site.btaUPDATED Vazrazhdane Leader: National Statistical Institute Employees Say that Data Is Manipulated

Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said Friday quoted by his party's press centre during consultations with President Rumen Radev that there are "doubts, that the data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) are being manipulated". He said that during a hearing in Parliament the NSI Chairman denied such accusations, but three days later NSI employees submitted to Parliament an official letter, where they say the exact opposite. 

He added that NSI employees quoted a letter from the head of Eurostat. In this letter, Eurostat says that they see irregularities in the work of the NSI and "all this is done under the dictates of the finance minister - Assen Vassilev".

"This is done with the idea of forcing the numbers to get into his [Vassilev's] fetish - 3% deficit. We are talking not only about suspicions of misuse of funds in the name of this much-dreamed of goal - joining the eurozone, but also about falsification of statistics, which is a very serious crime. For this reason, today we will go to the NSI and ask for a conversation on the subject, because an official alert has been submitted, namely by their employees and it is based on a letter from Eurostat," Kostadinov said at the consultations with the President.

Later on Friday, the NSI said in a press release that NSI head Atanas Atanasov held a meeting with Vazrazhdane MPs Dimo Drenchev, Yordan Todorov, Boris Aladzhov and Sofia Municipal Councillor Deyan Nikolov. NSI Head Atanasov answered comprehensively all the questions of the Vazrazhdane party members about the country's gross domestic product, the household budget survey, explained the methodology for calculating inflation, which were of interest to them. "I am a university lecturer and I don't deal with politics. I will not allow any influence and attempts to interfere with the work of the NSI," Atanasov said when asked whether inflation calculations could be influenced.

Vazrazhdane representatives asked for detailed information about the methodology, the consumer basket and the way inflation is calculated. The two sides agreed that the NSI would provide the requested information through official channels as soon as it was officially requested. Atanasov promised to invite them to a meeting with Eurostat representatives in the upcoming autumn visit, the purpose of which is precisely the methodology for calculating inflation and the data obtained.