Politicians understand the problems, but the battle is with the administration. It is full of people who have never paid their salaries. They don’t know how the economy works, they have no idea where the money comes from, says the CEO of
“Besco” – the Bulgarian startup association Dobromir Ivanov
– Mr Ivanov, you met the parties before the vote. What did they say before the election and what did you hear from them after seeing the results?
– We tried to talk about the vision for our country, where Bulgaria will be in 35-50 years. We tried to make them understand the responsibility they as politicians have for having this conversation. To see where we are going and to talk about whether the horizon is further away, or whether it is about shorter problems, reforms and initiatives.
It gave us the impression that in conversations with us they can easily come together, have points of contact. There are many things that everyone recognizes and wants to happen. This is our struggle for the supra-party goals that exist and can unite.
But in general there is much more talk of red lines, of divisions, of those who do not want to work with whom.
After the elections, it’s the same talking, they rush and leave immediately with the red lines. And this is not the statesman attitude we want to see from politicians. Of course they must have principles, have an identity, but nevertheless their work is such that, above all, they have to think about how the state can be managed and they themselves participate in management.
And it seems to me that at the moment interpersonal problems are much more in the foreground than responsibility and the art of a statesman.
– Why is this happening? Why is personality so important in Bulgaria and not ideas?
– Apparently, we are still in such a stage of development of the democratic society. Bulgaria will be good when the institutions work, not when there are heroic people. It all comes down to “this one told me something I disagree with, that one insulted me.” This is a large part of the reality of our politics. These are personal relationships between people who don’t like each other very much. This is the ego.
Such is the framework of our politics and the reasons for having or not having a coalition, for something to fall apart or be built. And people think it’s a big conspiracy.
Historically, Bulgaria has experienced much more difficult times than the current situation. And today it is not even about ideological differences, but about personal attacks, which is completely irresponsible.
– You’re in business. Axel Rose and Slash from “Guns and Roses” hated each other and couldn’t stand each other. But instead of demolishing, one was motivated to create great compositions and the other to write even more grandiose lyrics. The result is an extraordinary product. Can our politicians channel their interpersonal dramas in this way?
– Even the vote shows that politicians who fail to do so fall. One of the parties that has ended up participating in political life in the last year and a half has gone from rise to fall. This is perhaps a lesson for everyone else that if they don’t find a way to work with others, they won’t have a long life in politics.
It’s kind of a job, after all. These people have chosen to do this and it is related to the results, they must be able to make changes, make concrete decisions.
At the moment, we are in a timelessness that blocks reforms, which are very important not only for businesses, but also for the entire country. Too long now.
– Can you name these reforms?
– Three main directions are important to us. Access to capital, access to talent, to the deregulations that actually untie the hands of our companies to compete freely in the global market. For example, what happens after the war has enormous potential. There is a flow of people, not only from Ukraine, but also from Belarus, Russia, Moldova. These are highly qualified young people who, if we had well-functioning visa regimes, we could attract. Position the country so that we are a place they choose. We need it, even today (yesterday – br) NSI data on the demographics of our country have been released again. (See pages 2 and 3).
Access to capital – many times in the public space it turns out that the company wants money and assistance. Business has two worlds in Bulgaria. One is powered by the state, by public procurement, by European subsidies, the other is fighting for customers, to create products and services that the customer wants to buy, that are useful, and this business is often on the world market.
The second type is what drives the country forward. It also pays to a large extent the taxes on electricity, high wages, with which an increasingly large part of society can live better. And this business doesn’t really need government money. We want the police to do their job. Bulgaria must be a competitive place not only with the big countries of the world, but also with our neighbors. For example, for access to capital, we do not ask for financial assistance from the state. We want to have a mechanism to encourage investment from angels (a successful individual supports a startup, in the USA, for example, this leads to tax relief in case of investment failure – ba).
– We are in Bulgaria, I immediately think about scams.
