site.btaUPDATED Changing of the Guard at the Council of Ministers

After the ministers of the caretaker government of Dimitar Glavchev took the oath of office before Parliament Tuesday, a changing-of-the-guard ceremony took place at the Council of Ministers. Outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov wished success to caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev. Glavchev vowed that his government will be a guarantor of stability. Denkov wished him to be able to reclaim people's trust in the political processes.

The caretaker Prime Minister said: "We have to be a guarantor of stability. We cannot allow our country to be dragged into a constitutional crisis. Statehood should be protected and should not be left to be taken hostage by partisan ambitions and desires. I will not give in to provocation, I will not allow myself to be drawn into campaign passions and personal ambitions. [...] I will not allow any wavering from our common goals. Bulgarian citizens need confidence in Bulgarian statehood and governance. The Bulgarian people need to see unity. Our external partners need to see a confident country that follows a steady European course. [...] The caretaker government must be the guarantor of fair elections in keeping with the changes to the Constitution, and with a functioning Parliament. [...] We will safeguard the sovereignty of the country and work for the well-being of the Bulgarian citizens." 

The outgoing Prime Minister said: "I assure you that until its last day our government did its best to continue working on the governance programme and accomplish as many tasks as possible before the time was up. [...] One of the toughest and most important tasks of a caretaker cabinet is to ensure free and fair elections. It is an uphill task because trust in some of the political processes has been undermined. I hope that your actions will help reclaim this trust." 

He said there are two signs of whether or not the caretaker Cabinet will succeed: one is whether or not there will be machine voting in the elections and the other the share of invalid ballots. "Experience has shown that without voting machines the share of invalid ballots is so big that it casts a shadow on the election results," said Denkov. He expressed hope that the Glavchev Cabinet will manage to organize this process and secure the support of the other competent institutions. He  expressed hope for a low share of invalid ballots: "I hope it to be so low that nobody will challenge the results of the elections." He urged Parliament not to get tempted to revise the Election Code "because it would cast a shadow on the elections even if it is done with the best of intentions".

Denkov offered his support to his predecessor "for a smooth transition". He said he is ready to help in any way "as regards what we have done, what is being done at the moment and what is in store".

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova stressed that accession to the Eurozone, Schengen and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development will remain the Ministry's priorities. Another key priority is the merger of the National Revenue Agency and the Customs Agency into a single revenue agency. Since the elections are top priority of the caretaker cabinet, the estimated budget of BGN 100 million will be submitted for approval to the Council of Ministers.

Former finance minister Assen Vassilev described the adoption of the euro as one of the most important tasks facing the Ministry, which should not be interrupted despite the elections and the caretaker cabinet. "Only the inflation criterion remains [to be fulfilled]. The moment we meet this criterion, we will request an additional report and that will kick off the process of setting the [accession] date," he explained.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Stefan Dimitrov said: "I love my job and I am sure that together with you we will achieve what is most important at the moment and what is expected of us, while continuing to work on the key task, which is to organize the upcoming elections." He thanked Gabriel for her work and underscored that the concerted approach to accomplishing the goals in the Foreign Ministry would continue.

Mariya Gabriel thanked her team for their work. In a Facebook post after the hand-over ceremony, Mariya Gabriel wrote that she "worked hard to establish Bulgaria as a recognizable, proactive and reliable partner in the EU and NATO". One example was keeping high on the agenda the issue of Ukraine. She wrote that she was focused on "positioning Bulgaria as a regional leader; underscoring the strategic importance of the Western Balkans and the Black Sea region; Bulgaria's entry in Schengen by air and sea; and preparing for accession to the OECD; establishing Bulgaria as an innovation centre." Also, she said that on her watch Bulgaria deepened strategic partnerships with the US and the UK, and energized the strategic partnership agreement with France of 2008, preparing for updating the road map to the agreement. She went on to catalogue steps that have been taken, including holding a session of the Bulgaria-US strategic dialogue; signing a memorandum of understanding with the US on countering foreign information manipulation; and adopting a joint declaration on strategic partnership with the UK covering key areas.

Caretaker Innovation Minister Rossen Karadimov highlighted the organization of the next parliamentary elections as the main task of the caretaker cabinet. "We will build on what has been done so far to keep the country's systems in good condition until the next regular government," Karadimov said. Former minister Milena Stoycheva noted that the Ministry's main task is to create opportunities for investment in innovation and to attract strategic investors. "I am handing over the post with a sense of confidence and optimism because I believe that Mr Karadimov shares the same vision and will continue our work," Stoycheva added.

Caretaker Electronic Governance Minister Valentin Mundrov said he will organize "the most transparent certification of the [voting] machines for the upcoming European and parliamentary elections" on June 9. "I will personally lead the technical organization in certifying the machines," he added. Former minister Alexander Yolovski said he was leaving to Mundrov a well-functioning structure and was ready to provide his expertise when needed.

Caretaker Regional Development and Public Works Minister Violeta Koritarova, who took over from Andrey Tsekov, said: "I will do my best to continue the work started by the Ministry's staff. There will be continuity in my work." Koritarova said there is some delay in the implementation of the projects set out in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Ministry will endeavour to catch up. Tsekov wished Koritarova well. He said the Ministry's top priorities are the construction of the Hemus and Europe motorways, the Ruse-Byala section of an expressway and the Vidin-Botevgrad expressway.

