A little over half a million socially disadvantaged Bulgarians will receive a one-time aid of 50 euros, and the excise tax on propane-butane will be reduced, the government announced.
The measures due to the fuel crisis are aimed at people with low incomes, the transport sector and farmers.
"We have been reacting sharply not since yesterday and today, but since the spring of this year, when the budget framework for 2026 was presented. Even then, we warned that with such a budget and deficit, money is spent on things that at some point leave no funds left in the state for times of crisis, there is no buffer, and the measures are half-hearted. Undoubtedly, fuel prices are high, it is good that some measures are targeted at farmers, because the entire economy is tied up", said the MP from the PG of "Democratic Bulgaria" Vladislav Panev in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
According to him, we have a decline in food production in the EU.
"From then on, I don't think the Bulgarian government has enough ammunition to react. There may be ammunition if they take matters into their own hands and this deficit that was voted on is not spent in its entirety. In exactly a month and a half, there are midterm elections in the US - what will happen before and after that will be interesting. A few days ago, the strait through the Red Sea was closed by the Houthis. Separately, the Saudi oil pipeline from east to west, which supplied oil to Europe, was blown up," Panev added on Bulgaria ON AIR.
And the news has already come out that Saudi Arabia will not sell oil to Europe for a month.
Concerns about oil supplies and prices
"It's getting scary not only in terms of prices, but also whether there will be enough oil at all. We need to look at the picture more broadly. Natural gas reserves are quite low in the EU. If we look more broadly, the question is how we will reduce dependence on oil - whether we will use more public transport, whether there will be incentives in this direction. We know the state of the Bulgarian state railways. It is clear that with the increase in fuel prices, the attractiveness of alternative methods of transportation will increase. For me, the big picture is how dependent we are on these market shocks," the MP emphasized.
The state of energy
"In the "Energy" sector, precisely because of the high prices of electricity, Bulgaria is a huge net exporter, our companies are making a profit and from there we have enough money to help household consumers. There is no increase in the price of electricity there. Currently, electricity prices are high because the price of gas is high. If we do not build enough wind power capacity within 2-3 years, the "Security" fund will still be in the red, since in winter there is nothing to fill it with, then consumption is higher, "added the guest.
Panev is categorical that the money "should not be spent wildly".
"With this budget "Temenuzhka Petkova on steroids - Galab Donev" things are not going well at all. A crisis does not come alone and does not come only with the price of diesel. It will also come with higher mortgage payments, higher food costs. Let's not scare people, but let's learn our lessons. Let the government save a little from the deficit it has planned. We have a very serious problem with competitiveness. Our trade deficit exceeded 1 billion euros per month, which is a pretty serious number," the MP explained.
The "Petrohan" case
According to him, the revelations surrounding the "Petrohan" case are election propaganda by the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's Office.
"The state, the repressive government, has a toolkit with which to influence the presidential election campaign. This is exactly what Radev is trying to do right now, including by bringing Borislav Sandov as a defendant. These are events that happened in 2022. Why is he being brought as a defendant a month before the elections? Let the judicial system decide whether he is right, wrong, guilty, but obviously this is being done with the aim of ordering attacks on the campaign of Gyurov and Kandev, who have nothing to do with either "Petrohan" or Sandov," Vladislav Panev also said.