For God’s sake, brothers, don’t buy, or how BG fights corruption

The Popov government with only one woman in its ranks – Social Affairs Minister Emilia Maslarova

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“PDimitar Popov’s government is the only one in our democratic history that has not been accused of corruption. The secret is simple: the Sedesars were stalking the Communists not to steal, the Communists were stalking the Sedesars, everyone else was stalking both, and so on.

The conclusion is very useful: coalition governments must be formed, but not from like-minded parties, from parties with close interests – then they steal together, hiding behind each other, which we are sadly witnessing.

Coalitions must be formed from rival parties, from rival parties, from parties with opposing interests – then they will lurk and control each other … ”

This was said in an interview with “24 Hours” by the poet and playwright Stefan Tsanev. It has been 30 years since we were ruled by Popov’s cabinet, defined as “programmatic”, which brought together ministers from the rival BSP and UDF. (The instructive story of how it was created – see page 20)

It is interesting to go back to those years. Is there a resemblance to the scenario that is emerging now? According to political scientists, after the elections on July 11, the government will most likely be in a coalition – from the protest parties, but it may be a minority cabinet with the support of floating parliamentary majorities.

And how was 1990?

On December 20, Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov resigned from his second cabinet, which ruled the country for only three months. The political forces agree to form a caretaker government, also called a program, expert, “government of national consent.”

The lawyer Dimitar Popov was elected Prime Minister, who successfully headed the Central Election Commission during the elections for the Seventh Grand National Assembly in 1990.

The cabinet was difficult to set up, mostly because of the post of interior minister. For a long time, the parties could not find a compromise figure.

The UDF proposes Ivan Tatarchev, but the BSP is categorically against him, despite being Andrei Lukanov’s third cousin. Ivan Grigorov and Yordan Sokolov do not want either.

Solomon Passy

stops the parliamentary

clock at 12 without 5

Dimitar Popov managed to persuade his old friend, lawyer Hristo Danov, to head the Ministry of Interior, and at midnight on December 20-21, 1990, the government was voted. For the first time, it includes representatives of opposition parties. The UDF is given the economic bloc.

Dimitar Ludzhev has already created a strong economic group of the Union of Democratic Forces, he is also its leader. Ivan Pushkarov, Ventseslav Dimitrov, Ognyan Pishev, Rumen Avramov, Ventsislav Antonov, Reneta Indjova, Boyan Slavenkov and others are participating.

This group

develops

economic

SDS program

For these reasons, Dimitar Ludzhev (UDF) was elected Deputy Prime Minister, Ivan Pushkarov (BSDP in the UDF) became Minister of Industry, Trade and Services, and Ivan Kostov (UDF) headed the Ministry of Finance.

BSP Deputy Prime Minister is Alexander Tomov. Dimitar Popov’s deputy is also Viktor Valkov from the Bulgarian Agrarian Union, who also became Minister of Foreign Affairs.

BSP participates in the government with six ministers: Atanas Paparizov – on foreign economic relations, Veselin Pavlov – on transport, Pencho Penev – on justice, Emilia Maslarova – on labor and social care, Matei Mateev – on public education, and Lubomir Pelovski – on construction, architecture and public works.

Apart from the three – Ludzhev, Pushkarov and Kostov, the UDF does not participate with other ministers. Boris Spirov, who takes over the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, is from the Bulgarian Agrarian Union.

The other ministers are non-partisan, although some of them are supporters of the UDF and others of the BSP: Hristo Danov – of the Ministry of Interior, Dimitar Vodenicharov – of the environment, Ivan Chernozemski – of health, Prof. Georgi Fotev – of science and higher education, Dimo Dimov – of culture, and gen. Jordan Mutafchiev. In fact, the general is a living communist, but in the mid-1990s the army, the militia and other similar structures were deported and the cap could no longer be a member of the BCP, otherwise they could be fired.

Popov’s cabinet has two main tasks – to carry out the reform in the country and to ensure the adoption of the new constitution of Bulgaria. The change in three important things is also very important – prices, interest rates and the exchange rate.

However, the reform also frees people from their long-standing fear and silence. There are no new jokes yet, but the people are joking about everything. This is how the reform is called reform. According to one version, this is what Deputy Prime Minister Dimitar Ludzhev called it in his soft Burgas slang. According to another version, however, the reform was called reform because it would never be carried out.

