Atanas Pekanov reveals a 127-million-euro corruption scheme and warns of risks to EU funds

Philosophy of transparency in budgetary policy

Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Atanas Pekanov described the current budgetary policy as a "philosophy of complete transparency," aimed at showing the unsustainable trends accumulated over the years. In the "Sunday 150" program on the BNR, he emphasized that social payments and pensions are protected, but the mechanism for the minimum wage is being reviewed.

"The budget is effectively the opposition's – this is the inherited situation that we found in mid-May," said Pekanov.

Corrupt scheme exposed in the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works

Pekanov announced the termination of a manipulated procedure worth 127 million euros, intended for small and medium-sized enterprises in coal regions. According to him, the criteria had been rigged during the Zhelyazkov cabinet to favor specific companies.

• A new procedure for technological modernization with fair rules has been launched.
• The affected bona fide companies will be compensated through a new mechanism.

Risk to 400 million euros from the RRP

A serious problem has arisen following the Supreme Court of Cassation's (SCC) decision not to elect a member of the Anti-Corruption Commission. This threatens about 400 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, as the European Commission expects a functioning body by the end of August. Pekanov is conducting active negotiations with Brussels to find a "loophole" that would prevent the blocking of the funds.