news of the last hour

The cabinet has adopted amendments to the decree on the implementation of the state budget, with which it tries to cover up scandalous actions surrounding the acquisition of 1.6 billion BGN debts of “Toplofikatsia Sofia” to BEH and “Bulgargaz”. The changes were made through the decree by which the Treasury grants the Ministry of Energy the extraordinary amount for the acquisition of the debt. In the transitional and final texts of this document, amendments are also foreseen in other decrees that illuminate the violation of the rules.

The cabinet has changed a key text of the budget decree, which requires that before the acquisition of debt, the state must receive approval from the EC of the granted state aid or an opinion that there is none. In the new editions, there is no longer an explicit requirement, but it is written in general that this will be done in compliance with the legislation on state aid. In the decree on the implementation of the law on the state budget, the text obliging the Minister of Energy to prepare a notification on the order of state aid within two months and to provide information to the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of sending it to the EC has been completely canceled.

“These texts from the decree actually describe the legal order for state aid, and their cancellation does not mean that the law can be violated,” experts commented to “Sega”. Namely, the newly cut texts are the legal basis for the draft contracts that the Ministry of Energy will conclude with the two state companies for the acquisition of the debt – BEH and “Bulgargaz”.

The draft contracts are for assignment, they are extremely short and do not contain any other legal grounds beyond the possibility of acquiring the debt provided for in the law on the state budget and the decree on its implementation. At the same time, it remains an enigma on what basis it was judged that a state body – a ministry, other than the financial one, can directly acquire debt. “Usually this is done through state-owned companies. There is no case where a direct ministry has acquired debt in this way. In which part of its budget does this affect? ​​The assumption of this debt by a ministry, and not through a state-owned company, will unexpectedly inflate the deficit, because the operation will affect the ministry’s budget,” financiers commented to “Sega”. However, it is not clear what the final effect on the deficit is, because a series of parallel actions are being taken to transfer other receivables other than those of “Toplofikatsia Sofia”.

The forced donation of BGN 728 million from BEH to the Electricity System Security Fund also raises questions. The Law on Public Enterprises forbids the intervention of the state in the direct operational activity of the enterprises, other experts comment.

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2024-03-31 02:24:54


#cabinet #covered #scandalous #actions #debt #Toplofikatsia #Sofia

Changes to the Law on the Ownership and Use of Agricultural Lands will legalize the cultivation of land without the consent of the owners. They will lead to tenants refusing to negotiate with the owners, but with an administrative act receiving their lands for use.

This violates the interests of agricultural land owners and is even a violation of the constitutional right to property.

Evgeniy Orashkov, chairman of the Association of Agricultural Land Owners, commented on this in the (O)position program. The occasion is the express adoption of changes to the Law on the ownership and use of agricultural lands by the National Assembly on Thursday. Within a week, the law was voted on in both the first and second readings.

“The way in which land is allocated for use in a plot of land at the beginning of each agricultural year is changing. Until now, the mode of concluding agreements for arrays of use was with 100% consent of the users – tenants and owners who cultivate their lands themselves. Now it is said that the agreement comes into force with the consent of 2/3 of the users. The problem is with the remaining 1/3 – these lands will be allocated for use administratively by the regional directorates of Agriculture, not by a lease or lease agreement between the owner and the farmer,” explained Orashkov.

According to him, the change serves large farmers. “They’ll like the most fertile land in the land and because they’re a 2/3 majority, they’ll want to farm that part of the land and displace all the other farmers,” he says.

Thus, in addition to the owners, the small tenants who are not part of the agreements for use within the same land will be harmed. They will be administratively relegated to working the most unproductive fields and will most likely go out of business.

More about the changes in the Law on the ownership and use of agricultural lands, see the video.

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2024-03-30 00:11:15


#legalized #large #farmers #uncontrollably #grab #peoples #land

For more than a month, GERB and PP-DB have been stalking and lying to each other because of the rotation of the government. The stake is high – the rightists want everything to be limited to an exchange of seats between Nikolay Denkov and Maria Gabriel; however, the Gerbers are eyeing almost half of the ministerial posts from which they want to kick the current incumbents. And let’s not forget the burning question about the coalition – will the two political forces sign an official agreement or will they continue to play with nonsense like “assembly”.

The trickery is also evident in the way PP-DB and GERB submitted their proposals for their new contract. The rightists published a memorandum – a “detailed memorial note”, as Denkov later defined it, in which they listed several priority reforms, as well as some basic rules for interacting with Boyko Borisov’s party. The Gerbers countered with a draft co-governance agreement that put more emphasis on their permanent alliance with the city’s right for the next 3 years.