The start of the shock

therapy is given to

February 1, 1991

The government is releasing prices. Cunning merchants, who until then hid their goods, suddenly put them on the counter, but many times more expensive.

After the end of the government session on this issue, the journalists surrounded Prime Minister Popov. He commented on the situation and the next day (almost) all the media published his sentence “For God’s sake, brothers, do not buy!”

This phrase remained

in history

Dimitar Popov literally says the following: “For God’s sake, brothers, do not buy what you like, but it is very expensive, because after 30-40 days the prices will fall and you will have spent your money and you will not be able to buy the most what you need ”.

The first privatization deal will probably remain in history, although no law on privatization has been adopted yet. The idea is to create an attitude in people that this is waiting for them, this is the way to go. We will tighten our belts, but we will also have to think and act in a capitalist way. The “victim” of the experiment is a gas station removed from the composition of “Petrol”.

Ministers Ivan Pushkarov and Ivan Kostov are present at the auction. Both are very surprised when the price reaches BGN 30 million, and the gas station itself costs no more than 3-4 million.

A young man named Hristo Hristov won the auction, but then it turned out that he, in the words of Ivan Pushkarov, was “compressed air”.

Hristov has no money to pay for the gas station, and his apartment is sequestered.

Thus, Kostov and Pushkarov gained the fame of unsuccessful privatizers, unlike the privatizers who later appeared on the scene and were very, very successful. As well as Kostov himself.

The leader of the Business Bloc, George Ganchev, is credited with the catchphrase “red-blue fog” as a business card for the government. That is, in complete opacity, reds and blues play their game.

It was quickly adopted by the media and became very popular in society.

The government of Dimitar Popov, in which there is only one woman – Emilia Maslarova from the BSP.

Ministers argue about everything – the exchange rate, inflation – what will happen if it becomes 500%, the country’s isolation, the state reserve, which is only 60 million levs, and only a year ago was 2 billion, for foreign trade companies …

The most active in the quarrels are the two copies of the Deputy Prime Ministers – the red Alexander Tomov and the blue Dimitar Ludjev.

“They fought a lot,

a lot, ”he says

Ivan Pushkarov

Sometimes Prime Minister Popov has to use a lot of effort and all his tact to tame them both.

On June 14, 1991, the new constitution of Bulgaria was announced. Despite all its shortcomings, it is still the first step of the until recently totalitarian state towards European democracy.

The Prime Minister Dimitar Popov is doing relatively well with the foreign policy of his government, he even avoids a trap, and to this day it is unclear by whom exactly he was set.

In January 1991, Popov and several of his ministers went to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Their presence was provided financially by the famous British media mogul Robert Maxwell, a friend of Bulgaria since the time of Todor Zhivkov.

Dimitar Popov meets with German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher. The government of Andrei Lukanov has already unilaterally announced a moratorium on Bulgarian foreign debt payments, which hinders the work of the new government.

Genscher told Popov: “We know that now you have no money and you can’t repay your loans, but there are 93 banks in front of you, what can they expect?”

The two decided to set up a financial house with Bulgarian advisers in Liechtenstein to monitor the problem. The moratorium should be lifted and negotiations with creditors should begin.

After Davos, Popov went to the capital of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, and learned that Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was also there, visiting his cousin Hans Adam II, King of Liechtenstein.

However, when they announced the program, it became clear that in it the leader of the Bulgarian delegation was NV Simeon II, Tsar of Bulgaria, accompanied by his first minister Dimitar Popov. He anticipated the scandal and the Bulgarian group immediately left.

At the airport in Sofia, Ivaylo Trifonov, head of the president’s office, Dr. Zhelyu Zhelev, immediately invited him to the presidency. There, Dr. Zhelev told him: “Mr. Popov, if you had accepted Simeon’s presence in the Bulgarian delegation,

I would ask

your resignation ”

In time, Dimitar Popov will admit that an elegant coup attempt was made in Vaduz, which failed. Viktor Valkov, then Foreign Minister, once told me that Popov’s refusal could not be interpreted as wrong, it was all a matter of choice.

Today from that government of national consent are not among the living four – Dimitar Popov, Hristo Danov, Gen. Yordan Mutafchiev and Matei Mateev.

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