site.btaContinue the Change Chair Vassilev: Government Is Proposing Bills That Will Impoverish Bulgarian Citizens

Continuing the Change (CC) Chair Assen Vassilev said at a briefing in Parliament on Wednesday that bills proposed by the government will impoverish Bulgarian citizens, as on the one hand, prices are rising, and on the other, incomes are being frozen. On Wednesday, MPs are considering changes to the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, tabled by the Council of Ministers.

The proposed changes provide for a 18-month freeze on prices of basic goods, which cannot be increased unless economically justified, Vassilev said. According to him, this will lead to a sharp rise in prices as traders seek to insure themselves before the measures come into force. “There is no definition of economic justification. We are seeing price increases due to the actions or inaction of the government on the one hand, and on the other hand, a freeze on incomes with the exception of the security forces and a group that has protested,” summarized the CC Chair and former finance minister.

His colleague Venko Sabrutev recalled that in the first six months of this year alone, the price of electricity had been increased twice. If Borisov and Peevski wanted to fight price increases, they would not have allowed it, he commented.

CC also criticized Parliament's Committee on Health 

“Yesterday, we witnessed a complete mockery of young doctors and medical specialists in the country,” Vassilev said. “The statement we heard from the Chair of the committee, Kostadin Angelov from GERB-UDF, is that since there are three bills, Parliament will most likely go on vacation before resolving this issue,” he explained. The GERB bill that was considered envisaged an increase of between BGN 100 and BGN 200 for young doctors from January 1 next year, while at the same time the increase for public transport in Sofia was BGN 400 and took effect within two weeks, Vassilev compared.

He said that the only way to stop prices from rising is through competition and investigation of cartel agreements, for which the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has sufficient powers. “If there is a reason for price increases beyond the actions of the Bulgarian government, the best anti-crisis measure is for incomes to grow faster than prices so that people do not become poorer,” the CC Chair stressed.

He also found it quite scandalous that since coming to power, this government has made only two antibiotics free for children.

This,he argued, shows the government's unwillingness to reduce prices or work towards more normal prices in Bulgaria. "I think the government tried to convince young doctors to go abroad to work for EUR 500," added Vasil Pandov.

“According to data from the Ministry of Health, at the end of March, doctors and nurses were receiving, with a few exceptions, the same amount that the government offered on Tuesday, i.e., they did not raise anything,” he commented.

In connection with the invitation from MECh for a meeting on Wednesday with Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Velichie, Vazrazhdane and the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, Vassilev noted that CC-DB will talk with MEHh on Thursday, as he will be traveling to Varna.