It is extremely important to maintain the normal functioning of the state and for this purpose, the deputies must accept an extension of Bulgaria's extended budget after March 31 this year. Payments under the PVU and the adoption of a regular budget by the end of June are the main priorities of the caretaker cabinet, explained the Minister of Finance in the caretaker cabinet Georgi Klisurski in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio.
In the program "Nedelya 150" he also commented on fuel prices, crude oil contracts, the change of the executive director of the National Revenue Agency, as well as the changes in the CSR adopted at the end of last week.
Klisurski admitted that the cabinet "Zhelyazkov" has managed to receive the second and third payments under the Bulgarian Public Procurement Act, albeit with deductions:
"In fact, over 100 million euros were withheld from Bulgaria under the third payment, in the first place, because there is no accountability mechanism for the Prosecutor General. On the other hand, there were no elected independent members in the CPC and the EC withheld another 250 million euros from Bulgaria along this line. And in fact, now that they have closed the CPC, the EC will want to retroactively withhold another 250 million euros from Bulgaria. Yes, the money was received under the second and third payments, but Bulgaria is losing over 600 million euros in deductions."
The Finance Minister warned that money will also be withheld from the next payment due to these actions of the parliament with the unadopted laws.
"For the fourth payment, the caretaker government is working with EC, to submit the request at the end of March this year, so that the funds arrive at the end of July or July. We expect a maximum of 900 million euros. And how much money is at risk, the reason is entirely with the deputies," commented Klisurski.
And he indicated the reasons:
"I highlight several bills that the National Assembly can adopt before it dissolves. First, the law on lobbying. Yes, GERB submitted it, but the Council of Ministers will also submit it. I urge us not to point fingers at each other, who submitted it, it is important that it is adopted, as agreed with the EC. If this does not happen, 400 million euros will be withheld from the 4th payment."
Klisurski admitted that the Ministry of Finance is also working on the next payments after the fourth, "emphasis on reforms that the EC wants, so that it can end of August to submit the fifth payment, now the priority of the official cabinet is the fourth payment".
And he pointed out that in February the treasury lights up in "red".
"When Temenuzhka Petkova handed over the post to me, she said that as of January the balance was plus 200 million euros and that is according to the data. In February, just for the month, the deficit was – 800 million euros and if you take the months together with January, we have an accumulation of 600 million euros in deficit. When compared with 2025 as of February, the deficit was 500 million euros, so the deficit is about 100 million euros more for this year", he said and explained the reasons.
The Finance Minister said that most parties did not respond to his invitation, but he will go to the People's assembly and will talk to everyone to extend the budget after March 31. And thus guarantee the normal functioning of the state:
"I call for statesmanlike behavior, to extend the validity of the Law. We can argue where we will meet, but if the state stops payments after March 31, it will be tragic. I will do everything possible to extend the law. Statesmanlike behavior must be bilateral, both from the government and parliament. Let's not put the state at risk and collapse. I am sure that we will ensure the functioning of the state after March 31."
He announced that due to the military conflict in Iran, the government and institutions such as Customs have Plans A, B and C, but he hopes that they will not be implemented. And he explained that 70% of the crude oil supplies for "Lukoil" are from Azerbaijan and they are under long-term contracts and fixed prices. Only 30% are from countries in the Middle East region and therefore there is a slight increase in diesel at gas stations.
"At the moment there are no risks of interruption of fuel supplies to Bulgaria, crude oil is delivered for March and we are waiting for many tankers for "Lukoil" in Burgas. The good thing is that most of the oil we import is under a longer-term contract with Azerbaijan. First, the supplies pass through the Black Sea and it is isolated from military actions related to Iran. As a route, the supplies are not threatened," said Finance Minister Georgi Klisurski.