I am optimistic and I think that it will be approached promptly and a budget may be implemented by the end of the year. This was what the Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov said to BTA in connection with the draft budget for 2026. Earlier today, GERB Chairman Boyko Borisov announced that he had told the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to withdraw the budget, after which Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov expressed readiness to hold new talks with the social partners on the macroeconomic indicators of the budget.
The reaction is timely, said Genov. According to him, however, there should be no talk of a new procedure, but a continuation of the current one. According to him, it may be necessary MPs to work even at Christmas to adopt the budget. They need to work more ambitiously and at a faster pace so that the state has a budget, the Minister of Environment commented.
"BSP-United Left" will insist that all planned social benefits be preserved when the procedure continues, even if there are some adjustments, Genov said.
What I see when discussing the budget is the opposition of one type of work to another, I don't know who it works for, Genov also commented. He believes that the ruling coalition has not managed to explain this in the best way.
Every minister would like to have good pay for his employees, the minister said regarding the remuneration in the department. He stressed that serious expertise is needed in the Ministry of Environment and Water, since the horizon of work is broad. In the 2025 budget I managed to win a 20% increase in wages and personnel costs, said Genov. In my opinion, it was not enough to catch up, he noted.
Minister Genov took part in the meeting of the Committee on European Affairs and Control of European Funds, where he presented to the deputies the implementation of the “Environment 2021-2027“ Program.