Bulgaria Rightists Insist on New EU Funds Absorption Structure

Metodiev (right) pictured with DSB leader and former PM Ivan Kostov. Photo by BGNES

A new special Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU funds absorption is needed, according to rightists allies of Bulgaria’s ruling party GERB.

The Democrats for Strong Bulgaria party, which is part of the rightist Blue Coalition, announced Tuesday that it had already insisted before Prime Minister Borisov and Finance Minister Djankov on the appointment of an additional Deputy PM and on changing the structure of managing the absorption of EU money.

The rightists believe that the new Deputy PM should have a structure in order to control and audit the spending of funds from the EU. Deputy Chair of the DSB party, Veselin Metodiev, said that Finance Minister and Deputy PM Djankov had received the idea positively.

“Our arguments for this change lie with the weaknesses of the existing model which are due to institutional conflict of interest. The three major risks in EU funds absorption are institutional conflict, deepening “feudal” practices in the ministries, and lack of adequate control on part of the Prime Minister over the institutions regulating the absorption of EU money,” Metodiev explained.

He said there were at least three people in the governing party GERB who were suitable to fill the position, and slammed the existing system of paying double and triple bonuses to the bureaucrats in the public administration in charge of EU funds saying the additional pay produced no greater efficiency.

Metodiev underscored the fact that the Deputy PM position suggested by his party would be deferent from that of Meglena Plugchieva who served as the Deputy PM in charge of coordinating EU funds in the last year of the term of the Stanishev government.

“We are proposing a functioning Deputy PM, not a facade providing cover,” he stated.

At the end of February, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated there was no need to appoint a new Deputy PM for the time being. INSEAD Professor Ilian Mihov had been tipped for this position but he temporarily withdrew his bid in February.