Wrap-up

site.btaUPDATED Outgoing Government Reports Its Performance

Outgoing Government Reports Its Performance
Outgoing Government Reports Its Performance
PM Denkov (left) and Deputy PM Mariya Gabriel (right) report the government's performance, Sofia, March 8, 2024 (BTA Photo)

At a news conference Friday, two days after he handed his resignation to allow a cabinet rotation with GERB-UDF, outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov asked each of his Ministers to report their performance and priorities. "The governance programme will continue to be implemented for the next nine months. We have only come halfway," he said.

He said he and Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel will do their best to ensure a smooth transition and continue to work together.

Gabriel is expected to be the Prime Minister, if the rotation plan is carried through.

Denkov himself offered a catalogue of the government's key accomplishments as he offered his Cabinet's resignation in Parliament. 

The ministerial reports follow:

Outgoing Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel

Gabriel was the first of the ministers of speak. She said that "united efforts produce more sustainable results and open dialogue is the best way to overcome differences". 

Gabriel recalled where the government started. "Nine months ago we made a difficult but very important choice. The political parties supporting the government have managed to mitigate the contradictions and open mistrust between them," she said. She said they supported a cabinet that seemed impossible in the eyes of many for the sake of the country's stability. "Leadership, foresight and the ability to take responsibility were demonstrated," Gabriel said. According to her, this choice has given Bulgaria a chance to put an end to political instability so that the country does not find itself again in the run-up to another early parliamentary election. Gabriel said that it was important to remember these circumstances. "Because we have seen how much we can achieve, even in just a few months, if we join forces for the sake of peace and the good of the people," she added.

She thanked Prime Minister Denkov for the joint work and the constructive tone they have managed to maintain. This has allowed us to move on, despite the difficulties, and to show that trials only make us stronger and we stay together, Gabriel said. 

She remembered how in February she had held meetings with the ministers and asked each of them to do three things: to point out the measures in the governance programme that would not be implemented on time and the reasons for this; to identify two priorities that are strategic for Bulgaria; and to point out two short-term measures that will directly make people's life better. 

She went on to list her main priorities as Deputy Prime Minister and then as Foreign Minister. 

As Deputy Prime Minister, she said she coordinated the activities of four agencies, chaired nine councils, two national committees and one committee. She underscored progress made in the fight against human trafficking, as well as  in prevention of, and protection from, domestic violence.

As Foreign Minister, Gabriel's main priority has been "to defend national priorities in foreign policy, with concrete benefits for Bulgarian citizens". It is important for her that the government clearly and predictably supports Ukraine. "This was undoubtedly one of the top priorities," she said. She drew attention to the outcome regarding the abolition of sea and air borders for Bulgaria as it joined the Schengen area, and described it as a very important step forward and a team effort. "It is up to all of us in 2024 to abolish controls for land borders as well," she said.

She said the Foreign Ministry will continue to support the efforts related to eurozone entry and the accession to the OECD. She noted that Bulgaria has a clear roadmap and ambition for the process to happen within three years.

Gabriel also highlighted Bulgaria's election as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the period 2024-2026. "This is a recognition and a responsibility for our country and I am sure that we will be able to deliver on the commitments we have made," she said.

She noted that over a period of several months Bulgaria become a reliable and predictable partner within the EU and NATO. In her words, the country is a factor for stability in Southeast Europe. Gabriel also noted the team efforts on connectivity - energy, transport, digital. "Bulgaria has a clear ambition to become a regional innovation hub," she said. The deputy prime minister thanked all ministries for their active efforts in this direction.

Bulgaria has become a leader in the region and in the EU in terms of crisis diplomacy, Gabriel said. She pointed out that Bulgaria was the first to evacuate Bulgarian citizens from war zones abroad. "We have offered assistance to all who needed it," she stressed and underlined the new dimension of the strategic partnership with the US and the UK. 

"The Foreign Ministry takes the first place with 89 measures, of which 61 have been implemented," Gabriel said. For her, it is crucial that Bulgaria adopts its first foreign policy strategy in its history, which will strengthen the country's predictability and credibility as a partner to tackle regional and global challenges. 

"We will continue our efforts related to brand Bulgaria. Bulgaria needs to fill with substance the narrative of its successes," the outgoing Foreign Minister said.

