site.btaNormal 2023 State Budget Should Be Drafted Pronto - PM Designate Denkov

A normal [2023 state] budget should be drafted as soon as possible, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) PM designate Nikolay Denkov told journalists on Monday, after presenting a government line-up to President Rumen Radev. In his words, the 2023 state budget should be created “without the current absurd deficit”. Denkov said that Bulgaria’s current state budget is still the one proposed by Assen Vassilev "back at the time" in a different situation and circumstances.

On May 30, Bulgaria's caretaker Cabinet has decided to move to the National Assembly to prolong the effect of a law extending the 2022 State Budget Act whose validity expires on June 10, 2023.

Denkov voiced hope that President Radev will sign the decree to send the proposed government line-up to Parliament by Monday or Tuesday morning.

Answering a question whether his cabinet will work to reach a deficit of 3%, the CC-DB PM designate said that this depends on the finance minister. “The [state] budget should be drafted professionally - it is not a matter of political desire for it to be 3% now, or 6% or 4% in a couple of days, Denkov said, adding that the next finance minister should step up, gather all the necessary information for the sake of clarity on the financial situation in the country.

According to him, it is very important for the ‘outgoing’ ministers and the ‘upcoming’ ministers to sit together and discuss all the priorities and problems, because this is the normal process of how power is handed over. In sectors in which there is good work and progress, it is natural for the work to continue in the same way, Denkov said, adding that some of the caretaker ministers are successful in their work, but there are also some who have not coped with their tasks. There is no chance for the proposed government to be successful if it does not work in close coordination with the parties in Parliament, Denkov said.

In his words, the two leading political forces in Parliament are trying to form a stable government with a lot of compromises after five consecutive parliamentary elections in the past two years.

Answering a question whether there would be changes in the security services’ leaderships, Denkov said he does not see why there is so much tension surrounding this issue and pointed out that the recording broadcast by CC-DB breakaway MP Radostin Vassilev had been completely misinterpreted by the media and various analysts.

Security services must serve Bulgaria and for this very reason there must be a shared responsibility when electing their leadership. For example, their leaderships should not be appointed by the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly or the President alone. Having the leadership of the services appointed by the President alone works well until caretaker governments become longer than regular ones. Because then it turns out that the whole separation of powers no longer exists, Denkov stressed.

“Through caretaker governments, the services are currently appointed by a single person and that is President Radev. I am not saying this is bad. There is no way the executive can work if it is not in sync with the services, so it is not true that we want to take the services away from Radev. We want the executive to work together with the services", Denkov said.