Shocking data on violations of good economic and commercial practices, including advance payments of up to 100% and contracts without actual implementation. This was said in "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" on BNT by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Pulev. According to him, information is forthcoming on "corruption and scandalous schemes" that have occurred in recent years, and there are also "serious suspicions of corruption" in key economic structures.
The Deputy Prime Minister also outlined the government's vision, emphasizing the reform goals.
„We have a government that has all the necessary reformist will and energy to deal with all the crises and challenges. Of course, we have prepared a comprehensive reform that will support the state and accelerate economic growth, but we must first deal with the heavy legacy that was left to us by the previous rulers.“
According to him, the cabinet is not looking for excuses, but a clear starting point for work.
„We do not want to make excuses, but we want to know the starting base on which to start building with all the constructive policies and reforms that we have already initiated.“
Pulev revealed that the first actions in the ministry were aimed at financial control, by stopping all payments under public procurement contracts in the Ministry of Economy, Investments and Industry.
He added that a public presentation of the collected information is forthcoming.
„There is already enough information there to hold a meaningful briefing in a few days. I will be ready, together with the team, to reveal all the corruption and scandalous schemes that have occurred in recent years. There are things that are truly shocking, there are things that are related to trampling on all good economic and commercial practices, such as advancing up to 100% of contract payments, indexing advances against which nothing has been received, we have very serious suspicions of corruption in the large structures that determine the economy.“
Pulev specified that this is only the first step of a broader action plan. The second is taking action to achieve results, he explained.
The Deputy Prime Minister also commented on the work on the structures within the DCC, indicating that he sought a balance between new leadership and existing capacity. According to him, the initial assessments of the state of the structures were contradictory.
„We had signals from commercial counterparties, from people who are connected to the structures, who gave us a negative vision of the state of the companies, and accordingly I have no other choice but to strengthen the boards of directors, to find people who have the necessary combination of strong international and administrative experience.“
In this framework, he also commented on the appointment of Rosen Hristov, emphasizing his role in the board of directors and his experience in restructuring companies.
"He accepted the challenge of this role. And he accepted this role largely as a gesture and a reverence to our management. He will work for 1770 euros, that is, 10 times below the value that was announced publicly. We had statements there by members of parliament who literally told 3 lies in 30 seconds. I want to use this platform here to tell you that salaries at DKK at the board of directors level have been normalized. And I expect that the people there will have the strong motivation to restructure the company so that the economic processes in the country can work. They did not come there to be fed by the state.“
The Deputy Prime Minister stated that the abandonment of the idea of purchasing missiles for 1 billion euros is related to the assessment of the difficult state of public finances and the need for fiscal consolidation, emphasizing that social spending and taxes will not be touched, but rather that spending restrictions and structural reforms are being considered, while the possibility of moderate debt withdrawal under clear rules is also being discussed.
He added that “debt is not a dirty word“ if used for reforms and investments, and pointed out that in the past such funds were often used ineffectively, including for political purposes, while now the goal is to stabilize the economy in accordance with European requirements.
The Deputy Prime Minister also announced an upcoming full audit of the Bulgarian Development Bank.
“A full audit, full revision, both in BDB, AD, and DKK.“