site.btaPresident Radev Calls for Public Register of Spending to Fight COVID-19

Sofia, April 27 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev believes a public
register should be introduced to account for spending on the
fight against the coronavirus, with regular updates of the
outlays, the approval criteria and the sources of financing.
Radev's position was released by his press secretariat on
Monday.

The coronvirus crisis is already having serious socio-economic
consequences, said Radev. To mitigate them, the European
countries are implementing a wide range of measures, being aware
 that their structure, scope and speed are key to the nations'
well-being and progress.

The President said that a month and a half into the state of
emergency, the Bulgarian government has not come up yet with a
clear and convincing programme for timely, accessible and free
aid. "At the same time, a growing amount of public money has
been allocated for coping with the crisis, a huge loan is about
to be taken out. Having declared a state of emergency, the
executive has obtained exceptional powers to manage those
resources uncontrollably," said Radev. He added that it should
not be forgotten that those resources have to be earned and
repaid by the Bulgarian citizens and businesses.

Therefore what is needed are clear mechanisms of transparency,
accountability, and effective and responsible use of public
money, said the head of State.    

Radev called for a ban on the use of state financial aid by
offshore companies and companies with subsidiaries registered in
 offshore tax havens. Some EU countries have already made such
companies ineligible for state aid from their coronavirus
bailout packages, while others are considering such a move, he
said.