Caretaker Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivaylo Ivanov said there is no risk for the pension rise from July 1. The Easter supplement of BGN 75 for more than 500,000 pensioners whose pension is below the poverty line will not put at risk the National Social Security Institute, he told reporters at the changeover with outgoing minister Ivanka Shalapatova. Although this is the first time the supplement will be paid from the Public Social Insurance Budget as proposed by GERB-UDF and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the payment of BGN 40 or 50 million from a system administering BGN 24 billion cannot pose a risk, said Ivanov. For her part, Shalapatova said the Labour and Social Policy Ministry had spelled out the achievements during her term and the proposed priorities. She spoke about major challenges in the labour market despite the low jobless rate, saying that the labour market had changed and businesses needed a workforce which must be reskilled quickly. She stressed that the Employment Agency had done a very good job. She also said care for children and old people had been humanized.

Caretaker Economy and Industry Petko Nikolov said he would stick to the priorities set by his predecessor, Bogdan Bogdanov. Nikolov also said he would be more specific after he got acquainted with the Ministry's work.

Caretaker Justice Minister Maria Pavlova said she would do her best to ensure a smooth transition and a calm atmosphere at the Ministry. She added that she would lead the Ministry's efforts for drafting of quality legislation. Outgoing Justice Minister Atanas Slavov wished Pavlova success and better law-making by Parliament. Earlier in the day, Slavov said the main law-making and governance priorities were fulfilled and many processes towards a more just Bulgaria governed by the rule of law were launched. Slavov said the past 10 months had shown why the Justice Ministry has been the symbol and guardian of Bulgaria's statehood for 145 years. Through the revisions of the Constitution, Bulgaria took a big step towards being a democratic European State of the rule of law. An altogether new Judicial System Act was drafted so as to put into practice and streamline those amendments.

Caretaker Health Minister Galya Kondeva said she would seek balance in her work, but as a doctor, care for people had always come first for her. Former minister Hristo Hinkov said he had resumed work on the project for modernization of emergency aid, which had stalled for five or six years. "Otherwise we would have had to return about BGN 200 million to the European Commission," he said. Hinkov added that he now left it to Kondeva to complete the project. He said that Kondeva has to conduct open competitions for hospital directors, describing that as "quite a responsible task". Hinkov pointed out his team had done a lot of work on the air ambulance project but it is yet to be completed. Asked what he did not have enough time for, he said he wanted to start the construction of the National Children's Hospital in Sofia earlier. "It turned out that it was trapped in public procurement," he said. 

Caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said that Bulgaria cannot afford a hiatus of two and a half months, focusing only on conducting fair elections. "There are many important defence policies whose pace of implementation should increase further," he added. "The Strategic Defence Policy Review must be completed and will be a priority," the caretaker Minister said. Zapryanov, who was deputy defence minister until now, stressed that the Ministry will continue to support Ukraine. "We will try to speed up the process. The battle being fought in Ukraine is also a battle for our national interests. There are two approved military aid packages and we will try to speed up work on coordinating their transportation to Ukraine," he said.

Former defence minister Todor Tagarev described his successor as "extremely experienced" and said he is glad that caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev chose Zapryanov for the position. "We achieved a lot from a military-political point of view," Tagarev said. The previous cabinet delivered on the commitment to increase defence spending. "This year it amounts to BGN 4.2 billion, compared to BGN 2.6 billion only two years ago. This is an increase in defence spending by 60% in nominal terms and an increase by one third as a percentage of GDP," he explained. Tagarev noted two outstanding issues. The first is the completion of the Strategic Defence Policies Review. "The biggest problem I can imagine for the future is new equipment coming in and us not having people to use that new equipment. We must find a way to avoid this," Tagarev said. "The second problem I wish we had solved: the Graf Ignatievo Air Base, which is preparing to welcome the new F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft, is still named after an official of the Russian Empire, who was probably the most notorious Bulgarophobe and anti-Semite. This is unacceptable," the outgoing defence minister stressed.

Caretaker Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov highlighted the priorities of the Ministry for the coming months. These include the continuation of the electricity market liberalization process, the completion of the update of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the country's energy strategy.

Caretaker Environment Minister Petar Dimitrov said he had worked closely with the former minister Julian Popov "since day one" and they had achieved many things  for the Bulgarian environment together. Popov said he believed there would be no deviation or delay in the Ministry's work. The two discussed issues on the immediate agenda of the Ministry.

Caretaker Tourism Minister Evtim Miloshev assured outgoing minister Zaritsa Dinkova that all good practices would be continued. For her part, Dinkova said the hospitality sector welcomed the new minister. Miloshev said the caretaker cabinet would have to make all preparations for the summer season come to fruition. He added that as a businessman, he made business his top priority.

Caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov took over from Krastyu Krastev. As he handed over the office, Krastev gifted his successor with a copy of the Byzantine Chronicle of Constantine Manasses, which he described as "a symbol of the obligations of the Culture Ministry" and which is passed on from one minister to the next as a sign of continuity. Todorov promised to continue the work of his predecessor.

Caretaker Youth and Sports Minister Georgi Glouchkov said his main objective is "to ensure a calm atmosphere for the sport federations, clubs, athletes and coaches". "We will make sure they have a normal working process in the few months before the Paris Games," said Glouchkov. Outgoing sports minister Dimitar Iliev catalogued the accomplishments of his team and said "there is always more than can be done".

Four ministers of the Nikolay Denkov cabinet have kept their posts and are now caretaker ministers: Kalin Stoyanov of Interior, Kiril Vatev of Agriculture and Food, Galin Tzokov of Education and Science, and Georgi Gvozdeikov of Transport and Communications.