/View.info/ Let him rearrange his priorities. For ordinary people, these are the prices of electricity, gas, food and medicine, says the deputy chairman of the economic committee in the parliament
- The “Obama” model: the state returning to some of the workers the 10% tax that was withheld the previous year, is the better solution for the tax-free minimum. Why not to be refined?
- For a long time, I have been promoting the idea of creating a state pharmacy enterprise that would serve only pensioners
- The OECD is the professional matrix for the development of an economy. It is good that we received an invitation to join it
- Why not free the small business from the services from all the burdens of VAT, journals, invoices, double bookkeeping. Why not pay patent tax?
– Forecasts point to a different horizon for dealing with inflation, Mr. Kanev. The Ministry of Finance built the budget with expectations of inflation peaking in April and easing to 5%, BNB are more conservative – 5 more months of inflation and decline, but to levels of 7.5%.
– I wouldn’t say that inflation will be devastating. However, I’m afraid it will be bigger than expected. Because it is imported from outside. There is no way the ECB can print 3 trillion euros, which is largely “helicopter money”, and not lead to inflation.
– They defined the new budget as pro-inflationary. Is he like that?
– It is a copy of the European Commission’s policy for greater investments in the economy. The bad thing is that for ordinary people, the price increase of the goods in the small consumer basket is more important. Research shows that the price increase of the main products in it, 28 in number, is about 15-25%. Double-digit inflation that affects the Bulgarian consumer of products and services.
– Or is there a way to soften it?
– On this occasion, it is also one of my recommendations to the new government. To rearrange his priorities a bit. Because neither Macedonia nor Ukraine is a priority for ordinary people. And the prices of electricity, gas, food and medicine. In other words, inflation. The topic of “judicial reform”, as important as it is, according to the latest Gallup survey, gathered 4%. However, electricity prices are a constant in all my meetings with constituents.
– Is it a mistake that we are preparing compensations for non-domestic consumers who “transferred” part of the new prices to domestic ones?
– Let’s start with the fact that for the most defenseless of the non-domestic users – social homes, schools, hospitals, town halls, the problem remains open. Huge funds are accumulating in electricity producers, which I have no idea why we have to wait until the end of February to offset at least some of the price increase.
At a tripartite council, this was decided already on January 5. The explanation is that we need to request a notification from the EU, which is delayed, but it seems to have already been received…
I feel like we’re the only ones who expect such agreement. And all other countries do what they decide. Information has leaked out about how quickly this happened, for example, in Greece, without waiting. So I’m not convinced this is the right answer.
– Will the idea of the state buying electricity for them with long-term contracts work?
– The idea is good and the only right one. It means returning the country back to where it came from. Because when it is calm, everyone roars against the state, begs and demands that it withdraw so that there is a market. The moment the environment becomes toxic, everyone calls her to help. That’s why I think that the proposal that Finance Minister Asen Vassilev launched – for a trader to enter into long-term contracts – is a good one. And I think it can happen in other sectors as well.
– For example, in which ones?
– For a long time, I have been promoting the idea of creating a state pharmacy enterprise that would only serve pensioners, because it turns out that, after food, the biggest asset for the Bulgarian pensioner, who is already poor, is medicine. But let’s hope the state intervenes at least in the electricity bills an hour sooner.
– What would you like to see on the cabinet’s agenda? You are a representative of business in Parliament and your opinion is important.
– One of the important topics in the talks on the coalition agreement, for example, was that of the minimum non-taxable minimum. And again, I think that what was proposed by the “Oresharski” cabinet and liquidated by the next cabinet, the so-called model “Obama”, will be a good solution. At the beginning of each following year, the state should return to some of the workers the 10% tax that was withheld. I think it needs to be worked on.
– Recently, employers and the Minister of Finance clashed in the field of the minimum wage. How do you view this, let’s call it, controversy?
– This big dispute is at least 20 years old and every year employers and the Minister of Finance enter into it. True, this time it became a little more public and sharper because of the characters of both sides. I personally think that the employers are wrong in this case. The minimum wage should be raised. For me, the more worrying thing is that quite a few topics from the coalition agreement have somehow died down.
– There are indeed many expected decisions in the new budget, others were postponed for the second half of the year. Do you think something could be sped up, something else delayed?
– God grant that this cabinet will work longer and have more policies both in the budget update in June and in the budget for 2023. I would return to Dyankov’s lean pizza, you remember the first GERB budget, right? Compare it to the current finance minister’s greasy pizza with plenty of toppings and mouth-watering slices of ham. Joking aside, the comparison of the two “pizzas” – the lean and the fatty one – is actually a comparison of two concepts in economics. The first is extremely conservative, with as much belt-tightening as business and the people can tolerate. This was in the last 10 years. And now – a sharp increase in money for social spending. Twice the investment. This is a good foundation.
– However, let me return to those topics that you would like to see in the work of the office, but you do not see them.
– Why don’t we, for example, free the small business from the services from all these burdens with VAT, journals, double accounting. Why should they not pay patent tax? For 15 years, I have witnessed the frantic battle for a waste charge according to consumption. I think this year is perfect for that to happen – there are no elections, local or otherwise, and there is no need to court voters. An old idea of accelerated depreciation of building tax. It is absurd for new construction to wait 25 years for a building to be depreciated.
