Penniless Bulgaria Puts Off 'Resettlement' of Tax Agency

Bulgarian PM Borisov (right) and his deputy Djankov are putting off the relocation of the tax agency for lack of funds. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Cabinet is putting off its plan for the relocation of the National Revenue Agency from Sofia to Veliko Tarnovo over a lack of funds, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced Thursday.

The Borisov Cabinet recently decided to relocate a number of central government institutions outside of Sofia as part of a decentralization and deconcentration plan, a brainchild of Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Djankov. The plan, however, has led to heated discussions as to which institution should go where, and the first relocations are yet to take place in the fall.

Under Djankov's plan, Bulgaria's tax agency is supposed to be based in the central Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo.

"[The relocation of the National Revenue Agency] will cost a lot of money. Right now we don't have money to spend on that. We will do it whenever we got the funds," Bulgarian PM Borisov said, as cited by Dnevnik, which underscores that in early May Finance Minister Djankov claimed that the relocation would be cheap.

Djankov has justified the idea to move the tax agency to Veliko Tarnovo with the successful work of the Veliko Tarnovo administrative court and the fact that the regional tax directorate in the city is in charge of a larger area than the one in Sofia.

According to the government press service, the putting off of NRA's relocation to Veliko Tarnovo will not affect the plans to relocate the other institutions slated for resettlement.

Thus, as of September 1, 2012, the Tourism Directorate of the Economy, Energy, and Tourism Ministry will be based in Plovdiv, and the Fisheries and Aqua Cultures Agency will be sent to Burgas on the Black Sea.

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