There are several significant differences between the two proposals:

the rotation – PP-DB prefers to continue every 9 months, and GERB insists on doing it every 15 months (after Gabriel has completed her 9 months); the control over foreign policy – the right-wing want a rotation of line ministers, while the Gerbers demand that diplomacy remain only their line; the regulators – according to the PP-DB should be chosen through a special procedure in the parliamentary rules, while the GERB believes that the relevant special laws should be observed; the floating majorities – the rightists want their ban, but according to Borisov’s people, the votes of Euro-Atlantic parties (understand, DPS) should be relied upon; the special services and the fight against corruption – PP-DB demands that the new anti-corruption commission be filled immediately and presents a detailed plan for changes in the security services, while GERB brushes these issues aside.

All this is important, there is no dispute about it, and it should be decided and recorded in a public document.

However, two points are key for the future of the assembly –

first, which people will remain in government and which will be kicked out; secondly, will DPS be pushed out of the assembly or will it formally participate in it. The political balance in the government in the future will depend on what the right and the Gerbers will agree on these issues.

At their national conference, where they presented the draft agreement, Borissov and his entourage clearly showed where they were leaning on both topics. First of all, the Gerber chief erupted furiously against a group of ministers, even the co-chairman of PP-DB and finance minister Asen Vasilev fell into his crosshairs. The latter has long been a thorn in the side of gerberas. From the very beginning of their joint government, they talked – sometimes quietly, sometimes openly, that Vassilev was the strong man in the cabinet, who actually commanded it. But otherwise their attitude towards him followed their attitude towards the PP-DB – when things were good, they even defended him (Boyko Borisov and the head of the DPS Delyan Peevski sided with him in the “Chatalja” scandal); when things went badly, then they scolded him for selling Bulgaria to the Russian giant Lukoil.

However, now the situation has changed to Vassilev’s detriment.

Borisov practically said that there cannot be a successful cabinet with the finance minister. “If you accept to be prime minister with this finance minister, they will fail you in a few months,” he publicly addressed Maria Gabriel. Thus, at least according to the Gerber leader, Vassilev’s days as a minister are numbered. And his expulsion from the executive power will lead to the mass dismissal of PP staff, including from the revenue agencies – the National Revenue Agency and customs, which Borisov, in a rage, explained that they were taken over by Vassilev’s party.

In fact, he directly accused the PP of usurping all power, making it clear that he wanted to push the party out of whatever positions it had. And maybe even split her – against Vasilev Borisov he raged, but with his partner Kiril Petkov he was extremely soft and almost flattering. And one more interesting detail – Borisov called on the DB to pay attention to all the power that the PP has at its disposal. Here he drives another wedge into the right – this time between PP and DB, who don’t really like each other anyway. The plan seems obvious – to weaken the right-wing coalition and make it a more manageable ally.

In this plan, however, the more essential role is played by the DPS.

In a not particularly clear way, the movement became part of the ruling majority in mid-2023. Thanks to its votes, changes to the Constitution became possible. And not only that – the name of Delyan Peevski appeared so often as the introducer of laws and decisions, along with the leaders of PP-DB and GERB, that he seemed to be a participant in the administration. And he behaved as such – he supervised Denkov as if the prime minister was obliged to report to him personally.

This behavior was not accidental. Peevski wanted to be recognized as part of this government, whether he had ministers or not. Borisov wanted the same, who in practice created a common faction with Peevski. The right-wingers felt it and therefore insist that it be written in their future contract with GERB that floating majorities are prohibited. The aim is to end the movement’s current role as the unrecognized third party in governance.

For exactly the same reason, the Gerbers insist that the DPS remain part of the majority. Thus, the balance in governance will inevitably tilt in favor of the faction of Borisov and Peevski, and to the detriment of PP-DB. Moreover, in Gerber’s draft agreement, the partnership with DPS is presented as something inevitable. It lists the bodies that cannot be elected without the votes of the movement, including the new High Judicial Council and High Prosecutorial Council (which will choose the next chief prosecutor), as well as the judicial inspectorate. So Borisov is practically saying to the right-wing – if you want judicial reform, you must accept the DPS, otherwise nothing will happen.

Here PP-DB face a trap,

which doesn’t seem like they can avoid. They put justice reform at the center of the entire administration. And a key part of this reform is the replacement of the leadership of the judiciary. However, this cannot happen without the votes of DPS. And the faction of Borisov and Peevski demands that the importance of DPS for management be officially recognized. If this happens, then the balance of power will be disturbed, and PP-DB will find themselves in a subordinate role to their cunning partners.

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2024-03-08 14:27:01


#Borisov #preparing #Peevski #seize #power