Bulgarian Officials Desperate for Loans over Spent Bonuses

The order to State servants to return or donate received bonuses had shaken the entire administration, because most have already spent the money. File photo

Bulgarian State servants have been flocking banks in search of loans so that they can return the bonuses obtained in the last two years.

The Bulgarian Standard daily writes Thursday, citing their own sources, that the most discussed subject in the country's ministries has been how to find ways to reimburse the treasury with money that has already been spent.

On Wednesday, before the regular meeting of the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, gave an ultimatum to all ministers, their deputies, heads of political cabinets, regional governors and their deputies to return or donate by Friday all bonuses they have received.

He declared that those who fail to comply will be fired on the following Monday, and appealed to the former cabinet of the Three-Way Coalition to do the same, since they have gotten times more.

The news had shaken the entire State administration after ministers ordered subordinates, all the way down to department heads, to return bonuses.

In recent days, the Head of the National Health Insurance Fund, NZOK, Neli Nesheva and the CEO of the Registry Agency, Violeta Nikolova, parted with their posts after it emerged that they have received huge bonuses in the amount of BGN thousands.

"The PM's outrage about the bonuses had been accumulating since last week after the opposition, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, made public information about bonuses of deputy ministers while the scandal with Nikolova had put "the icing on the cake," Standard writes.

In the aftermath of Borisov's order, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, announced that he is opening a special account where returned bonuses of senior officials will be deposited.