30.11.2014

„I am ready to abandon my position regarding the preservation of the amount of the minimum salary and I will propose the latter to grow up albeit not so sharply but in two steps in the course of the coming year - by BGN 20 to reach BGN 360 as from 1 January and by another BGN 20 as from mid-2015, thus reaching again BGN 380 next year as proposed by the trade unions and the caretaker government which had prepared the 3-year budget forecast in its previous version, but this increase will take place in two stages". Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov said the above in an interview for the broadcast "Nedelya 150" on BNR. The Minister explained that the change in the MoF's position resulted from the consultations on the issue. He pointed out that after the meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation and after listening to the various opinions which did not support his main concerns that the labour market will be pressed by a sharp increase in the minimum salary he decided on that "evolution" in his initial position.

Minister Goranov commented that the questions regarding the increase in the retirement age and the source of paying the pensions of the category workers as from the beginning of next year would find their answers between the first and the second voting of the budget of the public social security at the National Assembly. „Until then representatives of the NSSI, the social partners, the MoF and the MLSP will very intensely discuss the issue. Of course, the end decision should normally belong to the person who is responsible for the entire executive power, namely the Prime Minister", Goranov added.

"A lot of problems connected with the work on the EU Programmes have piled up, which has led to suspension of the payments, to liabilities of the state to the businesses in the amount of hundreds of millions due to the implementation of such projects. We intend as early as by the end of the year to pay all funds - both under OP Regional Development and OP Environment, which companies have so far correctly earned, invoiced and certified under the relevant procedure", explained Minister Goranov under the topical issue of EU Funds absorption.

Vladislav Goranov clarified the government decision adopted at the beginning of the week which obligated everyone making payments from the budget when those amounts exceeded BGN 100 thousand to inform in advance the Customs Agency and the NRA so that the latter could take the relevant measures and to pay in the budget the amounts due.

The Finance Minister also commented the issue of improving revenue collection. In regard to the amendments to the tax laws he pointed out that "the Excise Duties and Tax Warehouses Law and the Customs Law contain changes which bring back some of the repealed instruments of control on fuels, alcohol and tobacco - on excise goods as a whole. They are brought back on the level of a law as a set of instruments of the Customs Agency so that it can be even more effectively ensured that there will be no abuses with the movement of excise goods". According to Minister Goranov the increase in the tax on income from interest "will prompt the people to take their money out of the banks and to include it in end consumption which is very favourable for the economy." 

In regard to the topical issue of the merging of the two revenue administrations the Minister said that "when such merging is done, if this ever comes to pass, it will not be connected to redundancies of personnel; if anyone leaves the Customs Agency or the NRA s/he will leave it because of the way s/he performs his/ her duties and not because of a merging which is still a subject of analysis".