Nikola Minchev: "The budget does not lead to the necessary administrative reforms"

The budget is the primary instrument through which a government implements its policies and demonstrates its priorities. It is precisely for this reason that MEP "Nikola Minchev" sees in the draft budget not just numbers, but clear signals regarding the direction in which the state is heading – and according to him, this direction is not the right one.

Minchev emphasizes that every ruling majority is expected to use the budget to hint at reforms in key areas. In his view, the current bill does not fulfill this function. "The budget is the bill through which a government implements its policies. The budget should hint at reforms that are part of the ideas of the current ruling majority, but this budget shows no such ideas," he commented.

The MEP is particularly critical regarding the "state administration". Minchev recalls that for years, Bulgaria has been facing a problem related to a shrinking population and an unchanged scale of the administrative apparatus. "If we are to talk about reform of the state administration, its phased reduction, which for many years has been identified as a problem alongside the shrinking population in Bulgaria… The state administration continues to be extremely bloated - this is a serious problem that we must address as politicians," he points out.

Against this backdrop, Minchev draws attention to the specific expenditures in the draft. Instead of seeing steps toward optimization, the budget provides for a significant increase in funds for the maintenance of the administration. "At the same time, we see in this budget that the costs for maintaining the state administration are increasing by 1.5 billion euros, meaning there is no hint here of any reform that will be undertaken. It is quite the opposite," the MEP states.

He summarizes his criticism with a clear assessment of the overall direction of the financial plan: "The direction that this budget indicates is not good. It does not point toward the reforms so necessary for the state." According to Minchev, this means that instead of using the moment for structural changes – including the phased reduction and modernization of the administration – the state is reinforcing the old model with even more maintenance costs.

In Nikola Minchev's words, there is a warning that without real reforms in the budget, especially regarding the state administration, Bulgaria risks continuing to support a "bloated" structure that corresponds neither to demographic realities nor to the need for effective governance.