Yesterday, the ministers - Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadzhov and Minister Georg Georgiev attended a ceremony in our southern neighbor. This was a long-awaited event that has a great impact not only on the understanding of good neighborliness, cross-border cooperation, the functioning of Schengen, but also on the livelihood and economic development of the Bulgarian regions. This was said by the outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov before the start of the regular meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Georg Georgiev - Minister of Foreign Affairs in retirement: "Yesterday, a long-standing saga regarding the opening of the Rudozem-Xanthi road was truly completed, which took place after the official acceptance of the road by the Greek side, in the presence of us as ministers and the Greek Minister of Transport. This is a success and a consequence of a year of hard work. Of course, and back in time, but your direct communications with Prime Minister Mitsotakis, the work between the two foreign ministries, between the various institutions made it possible for this connection to take place. This is a materialization of all the benefits of cross-border cooperation, of course, but this is a direct investment in the regions on both sides of the border. This is a huge gain for the people of Rhodope in particular, but of course also for our neighbors in Greece. Transport connectivity, infrastructure, economy, investments, tourism, contacts between people, this is something that has been in circulation for more than two decades, but now, thanks to the efforts of this government and everyone who took part in the process, it is a fact."
Rosen Zhelyazkov - Prime Minister in resignation: "I can only say - congratulations! This is truly a very big foreign policy achievement, but also for the state in domestic economic terms. I would also like to thank our Greek colleagues, Prime Minister Mitsotakis, for their constructive behavior, both in this case and in the case of the blockade of the borders by the protesters and finding a solution to ensure the free movement of people and goods. This shows that when we have political trust between the countries in the spirit of good faith, all the serious problems that occur in each of the countries can be solved."
Today, the government will adopt a proposal to the National Assembly for amendments and supplements to the Social Security Code, Zhelyazkov said and added:
"We realize that there probably won't be time, and hopefully the parliament will refute us, but there might not be time to consider this bill. Why is it important? Because this bill provides an opportunity for the development of the capital market in Bulgaria. It provides an opportunity to invest a huge amount of available financial resources in the Bulgarian economy and in the Bulgarian infrastructure. This is the approach that will also allow for the accumulation of funds in the Bulgarian pension system to increase pensions in the foreseeable future for every Bulgarian citizen."
Temenuzhka Petkova - Minister of Finance in resignation: "The change in the Social Security Code is extremely important. This is a topic that has been the subject of discussion for years. Here I would like to note that the introduction of the multi-fund model is in practice based on a recommendation from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an analysis has been prepared by the Economic and Social Council, practices in other countries within Europe, the European Union with a similar pension insurance system to ours have been analyzed, and the benefits of introducing this model are undeniable. The main interest, the main goal of this bill is to protect the interests of insured persons. It creates an opportunity for these funds to create sub-funds, on the basis of which to invest in extremely important structurally determining projects. So this is indeed a very good change. I hope it will be adopted by the Bulgarian parliament. We should note that this change enjoys broad support from both employers and unions."