Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov answered citizens’ questions on Facebook here on Tuesday. He discussed the evacuation of Bulgarians from Israel, the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the economy, food and oil prices, Schengen and the euro zone, among other topics.
Evacuation of Bulgarians from Israel
“The most important thing is that we managed to swiftly pull out the Bulgarian citizens from the State of Israel, said here on Tuesday Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov while answering citizens’ questions on Facebook.
He said the Government is ready to provide an additional flight to evacuate Bulgarians from Israel, if there are such.
Conflict in Middle East
"There is no doubt whatsoever that the conflict we are witnessing in Israel is linked with the conflict in Ukraine and with the series of coups in Africa. A very serious coordinated action to destabilize the world is unfolding at this point. This is a way to shift the world's focus from Russia's attack against Ukraine and an attempt to spread these tensions to larger parts of the world. The settlement of these conflicts in the coming months and years will predetermine what will be happening in the world for decades ahead, it will predetermine the future of our children and grandchildren," Denkov said.
"If this conflict deepens, which is possible, if it lasts longer, it will have an impact and we have to keep it in mind as a possibility for the coming winter," the Prime Minister pointed out in response to a question whether the conflict in the Middle East will raise oil prices and increase inflation.
Asked what measures the Government would take to prevent inflation from rising in connection with the conflict in the Middle East, Denkov said that inflation is mostly determined by international energy and food prices. If oil goes up again, it will have an impact, he said, adding that when it comes to food, the most important thing is to support Bulgarian production, especially to help smaller producers, as this would reduce imports.
Road construction
Commenting on road construction, Nikolay Denkov said that road construction is underway, but “not with great intensity” and there are two reasons for this. He explained that in previous years there was construction that did not have the necessary documents and this made it difficult to continue work on such construction projects. According to Denkov, the second problem is that when large public tenders are announced, they are appealed against as much as possible, and this delays the deadlines. In his words, this is in the interest of those companies that are used to winning public contracts at an inflated value, while the profits are distributed to the politicians who provide them with those contracts.
Russian oil
Asked whether the Russian oil derogation should be reconsidered, Denkov said it should not for the time being, as the phased introduction of non-Russian oil implies that there is time to react if the situation changes. For the moment we can proceed as planned. It will take a year to get to fully non-Russian oil, if we have to change the decision in the National Assembly.
Government's accomplishments
Asked what the government had done so far, Denkov said the cabinet had to restart almost all sectors in the country. The Prime Minister gave as an example the energy sector and the agricultural producers. According to him, there were many problems that were "swept under the rug", which can no longer continue. Denkov said that the problems will not be hidden, they will be put on the table and solutions will be sought for them. "For producers, we are already changing the way subsidies are given so that more of the smaller and medium-sized producers who provide the food for our table are helped," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also answered a question about the Movement for Rights and Freedoms' (MRF) participation in the country's governance. "Some of the changes - in the Constitution and the regulators - require a qualified majority. Without GERB and MRF we cannot secure this majority. I would accept support from the other parties, but they have adopted the stance of being a rigid opposition, very often aggressively anti-European, which cannot bring us together in common decision-making. Many decisions can be made without the MRF, but the more support there is, the better," said Nikolay Denkov.
"It is crucial to successfully complete this session of Parliament with the adoption of the constitutional amendments. There are still several laws that need to be adopted by the end of the session in December, if we succeed, this will be the most successful session of Parliament for many years," the Prime Minister added.
Schengen and euro zone
Other priorities of the Government are Schengen and the euro zone - topics on which everything had stopped, Prime Minister Denkov said. "We had to restart the processes with our partners and catch up with many delays, which we managed to do," he added.
Road Safety
Denkov assured that the institutions are doing their best to reduce the number of serious road accidents, as well as the number of victims and injured ones. In his words, a structure has been set up to ensure that the results of blood samples for drugs and alcohol, which are taken from drivers, come out faster. The Prime Minister added that new laboratory equipment is expected to arrive in a few months, allowing blood sample results to come out faster. "The [high] number of serious crashes, casualties and seriously injured is a big issue in Bulgaria. That is why more stringent measures are being sought. Confiscating cars [of drivers under the influence] is a practice that is used in other countries. Like any new measure, this too requires serious organizational efforts", Denkov said.
Energy Workers' Protests
Many of the people organizing these protests have political ambitions. According to research, a large part of the organizers are in party lists, party leaders of pro-Russian parties also appear there, Denkov said in relation to the protests of miners and energy workers. "The organizers are those who have political demands, and I distinguish them from the miners and energy workers, who have been lied to for many years that everything can continue as it has been. No, it can't, technology is changing very fast", Denkov said. He was adamant that he would not back down further.
No thermal power plants will be shut down administratively, Denkov said. “We expect to develop new technologies, which often give significantly cheaper electricity, to maintain energy security with the necessary base capacities, where coal plants are also involved, as long as it is necessary, which means many more years to come. After that, there will be many more years of reclamation and transformation of mine sites so that they can be reused. The transition period will continue until 2045, at least”, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said.
According to Denkov, the real problem is that state decisions have not been explained to the people in the industry over the years and they are now surprised by what is happening. They have been promised things that cannot happen. "It is clear that there will be a transition, but it has to happen slowly and with care for the people and this is what we are trying to do," the Prime Minister said.
Electricity from new and clean sources is significantly cheaper. Coal plants will and do compete with nuclear and renewables. We have purely economic parameters that will change the role of coal plants, Denkov emphasized.
/MY/
news.modal.text