– There is a way to protect the investments of the angels. We create that kind of legislation. We generate it ourselves and work with the parties to understand it. However, for this to happen, Bulgaria must have a functioning parliament and a functioning government. And these are many reforms related to the acceptance of foreign work, remote work and changes in business law. Our idea is that, for example, employers can give joint tax quotas directly, and in exchange for the work done and the results, you will receive a part of the company. And with such checks, employees can be detained. There are a lot of such mechanisms that we have prepared for Bulgaria, but they don’t work, they don’t exist in the legal world. And these laws are ready for the second year.
– I’ll quote Ronald Reagan: “The state’s point of view on the economy can be summed up in one sentence: if something moves, tax it, if it continues to move, regulate it, if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Are there politicians with similar thinking in our country?
– There are both types. The problem is that very often it happens that “The king gives, the king does not give”. At the political level, many times we find an understanding of why these changes have to happen, but in the end the reforms don’t take place.
And not because two or three stop everything and want to be in a pattern. Reforms don’t happen because of the state administration. Every reform needs, in addition to the politicians to support it, it must also go through the officials. Only in this way can he arrive at the introduction.
The state administration is full of people who have not been replaced for 20-30 years. That’s why we go elections after elections. The ministers change, but the directors of the directions are the same. And they have learned to perfection to create the feeling of working, but in reality nothing is done. These are the people who are ready to destroy any desire for reform. This is very significant in education, but not only in education.
The battle is with the administration, and it’s full of people who have never paid their salaries. They don’t know how the economy works, they have no idea where the money comes from. They have no idea how Bulgaria can make more money as a country. They don’t understand it. The problem is that they are the vast majority.
The problem is not that politicians don’t understand this. The problem is that they have priorities, this is not important to them right now, nothing they say: “I come from business”. From the day they become politicians, they spin in a carousel of ribbons cutting, going to events, debates, participations. In fact, most of the lives of politicians simply switch from firefighting to firefighting, and they don’t have time for the dirty work they really need. Therefore, such short parliaments actually cannot accomplish almost anything, because it is not very easy to do and takes more time.
– You mentioned something very interesting – officials never paid salaries. As a mantra, we repeat everywhere that in Bulgaria we have a low flat tax of 10%. I look at my salary, it turns out that my employer and I pay a total of 34.9% of the money he gives me as compensation, even before the amount reaches my bank account. And if I dare to buy something, there is VAT and we get to 47.8% of my salary in taxes, fees, insurance.
– In Bulgaria, insurance is practically a tax. We don’t have our lots to figure out what happens to the insurance money. It is actually a hidden tax. But the most important thing about taxes is that they should be predictable.
The problem is that the service provided by the state is bad. Education is at an extremely low level and you have to pay for it once again privately. It is the same with healthcare. So, first of all, it’s about getting something of quality for the money we give. And in Bulgaria there are still huge sectors that are completely gray, black and dark, and you pay nothing there.
– Outside of the gray sectors, which of the two types of businesses mentioned – international and public procurement – is more important?
– Good deals have been new, figuratively speaking, for 10 years. But there is hope of canceling the other, in practice it is an irreversible process.
– When will it become a fact?
– 2-3 years ago, I had only seen what a pandemic was in a movie. Until a few months ago, I never imagined that it wouldn’t be in a WWII or Vietnam movie that I would see the footage I’m seeing now. So it is very difficult for a person to engage in today’s world with deadlines. The good thing is that in a few years – 2, 3, 5, most likely not 100,000 or 150,000, but 300,000 Bulgarians will work in these companies. And these are people who earn salaries many times higher than the national average. As a result, they start feeding other industries and take an interest in problems other than how they will survive.
– Your words remind me of a phrase from Winston Churchill: “This is not the end.” It is not even the beginning of the end, but perhaps it is the end of the beginning. “
– Yes, that’s a great expression. I hope it turns out to be the right one.
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