Ivaylo Mirchev of „Democratic Bulgaria“ gave two experts 24 hours to appear publicly and explain the claims about a proposed change to the second pension pillar. Speaking to journalists in parliament, the MP said that DB had correspondence between the Bulgarian government and the European Commission on the matter.
His statement was prompted by remarks from „Progressive Bulgaria“ MPs Konstantin Prodanov and Stefan Belchev, who described the opposition’s information as fake news. Mirchev said: „We will give these two experts another 24 hours to appear before Bulgarian citizens and tell them that they lied to them,“ bTV reported.
According to him, one of the experts is a former fighter pilot, while the other served as a deputy commander for political affairs. Mirchev did not name them. He linked the dispute to claims that the government had discussed redirecting part of the pension contributions to the National Social Security Institute.
What the Ruling Parties Say
Stefan Belchev, a member of the Budget Committee and chairman of Parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee, said that the second pension pillar would not be changed. According to him, no official document bearing the signature of a minister or prime minister had been sent proposing such a change.
„Categorically not,“ Belchev said in response to a question about whether the ruling parties would change the second pension pillar. He allowed that expert analyses or hypothetical scenarios may have been discussed during the preparation of the budget, but stressed that this did not constitute an official decision.
The option discussed publicly envisaged redirecting 2.5 percentage points of the pension contribution for the second pillar to the National Social Security Institute. On November 3, the Ministry of Finance said that the information about an impending reform of the second pension pillar was untrue.
What Happens Next
Mirchev said that DB had sent questions to the European Commission and had asked the Ministry of Finance to provide the correspondence on the matter. According to him, the ruling parties should publish the documents as early as November 5 or 6.
„Democratic Bulgaria“ also expects the presentation of the draft budget for 2027, which MPs intend to analyse in detail. The document is to be presented at the University of National and World Economy.