“In my everyday life, I do not see these problems with the euro, but it is important to see what is happening throughout the country“. Thus, in “Wake up” economist and former Deputy Prime Minister Nikolay Vassilev commented on the first weeks of the introduction of the euro in our country.
According to him, the shocks are temporary and “after a few weeks of technical issues they will be forgotten“ and Bulgaria is simply going through a transition that has already been experienced in other countries. “In Croatia, when they introduced the euro, not all ATMs were set up. In Bulgaria, this has already been done. In a month or two, we will work calmly - only with euros“, he predicted.
Vassilev also commented on the topic of prices, which remains the most sensitive. He admitted that there are individual cases of incorrect behavior, but defined them as exceptions. “We are talking about over 100 thousand retail outlets and hundreds of thousands of goods. We will see reports about 10-20 cases, but this is not the whole picture“, he emphasized.
And he reminded that in a market economy, prices are determined by competition, not by administrative pressure. “Every trader can sell at whatever price they want, and every consumer can choose whether and where to buy. There is only a danger if competition turns into a cartel, but there is no evidence that this is happening on a mass scale“, the economist is categorical.
Vassilev criticizes the focus solely on the price increases of goods and services. “Bulgarian society does not consist only of socially disadvantaged consumers who are interested in the penny of public transport in Burgas. There are also producers, exporters-importers, traders”, he recalled and pointed to an example - no one is saying that meat producers in our country are suffering because of the drop in pork prices in Europe by 20-30%
If the entire society - from politicians to the media, is only concerned with where something has become more expensive by a few pennies, the rest of the problems remain unresolved. Aren't there other problems in society?“, he asked.
In his words, the real challenges lie elsewhere – the demographic crisis, the bloated administration, the lack of infrastructure projects with private capital and the weak talk about foreign investments. “For decades, everyone has been promising, but there are no solutions”, recalled the former deputy prime minister.
At the same time, he also points out the positives from the eurozone: ”Bulgaria is among the world record holders in stock market growth – about 14% in a few days and nearly 40% since the announcement of the adoption of the euro. This brings higher international authority, prestige and a better image for our country“.
When asked when people will actually feel the benefits of our entry into the eurozone, Vassilev pointed out that: “In recent years, wages have been growing by an average of about 13% per year and always faster than inflation. And this year there is no reason for a serious inflation wave. "Bulgaria is getting closer to the average European levels every year," he is categorical.
The former deputy prime minister criticized the series of elections and caretaker governments. “The future of the nation is not in an endless string of short and caretaker governments“, he said.
And he insisted on a regular cabinet with a full mandate and reforms, even on a broad political basis: “The chaos of recent years does not lead to anything good. We are stuck in all sectors. The key is clear - a political mandate for changes, including deep reforms in the public sector and a more disciplined budget”.