site.btaUPDATED Finance Minister Denies Pressure Exerted on Austrian Businesses in Bulgaria over Schengen, Says Trucks to/from Austria Go through Extra Checks at Border

Finance Minister Assen Vassilev Wednesday denied allegations that the authorities are putting pressure on Austrian businesses in Bulgaria over Vienna's refusal to allow Bulgaria into Schengen, the European borderless travel area, for all types of travel. "There is no pressure. Checks are underway at 500-700 companies at the moment," the Minister said, thus denying reports that the Austrian chains Billa and OMV have been handpicked for tax audits. 

He assured the press that the checks are unrelated to the Austrian position which only allowed Schengen enlargement into Bulgaria and Romania for air and sea travel. 

He said that audits are underway in the supermarket chains and all outlets which sell high fiscal-risk commodities or where the audits are part of precautionary measures. 

Asked to comment calls by business associations for a boycott on Austrian goods, Vassilev said it is something for Bulgarian consumers to decide, not the Bulgarian government. "The business community is free to send any messages to the Bulgarian people," he said.

Extra border checks for trucks to/from Austria

The Minister did confirm that trucks to and from Austria go through extra-stringent checks at the border, which is done on Austria's request. He said: "What we are doing as a special treatment for Austria, are the checks by the Customs Agency. All cargo to and from Austria goes through the full set of checks. They are checked by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency and also go through X-ray inspection. If a problem is identified there, they also go through a manual check of the cargo. This is at the request of the Austrian side for increased checks of the freight traffic from and to Austria. There has been some tension at the borders because we only have so many X-ray scanners. Funding has been allocated to get more scanners this year, but only at the external borders of the European Union. At the moment, at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint, out of ten lanes for trucks, we have only two X-ray lanes. We need to secure scanners for the others as well. This will happen at the other external borders as well. We will not invest in additional equipment at the internal borders, so delays can be expected there."

In response to a reporter's question, Vassilev said that the parliament will decide whether he will take a deputy prime minister post after the upcoming prime ministerial rotation in the regular government in March 2024.

Vassilev said: "In order to get formed, a cabinet must receive parliamentary support. For it to get parliamentary support, it will have to get support from the MPs of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and GERB-UDF. This goes through discussions between the prime minister, who will lead this cabinet and who must be able to select a team, and the parties from which parliamentary support is sought."