The chairman of „Vazrazhdane“ Kostadin Kostadinov asked from the parliamentary rostrum today that the Council of Ministers lift sanctions on the import of Russian oil or temporarily reduce the value added tax on fuels.
„Two weeks ago, we, from „Vazrazhdane“, proposed a draft resolution by which the National Assembly would oblige the Council of Ministers to lift sanctions against the Russian Federation for the import of oil and oil derivatives into our country“, recalled Kostadinov. He pointed out that the goal was a preventive hold or decline in prices, but the proposal was rejected by the ruling party from „Progressive Bulgaria“ and their partners from GERB, DPS and PP-DB.
According to him, the expected price increase is already a fact due to the foreign policy situation, with the price of diesel exceeding 2 euros per liter, and overnight the wholesale price increased by another 1 euro cent.
Predictions for a new jump
According to Kostadinov, experts from the oil industry expect diesel to approach 2.55 euros by the end of October, and mainstream gasoline to exceed 2 euros per liter. “And this will not happen next year, it will not happen in half a year, it will happen within the next 45 days“, he said, arguing with the conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and the tension between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
From “Vazrazhdane“ They consider it logical to lift the sanctions, since instead of the current prices of $124 per barrel, a new negotiation could achieve a price of $68-70.
Alternative through VAT
Since the party leader expects the parliament to not allow imports of Russian oil, as an alternative he proposes a partial and temporary reduction in VAT. According to his calculations, at a price of 2 euros per liter, the state collects nearly 41 euro cents as tax, and only because of the latest price increase, revenues have jumped by 8 euro cents per liter. Over the past few months, the budget overrun on this item has amounted to over 37 million euros.
Kostadinov called on the government of “Progressive Bulgaria“ with Prime Minister Rumen Radev to immediately reduce VAT.
“We have recently established, again according to data from the Council of Ministers - quite underestimated in my opinion - that the number of people who are below the poverty line is 20%. However, those who are one step above the poverty line and are 2.50 - 5.10 euros above the minimum are another 25%“, said the leader of “Vazrazhdane“, emphasizing that almost half of the population is barely surviving. According to him, the measure is expertly justified and can be implemented within a week.