We are pleased that the tripartite dialogue has begun, albeit with a delay. This was stated in the program "Face to Face" on BTV by the Chief Economist of the Bulgarian Industrialists' Association Lyuboslav Kostov in connection with the possible budget reshuffle after the authorities' request to withdraw it.
We agreed that each party would present its requests for expenses and revenues and that we would meet again on Tuesday to see where we have consensus with the business and where we do not. This always happens in negotiations, but for it to happen, there had to be negotiations. I am optimistic that we will come to an agreement next week, he added.
We are satisfied that there was a calm conversation from all sides – there were representatives of the Ministry of Finance, various parties, and employers, said Maria Mincheva, Deputy Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Industrial Chamber.
There was a substantive conversation, without unnecessary attacks. There were no rejected ideas, there were important areas for each country to be revised, there were deadlines to move within. The results of the conversations will become clear on Tuesday or Wednesday. We as employers will provide all our measures, they will be valued and it will become clear where compromises can be made. This is how things should happen so that there are no shocks, she pointed out.
There are automatic accelerators in the budget that are related to the minimum wage and the average wage. It is important that the conversation about them takes place so that we do not have the same conversation next year. The goal is not to have screwed up people, but to have the opportunity for incomes to grow according to objective criteria. There are employees in the administration with very high salaries and additional material incentives, while at the same time there are employees with very low salaries. This irritates people, Mincheva emphasized.
The minimum wage and income policy must be preserved. We want 50 million euros for all those civil servants who protested on Monday. We are proposing measures to improve the balance against them. People do not protest when the dividend tax is increased, but when their purchasing power is reduced, noted Lyuboslav Kostov.
Income policy should not be a simple distribution of income across departments. When talking about the average salary, we want to create a mechanism that assesses productivity, commented Maria Mincheva.
The situation is extraordinary - it requires compromise and balance. We must say what the red lines are and everything else must be left for better times. We have to adopt a budget and we are late, said Kostov.
We have specific goals - not to change the parameters of the social security system, dividend tax, and not to introduce the SUPTO system, said Mincheva.