Richest Bulgarian: Gambling Tax Hike Genocide against Business

Bulgarian tycoon Vasil Bozhkov has slammed the ruling majority over the gambling tax hike. Photo by BGNES

Vasil Bozhkov, who is believed to be the richest Bulgarian and businessman formerly widely involved in the gambling business, has slammed the country’s government over Thursday’s gambling tax hike.

“Under pressure by an unbalanced Finance Minister and Ivan Kostov, an outright lier and the father of corruption in Bulgaria, a genocide against the Bulgarian business is being performed. This is not just with respect to gambling, this is a genocide against the whole business sector in a time of crisis,” Bozhkov has stated in an interview of for Pro.bg TV.

He referred to Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and Ivan Kostov, former PM (1997-2001) and current Co-Chair of the rightist Blue Coalition, which supports the GERB government of Boyko Borisov.

Bozhkov’s comment has come hours after on Thursday the Bulgarian Parliament voted unanimously (all 149 MPs present voted in favor) to increase the gambling tax from 10% to 15%.

The hike was initially supposed to incease the tax to 12% but Prime Minister Boyko Borisov intervened in the last minute on Wednesday asking the MPs to up the gambling tax and to spare the proposed hike of the alcohol excise, which would have also affected homemaking of traditional Bulgarian brandy “rakia”.

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