"I truly share this protest because with dialogue, this budget would surely have looked much better. I don't believe in the 'mantra' that this is the only possible budget," Vice President Iliana Yotova told journalists regarding the protest near the so-called triangle of power this evening.
According to Yotova, "never before has a budget been adopted with such a lack of dialogue and arrogant attitude from the authorities, not only towards political opponents, but also towards business circles, social partners, trade unions, and civil society."
"The result was that people protested," she pointed out.
"Better formulas could have been found so that we don't kill small and medium-sized businesses in Bulgaria," the Vice President also said. "I understand that funds need to be collected because the deficit is much larger than what the Ministry of Finance presents to us," she further added and pointed out that the European Commission is also doing this - at this stage still delicately. "I understand that they cannot cope with the rising prices in any way - where are the agreements, where are the bilateral agreements between different institutions in the country, after you already enter the store and 100 BGN are absolutely insufficient for the most basic needs. Everything could have been solved with dialogue," Yotova pointed out.
According to Iliana Yotova, "the authorities are trying to solve issues like the sale of "Lukoil", the concession of the Bulgarian Sports Totalizer and others, in parallel with the budget. There is one main question - in whose pockets will these funds flow. Who will win this concession, who will buy "Lukoil" and will we be informed as citizens," the Vice President added.
"They tried to adopt the budget very quickly with shortened deadlines between the two readings in order to present the citizens with a fait accompli. The transition in Bulgaria has already lasted far too long," the Vice President also said.
"I'm afraid they will continue in this spirit and adopt the budget without listening," she added.