She also underscored this country's support for Bulgarians abroad. 

Outgoing Finance Minister Assen Vassilev

Vassilev singled out two clear priorities of the Finance Ministry.

The first is for Bulgaria to join the euro area in 2025, he said and added that this will improve the country's institutional framework, reduce costs for businesses and people, and allow the flow of investment to increase significantly.

The second strategic priority is to continue its policy, based on two pillars - to grow incomes ahead of inflation, two to three times faster, and to help businesses to make the necessary investments so that incomes can be protected through improving labour productivity, Vassilev noted. He pointed out that achieving these goals with a 3% budged deficit is complicated.

Vassilev also highlighted his Ministry’s short-term priorities. The Finance Ministry usually plays a supporting role for many of the things that happen in the country, he noted. Vassilev gave the example of the work of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and decisions taken by the Fund.

“We are working extremely well with the NHIF at the moment. Yesterday, the NHIF adopted a measure that will allow to significantly reduce the payments for key medicines that are mainly used by the elderly,” Vassilev said. He said that this will allow all these patients to pay less, be able to take their medicines regularly and not miss out because they do not have the funds, and will also have a positive effect in reducing inflation.

The second measure in the short term, in which the Ministry of Finance plays a supportive role, is the transport connectivity between Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. “We are working very actively with our colleagues from Greece and we expect soon to have an intergovernmental agreement on economic cooperation, which will cover a broad aspect of activities and which will deepen our ties with Greece, in a way that supports both countries, “ Vassilev said.

Outgoing Economy Minister Bogdan Bogdanov

Bogdanov said his Ministry will continue to implement the economic priorities about the common efforts for Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, the euro area and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A key priority for the Ministry is related to the growth of the country's economy, Bogdanov added.

"We still have work to do to achieve tangible results in reducing the administrative burden on business and facilitating access of third-country nationals to the Bulgarian labour market. We are actively working on providing the best conditions for the Bulgarian defence industry to ensure our national and allied capabilities, but also to implement the necessary support for Ukraine," the Minister said.

He pointed out that the transformation of the State-owned companies continues.

Bogdanov outlined the reform of the Consumer Protection Commission among the tasks that have not been fully implemented.

Outgoing Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov

Stoyanov said that reforms in his Ministry's structure are planned for 2024. "This year we are aiming at several reforms in the structures of the Ministry of Interior, mainly in the administrative directorates: we have identified the problem and we are looking for a solution", he said.  

He noted that the fight against illegal migration and road traumatism remain priorities for the department.

The training of Interior Ministry personnel at all levels will continue.

Since September 2023, there has been a steady downward trend in migration pressure to Bulgaria, which the Minister attributed to tightened border controls, as well as the increased work with Turkiye against criminal groups for human trafficking.

"Our goal is to maintain these results and possibly build on them," the Minister said.

The measures which are being implemented in a bid to improve traffic safety, will yield results "in a few months' time, not right away", said the Minister.

In connection with Stoyanov's report, the Interior Ministry published additional information on its official website. It says that 360 all-terrain vehicles are to be delivered to the Border Police and a procedure has been initiated to deploy an additional 1,260 border police officers. More technical equipment for the border will be secured thanks to EU and national funding.

In the catalogue of measures for improving traffic safety, the authorities have impounded 354 vehicles in driving-under-the influence cases. The revenue from traffic fines has increased by over 40%. Also, the Ministry is working to involve officers of the Gendarmerie and the Bulgarian Post in the process of serving electronic tickets for traffic violations. It is also going to put POS terminals on 300 police vehicles so that anyone who wants to can pay their fine on the spot. Procurement of 273 speed cameras is also being finalized and the delivery of a large number of vehicles for the Traffic Police, including high-speed vehicles, will start at the end of March.

Also, the Ministry is working hard with the Electronic Governance Ministry to enable the toll cameras to register average speed.

Outgoing Defence Minister Todor Tagarev

Tagarev said that so far, Bulgaria has provided Ukraine with over 7,000 tonnes of material, including millions of ammunition of different types and calibres, plus over 140 vehicles that are on their way to this country.  

