Bulgaria's Lame Duck Cabinet Makes Generous Handouts at Next to Last Sitting

Bulgaria's outgoing PM Borisov and his deputy, Finance Minister Djankov (left). Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the ruling party GERB, which resigned two weeks ago, in the wake of mass street protests, handed out state funding and assets generously at its next to last meeting on Friday, a report points out.

According to the Capital weekly, the resigning Borisov Cabinet made a total of 59 decisions at the end of last, most of them having to do with apportioning state funds and assets for the government's "favorite" infrastructure projects and Interior Ministry.

The publication points out that the record from Friday's government sitting has not been released even though the Council of Ministers press service did release part of it in which Borisov speaks about his government's achievements and the unfavorable legacy that he got from the previous government four years ago.

Thus, according to the Cabinet's decisions last Friday, Sofia Municipality got BGN 13.5 M from the state budget for the extension of the first line of the Sofia Metro to Business Park Sofia and Sofia International Airport.

The Military Medical Academy in Sofia got BGN 9 M to cover old debts, and the National Investigation Service – BGN 1 M for current expenditures in 2013; the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences got BGN 7 M for stimulating "innovative and publicly useful research".

The Borisov Cabinet also allocated BGN 17.5 M to the Ministry of Transport and IT for impoverished people's stamps with which they can buy decoders for digital TV.

In addition, the Borisov Cabinet has provided guarantees worth BGN 126 M and BGN 105 M respectively for water supply and sewerage projects in Plovdiv and Dobrich. The state is supposed to be reimbursed for these projects by the EC under Operational Program Environment but that is conditional on the proper and timely execution of the projects and water supply projects in Bulgarian cities are delayed all the time, the paper notes. In case the projects get delayed, all expenses are assumed by the state budget.

According to another decision of the outgoing government, Bulgaria's National Protection Service (NSO), which is subordinate to the President, has received a total of 2 400 decares of real estate from the Defense Ministry, including the former military airport Dobroslavtsi near Sofia.

The properties in question are said to become training grounds for the NSO officers.

Another decisions has transferred two Defense Ministry real estate properties in Plovdiv to the Interior Ministry; the first one has an area of 24 000 square meters and 16 buildings, and the second one – an area of 18 000 square meters and 10 buildings.

Hemus Air, an airling from the Chimimport Group, which is owned by the controversial Varna-based security and business group TIM, has been awarded without a tender a plot of over 160 decares at Sofia International Airport. The price of plot has not been revealed but it is located near the Lufthansa Technik service center.

The newly awarded property to Hemus Air is supposed to be used for cargo, catering, plane servicing, engineering systems, and a customs office, and "future joint projects with Sofia Airport Jsc".

The Borisov government also voted in favor of selling a property of the state-owned firm "Education and Science" Jsc with a total area of 31 590 square meters located in the Mladost quarter in Sofia. However, the decision does not specify any criteria for the sale.

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