Bulgaria's Borissov Calls for Suspension of Media Grants Amid Budget Controversy
Boyko Borissov, leader of GERB, escalated his criticism of Bulgarian media outlets receiving grants today, calling for the suspension of such funding
Bulgaria is anticipating information Wednesday on senior officials returning or not their bonuses for 2010 and 2011, as this is the deadline to do so.
With the start of the week, Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, extended to Wednesday the deadline for ministers, their deputies, heads of political cabinets, regional governors and their deputies to return or donate all bonuses they have received.
The initial deadline was March 2 (Friday), but it was extended so that these officials can also return the amounts for 2011. According to estimates of Deputy PM and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, the total for the 2 years is about BGN 200 000. Most likely the money will be used for the cure of sick children.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister had explained that until Friday, the task of calculating and collecting these bonuses is assigned to Djankov, while with the start of the new week Tsvetanov will be the one to plan the said changes.
"In this case, you have until Friday to deal with the "good" Djankov, otherwise on Monday the "bad" Tsvetanov will step forward," the PM had declared.
The Finance Ministry was supposed to announce by the end of the workday Friday how much money had been transferred to the special account opened by Djankov for the return of the bonuses, however, such announcement was not made.
Instead, at the last moment it was decided to first analyze "the action" for the return of the bonuses at the next meeting of the cabinet and disclose the results after it.
The bonus scandal flared when it was revealed that senior officials are pocketing huge for Bulgarian standards bonuses while their regular wages are more than modest, and Borisov's ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, and the opposition began exchanging mutual accusations of who has gotten what and more.
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.
It was reported meanwhile that Nesheva's Deputy, Mariyana Vassileva, now temporarily in charge of NZOK, had also donated her bonus of BGN 15 000 for 2011 for charity.
Bulgaria’s toll system now has the technical capability to track average vehicle speeds, as announced by the National Toll Management following a meeting with Regional Development Minister Violeta Koritarova.
The income required to cover living expenses for a working individual and a three-member family with a child under 14 has remained almost unchanged compared to June, according to an analysis by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CI
The Council of Ministers has adopted a resolution to set the minimum wage at 1,077 leva, reflecting a 15.
Every 20 minutes, fire alerts are received from across Bulgaria.
I feel no moral guilt towards anyone. This was stated by Kiril Petkov, answering a question whether he would apologize to the Bulgarian people for violating the Constitution.
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