He said that his top priority is to adapt the Bulgarian Armed Forces and the management system to the sharply deteriorating security environment, creating conditions for the effective implementation of NATO's plans for deterrence and defence of the Eastern flank.

Tagarev said providing assistance to Ukraine remains an undisputed priority of the Cabinet, supported by the National Assembly.

The Bulgarian defence industry is working at maximum capacity, the outgoing Minister said.

Tagarev noted that GERB leader Boyko Borissov is right in saying that Bulgaria is among the countries providing significant military assistance. On Thursday, Borissov said Bulgaria has helped Ukraine much more than the big and rich countries in Europe "with ammunition, armoured personnel carriers, tanks, artillery - anything that the Bulgarian Parliament decided to send Ukraine; moreover, this armament goes directly to the front line, because Ukrainian troops use precisely such weapons".

"We are actively working to identify additional opportunities to provide arms to Ukraine and receive financial compensation. My ambition, with the support of the parliament, is to secure in this way BGN 1 billion above the voted budget, which we will reinvest for accelerated rearmament of the Bulgarian army," Tagarev said.

"I will focus on improving the social status of people in defence and the conditions for training and education, so that the prestige of the military profession is raised and it becomes attractive to more young people. I will work to increase the competitiveness of the Bulgarian defence industry and integrate it into the European and Euro-Atlantic defence technological industrial base, which will bring lasting economic benefits to the country and new jobs," Tagarev said.

Outgoing Justice Minister Atanas Slavov

Slavov stressed that passing for the first time a law on lobbying and lobbying activities is a key priority for his Ministry. He pointed out that such a law would guarantee that the legislative process, the decision-making "protects public interests, not some private interests".

As another priority, the outgoing Minister noted the implementation in practice of the constitutional amendments and drafting a new Judiciary Act, which has already been announced for preliminary public consultation. Slavov added that the draft will be consulted with parliamentary groups and professional communities.

He also identified as a priority Bulgaria's active involvement in international activities related to the restoration of justice in Ukraine, with "the effective investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed in Ukraine".

In his words, this could be achieved with the participation of Bulgarian prosecutors and investigators in these processes, through participation in the joint investigation teams under the jurisdiction of Eurojust. Also through amendments to the Criminal Code, introducing the current standards for war crimes and crimes against peace and humanity.

Outgoing Energy Minister Rumen Radev

Radev said that the Energy Ministry's main goal is to provide affordable, secure and sustainable energy to Bulgarians to ensure their better lives.

He outlined several key tasks that lie ahead of the Energy Ministry over the next 9 months. The first is to complete Bulgaria's strategy for Sustainable Energy Development until 2030 with a horizon to 2050. The second one is to continue actively the reform of the liberalization of the wholesale electricity market. The third key task is to maintain determination and momentum while working on Bulgaria's new nuclear capacity, new balancing hydropower capacity, and developing the transmission infrastructure.

Outgoing Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev

Vatev outlined three key priorities for his Ministry. As a topmost priority, he identified legislative changes in support of local producers aimed at promoting Bulgarian products.

Secondly, the Outgoing Minister highlighted the strengthening and increasing of laboratory capacity for quality control and food safety.

Thirdly, Vatev focused on the restoration and modernization of Bulgaria's hydromelioration systems. "We are also restoring the administrative capacity, which was reduced to zero," he said, recalling that the rehabilitation of 24 key irrigation canals is currently underway.

In a public video report on his Ministry's performance as part of the Denkov Cabinet since June 2023, Vatev said that for nine months they had defended the interests of agricultural producers, initiated the restoration of irrigation farming, and affirmed state food control at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint on the border with Turkiye.

Outgoing Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeikov

Gvozdeikov said that his Ministry prioritizes the modernization of the railway transport and the development of Bulgaria's emergency air medical service.

"Yes, that is a long process, but we have started the initial steps. The close task into which we should put maximum efforts is the finalization of the public procurement procedures for the delivery of rolling stock and the signing of contracts. This is a project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. That would be felt the most by the people, because the [railway] transport has huge potential: innovative and environmentally friendly,"  Gvozdeikov noted.

The Government's goal is to have three working operating bases for air ambulances by the end of 2024, he went on to say. A programme and plan for training pilots are being developed, and an organization will be created for their training by mid-2024, thus creating an opportunity to provide the necessary capacity of human resources in this important task.

