site.btaSocialist Leader Ninova Warns PM Borissov: "Keep Hands off from Silver Fund!"

Sofia, April 12 (BTA) - Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader
Kornelia Ninova wrote in a Facebook post that Prime Minister
Boyko Borissov has spent 5,000 million leva of the fiscal
reserve, leaving it at an unprecedented low, the BSP press
office said on Monday.

The socialist leader quoted official information from the
Ministry of Finance and called upon the Prime Minister to keep
his hands off the pensions in the Silver Fund.

"Mr. Borissov, do not touch the Silver Fund, because this time
will not be like the first," Ninova wrote, as quoted by the BSP
press office.

She recalled that the Silver Fund was established in 2008 by the
 BSP government to collect 50 per cent of the revenue from
privatization, 25 per cent of the national budget surplus and
concession revenue. "These funds can only be used for pensions.
That is by law and in theory," Ninova says.

According to her, "at the moment there is a danger that Borissov
 might just trample over the law, as has already happened with
the reserve of the National Health Insurance Fund in 2010."

Ninova wrote that, according to the official information of the
Finance Ministry, in the three months between September and
December 2020, Borissov spent 5,000 million leva from the fiscal
 reserve. This meant that only 1,400 million leva remain "free"
(not counting the balances of the National Social Security
Institute, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), the Silver
 Fund and the EU funds). Such a decline has not been seen since
2010, when the then-GERB government  nationalized the NHIF
reserve and over 1,300 million leva were poured in the national
budget and into unknown spending. Ninova also said that in spite
 of a BSP complaint to the Constitutional Court, the money was
not returned to the NHIF budget.

In her opinion, in the present situation, which is similar as
the reserve is empty, the Prime Minister may just get the idea
to get money from the Silver Fund.

Ninova again appealed to Borissov to withhold from touching the
Silver Fund, saying this is an opportunity to recalculate all
pensions. RI/BR