"It is normal to find the funds in the fiscal reserve at the beginning of the month or at the end of the previous month, because different expenses are made in the current month. What Asen Vassilev said is that he left 9 billion funds, of which 4 billion is a silver fund, money that cannot be touched. With the beginning of the new month, expenses begin, the first is for pensions, about 1.5 billion, the other amount is related to covering the debts of "Heating", about 1.5 billion, which made 3 billion, and really towards currently there are 6 billion. This does not mean that they have evaporated, they have gone as intended and this is well known.
This was commented by the former social minister Lidiya Shuleva in the studio of "The Day ON AIR".
She added that, on the other hand, on the 14th of the month, the money from VAT and other revenues comes into the treasury.
"The numbers are very easy to play with and all kinds of speculations are possible in a pre-election situation. "I'm tired of playing with pensioners before the elections," Shuleva told Bulgaria ON AIR.
In her words, giving pensioners money in cash is not the right move. She supports aid for the poorest, but it should be done according to clear rules.
"In Bulgaria, there is a malicious action regarding the pension system, this worsens and confuses all the rules in the system with administrative raising of the minimum pension. What they accepted with these supplements, say BGN 100 for pensioners below the poverty line. Many pensioners, according to the National Institute of Social Sciences report, receive two pensions, there are those who are below the minimum, but receive either a disability or a widow's pension. At the same time, there are people whose pension is BGN 1 more than the poverty line, but they do not receive a second pension. They are in a worse financial condition," Lidia Shuleva emphasized.
The former social minister added that it is easier to give money to kalpak than to do income tests, but it demotivates workers to provide for their real wages.