Outgoing Health Minister Hristo Hinkov

Hinkov highlighted the construction of a National Children's Hospital until this year’s end as a top priority of the Health Ministry

The necessary agreement has been reached with the European Investment Bank, Hinkov added. In his words, healthcare is a cumbersome system in which changes take time and results come not immediately but after a period, during which the positive effects from what was set in the governance programme can be seen.

Another priority of the Health Ministry is improvement of the transplantation model in Bulgaria. "This year, we are record-setters in donor situations and transplantation," he added.

The short-term measures directed at people are continuation of the digitalisation, broadening of the options for citizens to access their medical files, improvement of the system for tracking medicinal products as a means to limit the periodical shortage of medicine. The goal of reducing out-of-pocket patient payments [which Hinkov set at the start of his term in office] and increasing the reimbursement of medicinal products has been reached to some extent, he said.

"I am proud to have worked in a government that showed Bulgaria can be governed in an intelligent and dignified manner," Hinkov said.

Outgoing Labour Minister Ivanka Shalapatova

Shalapatova outlined her Ministry's strategic priorities for the rest of the year.

"The first priority is to pursue the policy of raising people’s income, which can be achieved by maintaining the support for labour productivity through investment in workforce upskilling," Shalapatova said.

In her words, this is a crucial prerequisite for a successful business. "It is very important that by the end of the year, together with the social partners, we manage to fully transpose the minimum wage directive via a predictable mechanism that takes into account territorial and economic specificities," she noted.

"Another crucial priority for us is the promotion of demographic development because, as Mariya Gabriel said, we can view the status quo in Bulgaria as an opportunity. This is our approach to the development of the demographic situation in the country," Shalapatova said.

“Our second strategic approach is related to improving social support and tackling poverty and social exclusion," the Minister noted. She said that her Ministry’s aim is to put an end to the inefficiency of social support. Shalapatova added that their ambition is to show how social benefits and services can empower people to be active and not constantly dependent on the State.

"By the end of the year, we have taken on a very serious commitment, and I am confident that we will fulfill it," Shalapatova said, referring to the planned closure of the last four medical-social care homes for children.

She said that her Ministry also aims to actively support people affected by the green transition in the Maritsa basin and to pursue enhanced digital competence and labour productivity of the workforce.

"In the short term, our concern is social workers, raising their salaries and competence so that they can be a reliable and adequate partner when people need social support," Shalapatova said.

Outgoing Education Minister Galin Tzokov

Tzokov said that the development of a modern educational and academic environment was and will continue to be key priority for the Education Ministry.

It is difficult to make cardinal changes in the field of education in nine months, he pointed out.

An important and key priority in the Education Ministry’s work so far and in the coming months in the work of the Ministry of Education will be the development of a modern educational and academic environment, said Tzokov. He announced that "in the coming months, our schools, kindergartens and universities will turn into major construction sites,” with 33 new buildings of educational institutions to be built, over 30 student dormitories to be renovated, dozens of schools and kindergartens to be overhauled and annexed. The main target is to move over 22,000 students to single-shift education, he said, adding that state-of-the-art STEM centres would also be built in schools.

“To improve the quality of school and academic education, we have short-term goals for the development of digitalization in education and the improvement of the Digital Backpack platform, as well as the implementation of the guidelines for artificial intelligence,” Tzokov noted.

Bulgaria is one of the first countries in Europe and in the world to have guidelines for the application of artificial intelligence in support of teachers, as well as for the development of social and emotional skills in students, he stressed.

Tzokov said that next month Bulgaria will be the centre of a global event as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's global report on the study of social and emotional intelligence among students worldwide will be presented.

Outgoing Culture Minister Krastyu Krastev 

Krastev highlighted the good work of his team. "I am grateful for the support of the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly, all the people from the sector with whom we worked together, we had the support and that is why we carried out a lot of work," he said.

“We have started several projects and we will develop them,” Krastev added. The procedure for signing an agreement for the establishment of an Arts Centre at the St St Cyricus and Julitta Island. “We have secured over BGN 3 million. We are supported by UNESCO, which is very important. We are working with major companies, there is interest from other countries. It is being developed as the only World Heritage Centre in the world," he said.

