My view as a caretaker minister was that I would not seize the right of the new majority to present its vision for the budget for 2026 and 2027. This was stated to the Bulgarian National Radio by Georgi Klisurski, Minister of Finance in Andrey Gyurov's caretaker cabinet and current Deputy Mayor of Sofia Municipality, after Deputy Prime Minister Galab Donev explained that the caretaker government had not sent the necessary information to the EC.
"It is not true that we have not sent it. Every Bulgarian citizen can check. On April 29, Andrey Gyurov's Council of Ministers adopted a decision with the exact text of the report, which was to be sent to the EC by April 30. We sent, according to the adopted decision of the Council of Ministers, a Progress Report on the National Fiscal-Structural Plan of Bulgaria. This is a 4-year vision for the country's budget. We had to submit data for 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027. For the 24th and 25th, we submitted historical data. For the 26th and 27th, a forecast for Bulgaria's budget deficit or surplus had to be given.
On April 30 - 11 days after the elections, in which there was a clear winner who will have a parliamentary majority, it would be a manifestation of undemocratic behavior for a service cabinet to make forecasts for the budget vision of the future government on behalf of this winner. We communicated with the EC that we will have a new administration and we do not want to seize their right to draw up their budget and give a forecast.
I see a lack of vision from the new government as to what budget deficit it will present, he also said in the program "Nedelya 150".
"We have not specified specific numbers for 2026 and 2027. If I knew that Mr. Donev's forecast was 7.4%, that would have seemed frivolous to me. I would not have sent it either.
The question is not what the EC is going towards, but what the Bulgarian government is going towards. It should present its new vision to Brussels and defend it.
Some of Mr. Donev's statements are true. Since 2025, this budget has drawn down 20 billion in debt, when only ten were needed. This is the first fiscal problem. Then there were contracts concluded in the RIA for several billion, for which a huge amount of work was invoiced only for the first year of the 4-year term of the contract. The question is whether this should be paid, or should there be some kind of revision.
For these problematic contracts that exist in the state, the most straightforward way is a financial inspection, and then submitting evidence to the prosecutor's office if there are suspicions of serious violations.
First of all, measures must be taken to cut these expenses, which are unnecessary and illegal. On the other hand, let's see how things are on the revenue side. We leave collection rates over 10% higher than last year. We returned nearly 1.5 billion euros from the BDB to the state budget. Will these funds be used, or will they be returned to the BDB?"
I would recommend preparing a budget with a 3% deficit, which is also a requirement of the Public Finance Act, said the former acting minister.
"We should start from the largest expenditure items and reduce unnecessary expenses there. First, the salaries of the administration. If they want to maintain a 50% increase in salaries in the Ministry of Interior, Defense and Prosecutor's Office, it would be difficult to reduce the deficit.
There are payments in the social system that are worth hundreds of millions of euros. Some of which are being drained. If these leaks are stopped, there could be a reduction in the deficit by hundreds of millions.
Over 100 million euros could be saved if all hospitals held tenders with public resources". Klisurski commented on the possibility of cases similar to the one in "Baba Alino" in Sofia.
"I hope not. Although we have had similar examples, albeit on a much smaller scale". As such, he pointed to the demolition of Rumen Gaitanski's illegal construction on the "Iskar" dam.
"Now we have a similar case with the "Kapitolia" car dealership. It is in a park, there are no plans for such buildings. Another long legal saga is underway, which is nearing its end. Naturally, it will be ruled in favor of the Sofia Municipality, since we are protecting the public interest. Another such illegal construction will be removed".
The return to public use of the "Maria Luiza" bathhouse, which is in the heart of Borisova Garden, is also among the priorities of the Sofia Municipality, the deputy mayor said.