MEP and member of the BSP executive bureau Kristian Vigenin commented on the show "Speak Now" on BNT on the topic of the Commission for Combating Corruption and the funds under the PVP that may be lost.
"I think the stakes are too high for us to miss out on these funds. This is a lot of money and I am confident that the majority will find a way to solve this problem. As, by the way, it managed to catch up and in practice, we are on the way to utilizing every single euro to which we are entitled. So I do not believe that we should lose these 200 million euros. But it is not just a question of money, of course. Perhaps what needs to be done right now is to look for a quick solution so that these funds are released. And in the meantime, let's sit down and think seriously about how to organize the work with the entire range of institutions, laws, and tools for fighting corruption. Because this is our great weakness. Over the years, we have constantly created commissions and closed them...
Now, there were ideas again this summer about how to close this commission, and then there was an election procedure. I think we need to work more seriously on this topic. There is clearly some clash of interests and views here. But for the sake of the Bulgarian citizens of the state, it is time, really, seriously enough, and all of them, not to approach this commission in a confrontational way. Because, you see, there is a great weakness and we see it in the current government at times.
So we are trying to solve a problem in a conjuncture, to postpone its strategic solution, just long enough to cover up a situation, and in the end, at one point, when a law comes into force, we have created a structure, it turns against those who created it. Precisely because they are not thinking long-term. That is why it is worth it here, without unnecessary confrontation, for the ruling and opposition parties to sit down together so that we can find the best solution to this problem."
Vigenin also commented on the garbage crisis in Sofia.
"We expect new excesses at the end of the year, obviously. But that is how it is, when a problem is not solved in time, this is what happens. One of the big problems in Sofia with this government, and in the country in recent years, was that everything is viewed from today to tomorrow. There is no strategic thinking, no look into the future. Some interests are being fulfilled, defended, or actions are being taken to save the situation at the moment. But there is no strategy. For garbage, the Bulgarian Socialist Party had and continues to have the most correct strategy for Sofia. Not only for Sofia, by the way, but for every municipality in Bulgaria. We have seen how the left governs in other large European cities. In most of them, left-wing formations govern. And there the local government is in its place, it takes care of the well-being of the people. And one of the reasons is that the main problems, the main functions that a city needs to perform, are performed by the municipality itself, by municipal companies. And not without concessions, without looking for any other intermediaries and so on. This is the solution and the faster we move in this direction, the faster. I think that Sofia will be governed best and most prospectively and in the interests of the people, when the beginning of the government is socialist, and not liberal, right-wing, I don't know."
The MEP also commented on the water supply crisis in the country: "The crisis as a crisis exists and it will continue if the necessary measures are not taken. In order to have a real solution to this problem, at least a few billion must be set aside in the next budget for next year, which will allow the water pipes to be bypassed at the most critical points."