"We are also establishing a regional centre for underwater archaeology, again under the auspices of UNESCO. We will submit the application by March 31. It will be staffed by experts from all over the world. I would like to thank very much the local authorities and the universities in the country, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the National Centre for Underwater Archaeology," Krastev said.

In his words, Bulgarian art is becoming more and more recognizable in the world, which is why his Ministry continues to support its global exposure.

"We support the development with new spending standards of delegated activities such as regional libraries, museums, community centres. The increase for libraries and museums is over 18%. There is a new methodology for performing arts and new programmes with our key partners. I want to let them know that the Association of Municipalities are some of the most important," Krustev said.

He recalled that the National Culture Fund budged was increased by BGN 9 million. BGN 40 million are earmarked for project funding for state, municipal and private organizations, Krustev added.

Outgoing Innovation Minister Milena Stoycheva

Stoycheva said that her Ministry has two strategic priorities: promoting innovation and attracting strategic investors to Bulgaria. The first will be achieved through an active agenda and continued vision and work on making Bulgaria a leading innovation hub for South-East Europe.

"Technology, human talent and an ecosystem approach are at the heart of our vision to make South-East Europe an innovation hub," the outgoing minister said. "We have specific measures that we have set out which provide for the promotion of start-ups as well as stimulating the development of innovation in established companies," she said.

Stoycheva highlighted the drive to effectively use the financial resources provided for the creation of a technology transfer fund and a technology transfer office, along with new policies and tools to stimulate innovation in priority areas - defence, chips, space, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, green technology, energy storage, mechanical engineering and metallurgy.

This, she said, will go with a consistent application of a sustainable approach along the model of open innovation.  

"We continue to work to make innovation a cross-cutting policy and develop this approach synergistically with all other partners and ministries," she explained.

The second priority - attracting investment - will be based on innovation policy and attracting strategic investors for the region. To this end, several measures are planned related to the development of a national strategy for high-tech parks and industrial zones.

"The Ministry has succeeded in attracting resources, together with the Finance Ministry and the support of the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund, in the amount of BGN 1.38 billion for the next programming period, which will provide liquidity for companies and for the development of Bulgarian business," said the Minister.

Outgoing Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova

Dinkova said that her Ministy's main priority is to continue the programme and reform in the field of marketing and advertising policies. That includes more transparency and efficiency and, for the first time, in partnership with businesses and municipalities, she specified.

"Thanks to this reform and with only BGN 5 million invested effectively, we have 70% return [in the form of] early bookings on the British market, 30% for 2025 and 20% on the German market," she said.

The second priority is to support hotel owners in improving quality and competitiveness through innovation and sustainability, she went on to say. "We continue the policies of transparency and openness, as evidenced by the change in the tender procedure for beaches," she added.

"We are working on reducing the administrative burden on businesses, on the model of the compulsory Guarantee Fund as an element of the national defence against insolvency of tour organizers and guaranteeing better consumer protection. A mobile app is being developed to promote tourist sites and routes. Work is also being done on the project to set up a Home of the Rose in Sofia," Dinkova reported.

Outgoing Environment Minister Julian Popov

Popov said that he has the ambition to shorten the investment process in Bulgaria by one year in 2024. He voiced hope that this ambition could be achieved.

Outgoing Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov 

Tsekov said that the main function of the Regional Development Ministry is to invest Bulgarian taxpayers' money in infrastructure that improves their way of life.

The priority over the next nine months is aimed at making substantial progress in the development of the country's motorway network, the minister said. Having managed to make progress on the design and budgeting of all motorways in the first nine months, the main objective in the second period will be to make further tangible progress in their implementation and open new motorway sections of between 60 and 96 kilometres to traffic by the end of 2024, Tsekov said.

By the end of 2024, the Europe Motorway will be fully completed and the 15-kilometre section connecting Sofia and Slivnitsa will be built within 2024, the minister said. Significant progress is also expected on the motorway connecting Vidin and Botevgrad, he added. In his words, by the end of the year, the 32-kilometre route connecting Mezdra and Botevgrad will be put into operation and opened to traffic, and the 30-kilometre section connecting Vidin with the Makresh road junction is expected to be completed within the year.

