site.btaGERB Leader Borissov Calls for Immediate Closure of Road Transport Administration amid Bribery Scandal

GERB Party Leader Boyko Borissov called for the immediate closure of the Road Transport Administration (RTA) during a press briefing in the corridors of the National Assembly on Wednesday. His appeal came after two RTA employees were accused of soliciting and receiving a bribe from transport operators carrying equipment for English singer Robbie Williams' concert in Sofia on September 28.

“My proposal is to shut down this agency immediately,” Borissov said.

“Even if you put bodycams on them, it won’t matter,” Borissov commented when asked whether body cameras should be introduced for the RTA employees. He suggested that some of RTA's responsibilities could be transferred to the traffic police, and that the toll system could handle issues such as vehicle and truck overloading. “And at the end of the toll system, there should be a traffic officer to escort them to pay their fines. Otherwise, you can dress them in overalls if you like,” said Borissov.

In response to a question about proposals made by the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition regarding the state budget, Borissov said he was unaware of what proposals had been put forward. “They were clear a few years ago — the debt rose to BGN 18 billion, and they were borrowing 500 million a week,” he commented.

Asked whether there is a risk of tax increases or exceeding the 3% deficit threshold, the MP said there is still time before the first euro-denominated budget is submitted to the National Assembly. Borissov expressed hope that the revenue agencies would manage to meet their targets.

According to Borissov, the government should focus on two main issues: water supply and prices. “Everything else is just empty talk,” he said.

Regarding the opposition's claims that the government’s price monitoring website is not functioning, Borissov responded: “That’s not a question for me.”

Commenting on MP Ivaylo Mirchev’s earlier statement in the National Assembly that “Taki is the seventh prime minister,” Borissov replied: “Can’t a man even make a joke?” (Taki is an alias of the controversial businessman Hristoforos Amanatidis.)

Borissov explained that his previous remark about there being “five prime ministers” referred to the fact that in a fragile coalition government, each party effectively sees itself as the prime minister of its own faction. “Because without any one of them, the government cannot function. That was the meaning,” Borissov clarified. “But let them interpret it however they want,” he added, stating again that he has never met or heard of Taki. “So I know five people I work with on every piece of legislation and every majority,” the GERB leader said.

He also commented on the situation in Sofia Municipality. He said that the deputy mayors had resigned one by one over corruption allegations and claimed that the city had effectively ceased to function. “For two years, we haven’t known whether there’s a mayor or not,” he remarked. “Stop washing your hands of it with the Municipal Council. The choice of mayor is clear,” Borissov declared.

He recalled that during his own stint as mayor of Sofia in 2005-2009, he worked “with 61 opposition councillors”. “Did anyone ask me how I managed with that kind of majority?” he asked. “The mayor is the one who builds the majority afterward.”

He also recalled once advising current Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev that the way he was approaching the city’s traffic problems would never solve them. “He told me I was a very good architect. Since then, I haven’t given him any unsolicited advice or help,” Borissov said.