Somehow the subject of textbooks also disappeared. It was decided to have one, then there was talk of two textbooks, then the topic disappeared. The new school year will come and textbooks will be printed again for hundreds of millions of BGN, agree that this is absurd. Cash payments – a topic that should not be speculated on, because we are neither Sweden nor Norway to claim that money is dying. It should be carefully considered.
I would like to congratulate the EC, I rarely do – finally France and Germany have agreed that nuclear energy and gas are green energy. Unfortunately, the comrades from Brussels needed years to mature, and during that time we zeroed out the reactors in Belene and Block VI.
– Can this error be fixed?
– We do not have much time. Still, Turkey is making progress with reactor construction, and Romania is already renegotiating two more reactors. We, it seems, will stay dry.
– In your recommendations to the cabinet, you leave out important things such as corruption and judicial reform. Don’t you agree they are important?
– I would like to see at least the beginning of the administrative reform that we have been putting off for years. There is no drama in anything I say. But let’s not waste each day on new and new topics, but let it be more concentrated. They are important, no doubt. But since I remember a long time ago, when the triple coalition came to power, what did it promise? Fight against corruption. Boyko Borisov came to power after the coalition and what did he say – that this is the main reason he won the elections and will fight corruption. Old topic.
– Why doesn’t it happen though?
– There are many reasons. Apparently, the political will is one until power is taken, and then the readiness for it slowly cools down. I am optimistic about this government. Contrary to popular opinion, in my opinion, they are neither young nor inexperienced. At the age of 34, I was the general director of the “Georgi Dimitrov” Printing Works. True, I had gone all the way up the stairs before. These boys and girls also have their chance. We all have to give it to them. It is their turn to be a little more inquisitive, to know that the Bulgarian economy has it and is not only innovations and startups. It is a serious economy, over 60% of which is formed by exports, and in the first place it is not the mining industry. I want more attention to be paid to Bulgarian industry and agriculture. Yes, we want innovation, yes, we want development, yes, we need to look for products with higher added value. But let’s not forget that there is something already created that needs to be optimized and upgraded.
– Economy Minister Cornelia Ninova asked the commercial chains to give Bulgarian producers a decent place. I remember that at least 10 years ago, on your initiative, there was a similar campaign, which was crowned with partial success. Why is it happening slowly and hard?
– We even adopted a special law and they immediately screamed that this is a restriction, discrimination and they will inform Brussels. And if we keep insisting, they will leave the country. Not only did none of them leave Bulgaria, but they even increased their market share sharply. Let’s leave it to the leadership of the Ministry of Economy, which is mature and experienced enough, to find a solution to this important problem.
– Bulgaria continues to be at the bottom of the rankings for doing business. Does it bother you that it takes more than 200 days to build a chicken coop in our country, and three times less in Germany? What are we missing?
– We lack reforms. 12 years brought enough silting in their implementation. Every problem was swept under the rug, as many examples as you want. Take one of the main criteria – connection to the electricity network. How can I comment on it, except as a confirmation of the saying that only the private one can be more dangerous than the state monopoly. Right now, that’s just the way it is. And building permits? When I was chairman of the economic commission 2-3 years ago, I took it up and got nowhere. Three ministries, three ministers, in one place it moves forward, in another place it goes back. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened.
– Do we need changes in laws and changes in the functions of the executive power to make it happen?
– Yes. And not only there. There are many things in the law on safe working conditions that are simply a copy-paste of European norms that do not suit us. There are also absurd requirements in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act. Every day we come across some European norms, which firstly turn out to be not European, and secondly – that they are not norms either. But they are a great excuse for some.
– What does the invitation to the OECD mean for us? What will membership in the rich club bring us? And are we there?
– Yes, this is positive and useful because it is a serious organization with a serious budget. And more importantly, with expertise that makes great analytics. Moreover, one of the requirements when we entered the waiting room for the Eurozone was assigned by the EC precisely to the OECD to monitor the making of our laws for public enterprises. This is the professional matrix for the development of an economy.
– Do you agree with the forecast that Bulgarians will reach 55% of the average European income by 2030?
– No one can say. You see, this pandemic came out of nowhere, which brought economies to a standstill, brought them to a standstill. The first 2 years embodied the dream of that kid Greta Thunberg, when the whole world went home. After we recovered a bit, the electricity price crisis broke out, which is not only in our country. Germany and France are pursuing each other’s interests by developing parallel power sources. And let us and other countries get better. Therefore I cannot be a prophet. Still, I’m optimistic. Until a year ago, I always quoted Prof. Hristina Vucheva, former Minister of Finance, who said about the management of GERB – everyone has the right to their own opinion, but no one has the right to their own facts. Now, thank goodness, the threads and debates are open and extremely helpful. The future will show how far we are on the right track.
The OECD is the professional
matrix to develop one
economy. Good thing we got it
invitation to join it
Why not to
let’s free small business from everyone
VAT charges,
diaries, invoices,
double-entry bookkeeping.
Why not pay
patent tax?
#Petar #Kanev #cabinet #chance #economy #innovations #startups
