site.btaWrap-up: Parliament Debates No-Confidence Motion against Denkov Cabinet over Energy Sector Policy

A National Assembly debate on a no-confidence motion against the Government of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov over the Cabinet's energy sector policy took place at an extraordinary sitting on Thursday. The motion was tabled on October 5 by 71 MPs of Vazrazhdane, BSP for Bulgaria, and There Is Such a People (TISP) and by independent MP Radostin Vassilev.

The motion, initiated by Vazrazhdane, is prompted by the territorial just transition plans for Bulgaria's coal-producing areas, which the parliamentary opposition sees as devastating for the coal-mining industry and the coal-fired power plants. The Cabinet submitted the plans to the European Commission on September 30.

During the debate, Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) co-leader Kiril Petkov told the motion's sponsors: "To use a vote of no-confidence as part of your election campaign shows electoral weakness." "In reality, you have no vision for Bulgaria, but only propaganda based on fear and hatred,” he added. People want a solution, it is time to think about positive solutions, Petkov stressed. “This vote will not pass, let it be clear that we will continue to fight for the people in the energy sector, for healthy and educated people, for a modern Bulgaria, for higher paid jobs, for Bulgarians to be first class Europeans, and we will fight for our homeland,” he noted. "Today we have a no-confidence vote on the policies in the energy sector, just 128 days after the election of the Denkov cabinet. I don't know how these 128 days have anything to do with the topics you intertwine in your motives - the closure of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) units, the unfulfilled Belene NPP project, the failed Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline," Petkov pointed out and added that, according to the initiators of the vote, Denkov is responsible for the past 30 years. "I suspect that some of you regret that we are in the European Union, but would be happy if we could participate 'in [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's Eurasian Union', the CC-DB co-leader further commented. "I suspect that the other day some of you felt offended when the UN gave Bulgaria 160 votes for membership of the Human Rights Council and Russia 83. Unlike you, the UN regards the Denkov cabinet with confidence that it can protect people's rights," Petkov underlined.

Iskra Mihaylova MP of Vazrazhdane said that Bulgaria is about to transform from an electricity exporter into an importer, along with all risks stemming from that. A base criteria for having an energy sector is the availability of a personal resource, she noted. "The irresponsible actions of this government have signed the death sentence of the Bulgarian energy sector," she argued. In her words, entire regions in southern Bulgaria are at risk of an economic catastrophe that will lead to depopulation and, ultimately, to a demographic collapse in the country. The public trust in the Denkov Cabinet has been completely exhausted; allowing it to continue working would lead to extremely hard consequences for Bulgaria in the long term and failure to protect the national interests.

BSP leader Korneliya Ninova said that the government of GERB-UDF, CC-DB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) is killing Bulgaria's energy sector consistently, firmly and adamantly. Here is a takeaway from her remarks:

• Regarding nuclear energy, Ninova criticized the Government for abandoning the Belene nuclear power plant project, pointing out that it continued Borissov's policy at a time when the European Commission had defined nuclear energy as green energy.
• Regarding coal plants, Ninova pointed out that Germany has reopened its closed coal plants for this winter because the country believes it won't be able to cope without them. "You are moving towards the closure of Bulgarian coal plants," Ninova said. She commented that some experts claim that Bulgaria will have to import some 2,300 MW per hour.
• Regarding the human factor, Ninova said it was a fact that thousands of jobs will be lost. "The fact is that you do not know what you are doing - first you proposed a state enterprise for the reclamation of the mines, then you gave it up," she said.

The Socialists' leader was adamant that jointly the three parliamentary groups, GERB-UDF, CC-DB and MRF, pose a risk to national security.

TISP MP Pavela Mitova said that all actions and inactions of the Government lead to inefficient functioning of the energy system and turn Bulgaria from a net exporter to a net importer. “Shutting down the entire Maritsa East Complex is a matter of lot of money. Continue the Change are seeking to close the plants - because of the bLion project, which is worth nearly BGN 30 billion, and its implementation depends on the land of the Maritsa East Mines, which is 250 sq km. Their idea is to produce 380,000 tons of green hydrogen a year, of which 18,000 tons will be exported. The miners are being thrown out on the street, all the power plants are switching to gas, we are all paying the hefty bill once again, and a handful of charlatans will become billionaires. And the whole project is Minister Rumen Radev's,” Mitova argued.

During the debate, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told journalists in Parliament that the opposition's criticisms (of his Cabinet's energy sector policy) lacks grounds. Denkov specially thanked the Energy Minister and his team for doing a tremendous job to date - difficult and highly skilled, while also creating the publicity that is needed. "Indeed, I expect the Government to be supported," Denkov said. "The only failure we have seen today [Thursday] is in the opposition's attempts to lie to the Bulgarian people that some energy apocalypse is coming," Denkov said at the end of the debate.

Energy Minister Rumen Radev said during the debate: “This debate is an opportunity to talk about the challenges in the sector and the work of the team of the Energy Ministry on a number of backlogged tasks. Negotiations on the renegotiation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the Energy Sector started in the first days of this cabinet and are ongoing. We have not neglected the decision of the National Assembly guaranteeing the preservation of the Maritsa East Mine sites. The issue of jobs is one that we have taken to heart, which is why we will not get tired of repeating that the territorial just transition plans are the only instrument of solidarity that allows us to start solving the social problem - that of creating new jobs. The deadline for submitting the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan to the European Commission was June 30, 2023 and they have agreed on its extension. We committed to share the first estimates and proposals for the update with the EC by the end of November”. Radev added that, pending the full vision of the updated integrated plan, its contents will be discussed with all stakeholders, including social partners. The final proposal for the updated plan will be presented in 2024 after public support and consensus are obtained.

As Parliament was debating the motion for a vote of no-confidence, Finance Minister Assen Vassilev told reporters that the Cabinet must survive because it is setting a clear direction for this country's development and is giving it clear prospects. "We have started difficult reforms that are 20-30 years overdue and had been swept under the rug for too long," he added. Vassilev said that the judicial reform "has started moving forward" and that "it will be a very long battle". "We are steering Bulgaria on a clear European course," the Minister said, mentioning the country's efforts to join the eurozone and Schengen. He went on to say that businesses have started to invest, that the savings of Bulgarian households have increased by BGN 7 billion in the past year, and that Bulgaria is one of very few EU countries where the growth of incomes outpaced inflation in 2022.

Asked whether he believes that GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms would back the government unanimously, he said he cannot make predictions and that he would not "underestimate the no-confidence motion" before he knows for sure that the government has survived. Vassilev stressed that there is enough money in the state budget, that the budget balance is published monthly and that there is over BGN 10 billion in the government's account.

GERB leader Boyko Borissov Thursday said that his party "will most certainly back" the Government of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov. Borissov was speaking to the press on his way out of a meeting of the parliamentary leadership with the security services over the Middle East crisis, held shortly after the debate in Parliament.

"We will most certainly back the government, especially in this international situation. Imagine having a caretaker government and new parliamentary elections on top of the local elections! This [no-confidence debate] is merely time that the opposition used to say whatever they wanted to say," said Borissov.

Borissov's party is part of the Denkov Government and will even rotate the Prime Minister's office with Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria. That means that Mariya Gabriel, currently the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in Denkov's Cabinet, will take over as Prime Minister in February for the cabinet's second nine months.

After the end of the debate in Parliament, which lasted for about 4 hours, National Assembly Chairperson Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that the vote of no-confidence will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday. Under Parliament's rules, the vote on the motion can be held no earlier than 24 hours after the debate.