Prime Minister Rumen Radev rejected claims that the government would touch the funds in the second pension pillar. He described these claims as untenable and called on politicians to stop the manipulation after the end of the election campaign.
The issue of the future of personal pension accounts became more contentious after information emerged about the possible redirection of part of the social security contributions to the National Social Security Institute. On November 3, Konstantin Prodanov, chair of the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee, and the Ministry of Finance stated that there were no plans for such a measure.
“The election campaign is over, and it is only right that the manipulation should end with it,” Rumen Radev said.Promise on electricity and heating prices
At the beginning of the Council of Ministers meeting, the prime minister also commented on electricity and heating prices for household consumers. According to him, they would not increase until the end of the heating season, despite the 32% rise in natural gas prices in November.
Radev stressed that the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission was an independent regulator and that the government did not interfere in its decisions. He pointed out that the price of gas for Bulgaria remained nearly 40% lower than the European TTF exchange index.
“The price of electricity and heating will not increase,” the prime minister said.Criticism of public finance management
Rumen Radev referred to three audit reports by the National Audit Office, published before the official presentation of the 2027 budget. In his assessment, they showed serious problems in the management of public finances by the previous government.
The prime minister pointed to a budget deficit of more than 3% for 2025, which he said had been concealed, as well as accumulated unpaid liabilities carried over into the 2026 and 2027 budgets.
According to him, the cabinet would seek to restore budgetary discipline without abandoning its commitments to increase incomes and pensions, provide social support, and invest in defence, healthcare, education, science, culture and sport.
Sources: novini.bg, dariknews.bg, nova.bg