Bulgaria has managed to avoid the final loss of 400 million euros under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). This was announced at a briefing by caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov.
He stressed that the funds were at risk due to the lack of real reforms in the fight against corruption.
According to Gyurov, the caretaker government is leaving the country in a much better state than it found it at the end of February.
He pointed out that in recent months the cabinet has gained two vital resources for the country – time and money.
„When we took office, the countdown under the PVP was running at a speed that the previous parliament and government did not even try to catch up with“, the Prime Minister pointed out.
He explained that his team had two main tasks - submitting a request for a fourth payment in the amount of 900 million euros and saving another 400 million euros under the second and third payments.
These funds were blocked due to the „political reluctance“ of the previous rulers to take steps for an independent investigation of corruption and the Prosecutor General, said Gyurov. He specified that the critical date was precisely today, May 4.
„Today we could have received a final and irrevocable „no“ from Brussels for this money. We did not allow this to happen and these 400 million euros were saved“, he said.
The success came after “round-the-clock negotiations“ with the European Commission, led by Deputy Prime Minister Maria Nedina, thanks to which the deadline was changed.
Andrei Gyurov described this as a rare phenomenon – “time that was not lost, but returned“.
However, the caretaker prime minister warned that the received postponement comes with clearly set tasks for the next government. The new rulers are expected to create a real and independent anti-corruption commission, and not just “a new sign on a new building“.
“An independent investigation of the Prosecutor General is needed – not regrouping, not old dwarfs in new restaurants, but justice“, said Andrey Gyurov, emphasizing that from now on the fate of the saved funds depends on the will for real reforms.
“We are leaving about 2 billion euros more in the budget for the next regular government“, he concluded.