While the ruling majority promises higher expenses for citizens and greater security for the system with the new budget, critics see in the estimates a dangerous spiral of new debt, economic dependencies and a total lack of structural reforms.
In a situation of heated political debate and radically different estimates, the co-chair of "Yes, Bulgaria" Bozhidar Bozhanov spoke about important issues in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
The presented draft Budget 2026 was determined by the co-chair of "Yes, Bulgaria" as disappointing.
He pointed out that a set deficit of 5.7% has not been seen in the country since 1995 during the time of Zhan Videnov, despite recent crises such as Covid-19.
Bozhanov disagreed with the claims of the ruling party that this is due to a difficult legacy, pointing out where, in his opinion, the real problem lies.
"What we see is an increase in maintenance funds of over 1 billion, an increase in capital expenditures compared to what GERB proposed at the end of 2025", he said.
Bozhanov added that the government fell after protests against a budget that contained lower maintenance and capital expenditures, and expressed concern about whether these funds would go into corrupt practices.
According to him, the increase in these items is scandalous and the rulers have not understood their mandate.
Lack of structural reforms and "umbrella" over the Ministry of Interior
As another serious minus of the current draft budget, Bozanov pointed out the lack of reforms, although the cabinet had two months to prepare.
The only one proposed, according to him, is for the insurance of civil servants, but it has not been implemented properly.
He criticized the fact that the security structures again remain unaffected and that pensioners in the Ministry of Interior, who receive both a salary and a pension, will not be laid off.
A blow to business and the risk of new taxes
"It is scandalous to impose an increase in expenses on business with less than a month's notice", the MP commented on the increase in the maximum social security income from August.
He refuted the Prime Minister's statements that no one's income will be reduced, explaining that with the gross salary preserved and the social security threshold increased, the most productive industries will receive a net reduction in their income.
Due to the lack of reforms and the high deficit, the guest warned that the country is moving towards increasing taxes, following the example of Romania, regardless of whether VAT, another levy will be raised or progressive taxation will be switched to.
He called for the budget to be withdrawn and revised with a 3% deficit, since in its current form it violates the Public Finance Act.
The same corruption schemes in healthcare
Regarding the corruption schemes in healthcare, the MP expressed doubts that they will be stopped, giving the example of the hearing of the candidate for deputy governor of the Health Fund.
He noted that the new candidate gave a positive assessment of the previous governor Momchil Mavrov, whose resignation was requested by the parliament due to failure to fulfill his obligations to stop the drain of the cash register.
"In healthcare, it seems that the cards have been dealt in the same way", said Bozanov.
He added that the chairman of the health commission, Kostadin Angelov, had sided with the candidate during the questions about the scandalous embezzlement at the "St. Marina" hospital in Varna, established by the ADFI during the previous administration.
Frictionless attitude towards the problems of "Kapitan Andreevo"
As another sector with serious problems, Bozanov pointed to agriculture and, more specifically, the situation at the "Kapitan Andreevo" border checkpoint. He criticized the actions of Minister Abrovski, who, after findings in a report by the official cabinet about possible manipulation of the samples, stated that the problem was solved simply by changing the computers.
The MP described this as frivolous and expressed the opinion that the interests of certain people there remain protected.
At the end of the conversation, asked whether they would support Andrey Gyurov if he were nominated by an initiative committee for the presidential elections, Bozanov stated that as acting Prime Minister Gyurov had done extremely well and this was appreciated by the citizens, but the decision on the format of his candidacy was entirely his.