that already exist in the NHIF Budget, because we set them aside for 2022, for regional hospitals - as support hospitals, and for municipal hospitals - as accessibility, which only go for salaries. The only thing that is requested is that this money not be released as clinical pathways, but be given to these two funds that already exist in the NHIF Budget and the Constitutional Court said that they are not unconstitutional".