Because of Budget 2026, every Bulgarian citizen - from baby to pensioner, will pay about 400 euros by the end of the year. Of these, about 300 euros are not clear what they will be used for, because there is no detailed breakdown in the budget. This was said on the show “120 minutes“ Assen Vassilev - leader of “We continue the change“ and former Minister of Finance.
“It is a lie that a deficit of 5.7% of GDP has been reached because of our government. It serves as an excuse to freeze the incomes of Bulgarian citizens“, believes Vassilev.
He drew attention to the budgets that his team prepared for 2022, 2023 and 2024. “The first ended with a 3% deficit, certified by Eurostat. The second - with 2%. The third again with 3%. The deficit also includes all accrued but unpaid liabilities. That is, if there are invoices issued, they are already included in the Eurostat account“.
“Furthermore, I have not been the Minister of Finance for 2 years“, he pointed out.
According to him, it is not true that there are many invoices that have not been paid and are overdue. “It is not in the budget. If you add up the capital expenditures under Appendix No. 2, you will see that there are expenditures of about 1.4 billion euros, and over 3.1 billion euros are pledged“.
“If there were indeed unpaid debts, it should have been written: “This invoice is from this year, we owe this much money.“ There is no such table. There are about 1.7 billion euros of unexplained expenses missing. These are not old debts. These are new planned expenses“, believes Vassilev.
“The second thing is that they are talking about the debts that were accumulated during my time. For the three budgets, the total net increase in debt was about 8 billion euros. And the planned net increase in debt in this budget is 10 billion euros“, he pointed out.
According to him, in just one year this government will take on more new debt than was accumulated in the previous 3 years combined. “But there is something else. With us, the ratio was 1 to 4 - for every 1 euro of new debt, the economy grew by 4 euros. Now the ratio is 1 to 0.9 - for 1 euro of new debt, the economy grows by only 0.9 euros“.
“The difference between this budget and the previous one by Temenuzhka Petkova, which drove people out onto the streets, is that capital expenditures have been increased by about 2 billion euros, and maintenance expenditures - by another about 1 billion euros“, Vassilev pointed out.
According to him, if these obligations existed, they would have been described in the budget. “There would be no better advertisement for the government than to show: “Here, we have inherited unpaid bills from the previous administration.“
“The increase in spending this year compared to last year is 9 billion. Pensions are increasing by 1.1 billion. All social spending - healthcare, education, administration, total 3.5 billion. Of these 9 billion, let's say that 3.5 billion are an inheritance. But what are the remaining 6.5 billion for? They are not an inheritance. All this has been accounted for“, he emphasized.
“I also want to answer President Iliana Yotova, who asked how we entered an excessive deficit procedure in one month. “The deficit criterion is met if the actual deficit for the previous year and the planned deficit for the current year do not exceed 3%“, says the European Commission report of June 3, 2026“, commented Vassilev.
According to him, for 2025, after excluding military spending, the criterion is met. But for 2026, the planned deficit is 5.7%. It is precisely because of this that we are in an excessive deficit procedure.
“Because of this, every Bulgarian citizen - from a baby to a pensioner, will pay about 400 euros by the end of the year. Of these, about 300 euros are not clear what they will be used for, because there is no detailed breakdown in the budget“, pointed out Vassilev.
According to him, if there was at least a social program, one could say: “Okay, this is their policy.“ “But what do we see? Maternity benefits are frozen. Children's benefits are frozen. The subsidy for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has been reduced by 25%“.
“Andrey Gyurov would be an excellent candidate for president“
“In order to run for president, a person must be truly 100% sure that he can bear this responsibility. And it is not small. The president must be a corrective to the government, not its spokesman. One must be ready to fight these battles in the long term. This is 5 years“, believes Vassilev.
In his words, whether Andrey Gyurov is ready, only he can say. “I personally think that if he were to run for president, that would be a really excellent candidacy“.
“If he were to run, we would convene the National Council of the party, discuss the issue, and come up with an official decision. As a leader, I cannot predetermine that decision“, he pointed out.
„At the moment we do not have a candidacy for Gyurov. If we had, we would have already convened the National Council. As far as I know, our colleagues from „Democratic Bulgaria“ also have similar procedures. We will consult on things so that we can come up with a common candidacy or support for one candidacy“, added Vassilev.
Vassilev pointed out that for the first time there is no buffer between Bulgaria and the conflict
„The last time the parliament voted on a decision similar to the one for the planes at the „Bezmer“ airbase was in 2003, when Bulgaria provided airspace and sent troops to Iraq“, recalled Vassilev.
According to him, the difference is that when they were based in January, the US was not at war with Iran. „Then the planes were here for exercises. Now the situation is different for two reasons - first, there is a war with Iran, and second, the planes are not here for exercises, and Bulgaria bears the risk because it has given permission for them to participate in military operations“.
“For the first time, there is no buffer between Bulgaria and the conflict. This, like the budget, is a replacement of the governing mandate with which Rumen Radev was elected. March says one thing, and June - another. If people knew that he would do such things, they would not have elected him“, Vassilev pointed out.