Regarding the Struma Motorway, the minister said that within this year it is realistic to complete the remaining small section of three kilometres between Simitli and Krupnik, which, in his words, was "hostage to the long-delayed decision on the Struma Motorway route". The project received green light from the European Commission on March 1.

Regarding the Hemus Motorway, the minister said that the construction has been secured in the budget and in March it will resume in sections one to three - the link to Pleven. Within 2024 it is quite realistic to complete the first section of the motorway - about 16 km, between the Boaza pass and the road to Lovech and Ugarchin, for all other sections one to three the work will start in the coming days, the minister said. For the sections between Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo, we expect the issuance of a construction permit within the first half of this year, which will enable construction to start on these sections in the summer, Tsekov said.

After the start of the construction of the motorway between Ruse and Byala in 2023, Tsekov said he expected work on the entire route to be announced in 2024.

On the subject of municipal development, the minister noted the capital programme for investment in municipal infrastructure worth over BGN 4 billion over a three-year period. It involves 1,625 projects, the implementation and contracting of which is administered by the Regional Development Ministry. Tsekov said that within 40 days, 942 applications have been submitted to the Ministry, 875 have been processed, 565 agreements have been prepared for the objects for which full project readiness has been established. He said that within the next week over 400 agreements will be signed with municipalities.

Another priority Tsekov outlined was the adoption of a national legislative institutional framework on the programming, planning, management and control of investments with national budget funds, similar to the rules applied to investments from the European Union funds.

Outgoing Electronic Governance Minister Alexander Yolovski

Yolovski singled out one accomplishment for the past nine months - proactive services. He said that is something that has been very hard for Bulgaria to introduce for the past 22 years.

As examples of such services, he said that from January 1, 2025 all people with disabilities in Bulgaria can get an annual vignette for their car automatically, without having to file an application. Also, mothers won’t have to submit an application for the one-off aid for childbirth, or when their children enroll in first and eighth grade.

The second big priority for the coming months is the centralization of public procurements in the electronic government and ICT, “so as to put an end to the secret public procurements and replace them with open procedures where the lowest price wins”, to use Yolovski’s words.

He said in this way the State will cut spendings and use the money instead for improving cybersecurity in the State administration.

Outgoing Sports Minister Dimitar Iliev

Iliev said that he and his team have worked hard to achieve three big goals: ensuring the best possible conditions for the development of elite sport, making sport accessible for all in Bulgaria, and stopping the drain of money for sport.

Iliev stressed that in an environment of inherited problems and numerous attacks, the leadership of the Ministry worked in full publicity and transparency. "We have brought stability to the system. We increased funding and introduced strict control measures for federations. We have secured a record budget for the Olympic sports centres - nearly BGN 43 million for 2024. So our athletes will focus solely on winning more medals for Bulgaria at the Summer Olympics in Paris," the Minister of Youth and Sports said. An important sign of the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports for Bulgarian athletes is the 27% increase in the monthly funding for training and recovery of athletes with Olympic quotas, he added.

"We have introduced for the first time in Bulgaria bonuses for young elite athletes. Until now, they did not receive a single lev for the medals at world and European championships. Starting this year, our young champions will receive BGN 20,000 for first place at world championships and BGN 10,000 at European championships. They are our future, we continue to actively work for them", Iliev was adamant. Since the first day of his inauguration his team has stood firmly behind the position that there is no second category of athletes. In this context, the bonuses for Paralympians have been equalized with those for Olympic medalists, he pointed out.

Nearly BGN 5 million has been approved this year to fund non-Olympic sports. The funds will reach a record number of 25 federations, the report to the public also noted.

"We are giving back the prestige of the coaching profession. We have increased the salaries of coaches and their teams in all sports by 15%," Minister Iliev added. According to him, new programmes are also underway, with double the funds provided for school and student sports. The Ministry is actively working with young people and has outlined concrete measures to make Bulgaria an even better place for development and prosperity.

Transparency, accountability, and control measures have been put in place for both the Ministry and the federations, so that every lev from the budget goes into sport. "With clear and categorical criteria, we are putting an end to money flowing to "our people" without result. In 9 months we have managed to lay good foundations. There are still many important things to do for Bulgarian sport", Minister Iliev said.

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