site.btaFinance Minister Petkova Says Assen Vassilev Led Bulgaria's Public Finances to Collapse

Reacting to a statement made by Continue the Change leader Assen Vassilev MP, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Facebook that in his capacity as finance minister, Vassilev had led public finances to collapse. Petkova said that Vassilev tried to convince everyone what a "good" finance minister he had been and proudly claimed that the budget had been in surplus during his tenure, rather than in deficit.

Earlier on Wednesday, Vassilev claimed that by the end of July, GERB's financial policy had led to a record large deficit of over BGN 4 billion. "In contrast, when I was minister, there was no deficit one year, and no deficit the next year," he said, adding that a deficit of BGN 4 billion, which amounts to 2% of GDP, made it very difficult or even impossible to meet the 3% deficit target.

Petkova also said Vassilev was the finance minister who had not produced a single state budget that he fully implemented. To counter Vassilev's claims about budget surpluses, the incumbent Finance Minister cited the following figures: the deficit was 3.9% in 2021; 2.9% in 2022; 2% in 2023; and 3% in 2024.

Petkova also commented that in 2025, the government has been settling old accounts from Assen Vassilev's tenure, and that the effect of his actions in previous years is coming to light, though he chooses not to comment on this.

On Wednesday, Parliament debated for over seven hours a motion of no confidence in the Rosen Zhelyazkov Cabinet submitted by Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and MECh. The motion was made over what the MPs said was "the Cabinet's failure in the internal security and justice sectors, which has deepened the problem of a captured state".

The no-confidence motion will be put to the vote at 4:45 pm on Thursday.