site.btaBulgaria Is Only EU Member State with Perpetual Debtors

Varna, on the Black Sea, May 18 (BTA) - An International Conference on Key Insolvency Issues took place here on Friday as part of the programme of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council. The forum was organized by Bulgarian MEP Emil Radev (GERB/EPP) and was attended by representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, leading experts and judges from Europe and the US.

"Bulgaria remained the only EU Member State without a debt discharge procedure in place and with perpetual debtors," Bulgarian Justice Minister Tsetska Tsacheva said at the conference.

"The talks on the draft insolvency directive are of great importance because it is very difficult to achieve a balance between the separate countries where this subject matter is regulated in a different way," Tsacheva pointed out. She was referring to a European Commission proposal for a Directive on preventive restructuring frameworks, second chance and measures to increase the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and discharge procedures.

In her words, what is good is that there is at least agreement on the need to harmonize legislation. The Justice Minister added that at its next session the Bulgarian Parliament can continue with the efforts to amend legislation after consulting all stakeholders.

"The topic of the second chance, adjudication in bankruptcy and debt discharge of small and medium-sized enterprises is important for all Member States," Radev said. In his words, the draft directive under discussion in Varna will cover at least part of the aspects of consumer insolvency, which concerns a large number of Bulgarian families. Expressing his personal opinion, the MEP argued that 15 years are an excessive period for the discharge of debt, and a 10-year period is a better option.

"The idea of personal insolvency is to enable the debtor to request rescheduling and suspension of payments when his income is insufficient to meet due obligations," Radev explained. "If the debtor does not own assets but incurs a large amount of debt, he may be relieved of the financial burden after a certain period of time. Certainly, restrictions will be imposed in such case: the debtor would be disqualified from holding specified positions, he would be ineligible to contract new loans, etc.," he added.