site.btaPM Denkov Addresses Parliament

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov Wednesday addressed the legislature before it voted the resignation of his Cabinet to catalogue its accomplishments and reaffirm that it will continue doing its job until a new government is formed. "The Government will continue to perform its duties and work as before on the important priorities for the people: raising incomes, creating a sustainable business environment, enhancing national security and strengthening our position in international relations," Denkov said.

He said that the resignation fulfills a commitment made in the joint declaration signed with GERB-UDF, with which the government started working on June 6, 2023. "Despite the sabotage and provocations, we are ready to move forward with the implementation of the government programme with [next] Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel," Denkov said. He thanked Gabriel and the MPs who have supported the cabinet. 

Denkov also said: "Even though dialogue between the parties backing this government was torpedoed more than once, we have fulfilled all items of this declaration and what remains to be done is the key sixth point which provides for the creation of a mechanism for coordination by the parliamentary groups of the nominations for the regulators elected by the parliament. It is time to take this crucial step together with you, to show consistency and respect for the benefit of people and business by following through on the reforms we embarked on nine months ago."

Denkov said that in the coming days his Cabinet will report the results of its work in the past nine months. He went on to catalogue some of the accomplishments:

• the Bulgarian economy continues to grow by nearly 2%, at a rate well above the European average and despite the recession in Western Europe;
• a record-setting 30% increase in foreign investment over the past 14 years;
• inflation is at its lowest level in the last two years and continues to slow down;
• EU's second highest wage growth and incomes growing more than two and a half times faster than inflation;
• increased wages in education, health care, social services, defence, judiciary, culture and other areas;
• free public transport for children younger than 14;
• over BGN 1 bln set aside for municipal projects;
• increased transparency in public spending;
• over BGN 3 bln provided for domestic agricultural production in 2023. 

Denkov further said that the new anti-corruption bill, the changes in the judiciary and the Constitution, together with improved border control have helped restore international confidence in Bulgaria, led to the removal of the special monitoring mechanism and paved the way to Schengen entry.

In foreign policy, Bulgaria reaffirmed its support for Ukraine in his struggle against the Russian aggressor "because it reflects the national interest", said the Prime Minister. He also added the steps taken towards increasing this country's defence capabilities.

He also said that the government "stopped leaks worth hundreds of millions in non-transparent contracts".