No surprises are expected at the European Council, scheduled for July 8, when the final decision on Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone from January 1, 2026, will be made and the very next day our country will immediately receive a better credit rating by an average of two steps. This was said in the studio of "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" by the Chairman of the Fiscal Reserve and former Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov in his first interview after the release of the convergence reports.
"I am convinced that on July 8 we will have a positive result and, by the way, some good things will immediately start happening. Around July 8, yesterday, the Fiscal Council came out with a comparative analysis to tell countries that have finally decided on the eurozone in the last 15 years what happens first. First, their credit rating is raised. Literally the next day, the same day or within the same week. Bulgaria will immediately receive a better credit rating by two steps on average. This means that first, the state, because this is the state credit rating, can automatically receive loans at more favorable prices. How much more favorable, even this morning I thought about you, somewhere close to half a percentage point. Which doesn't seem like much, but currently the state is taking about 4%. It will take 3.5% after the rating is raised. You know that we have a lot of new loans ahead of us, because these notorious 18 billion are included in the budget. Only a part of them has been taken. This will be good for the state budget. But it will also be good for all Bulgarian companies, large and medium-sized, which will not depend only on the Bulgarian banking market, but will now be able to take out Eurobonds on the pan-European market. So, let's say on July 10 and until the end of the year, there will be a very good period."
This is good news for the state debt, for the municipalities that take out Eurobonds and debts, and for private companies, explained Dyankov.
The Chairman of the Fiscal Council also commented on the topic of a possible vote of no confidence due to the disapproval of holding a referendum on Bulgaria's readiness to enter the eurozone. In his words, such a move by "We continue the change" is "a stupid idea", because "they are among the supporters of entering the eurozone from January 1."
"We need a regular government. We need a regular government not only by the end of this year, but also next year, so that we can enter the eurozone in an organized, normal way, learn from those countries that Maya Manolova has spoken about so far (ed. previous guest on the show)."
Simeon Dyankov emphasized that our country is ready for the euro.
"We have been ready to enter the eurozone not since this year, not since last year. Practically since 2008, when Oresharski was Finance Minister, Dancho Tsonev was then the head of the budget committee, before I returned to Bulgaria, then the country was already ready. So practically we have a period of nearly 18 years in which we are ready to enter the eurozone, so better now than later. On July 8, politicians in Brussels will finally say that Bulgaria is ready for the reports that have already been adopted by the European Central Bank and the European Commission, and for the decisions of ECOFIN, the Council of Finance Ministers and the Council of Europe. From July 8 onwards, we are heading towards January 1 and entering the eurozone, nothing can stop us."
The former finance minister stressed that he supports the adoption of some laws before Bulgaria enters the eurozone, for example against speculation.
"This must be done. Only after a few months have passed, when we see where we are after January 1, when things normalize, then let's play politics again."
Djankov gave an example that in Croatia, major laws and several decisions of their
Council of Ministers to freeze certain prices were adopted twice.
"Yes, the NRA, the CPC and the CPC gathered at a relatively belligerent, as far as I understand, press conference and said - we will punch, we will kick. This is in no way the way to fight speculation. By the way, it is strange why the NRA is at such a press conference. They are not a regulator, they have no role in calming possible speculation."
The Chairman of the Fiscal Council noted that in Brussels they "worship" Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
"I firmly believe that it is not a good idea to have a referendum. Not because people should not have a voice, but because the time for such a referendum has long passed and this topic cannot suddenly come up in recent months, when decisions are already being made. But both President Radev and Maya Manolova and all these voices that you mentioned are right that there are many questions that have remained unanswered so far. And in this we are lagging behind other countries. However, the coalition admits this. In a sense, so does Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, who, by the way, I came from Brussels to Sofia yesterday. In Brussels, they idolize him. They talk about Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov as - "here, this is an example of a modern European politician". So our entry into the eurozone is largely due to his role."
According to Djankov, no surprises are expected on July 8, and if he himself previously had doubts about the vote of Slovakia, which has recently been against the general decisions of the EC, then after several conversations between Boyko Borisov and Robert Fico, there is now assurance that Bratislava's vote will be positive for Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone.
"We know that Boyko Borisov, who is a good friend of Fico, has had more than one conversation with him for a long time, as far as I know, and Fico said - we are "for" your entry, come, we will be there together."