The cabinet took an extremely curious secret decision at its last regular sitting, our enquiry shows. The Council of Ministers proposes to the National Assembly to award cash prizes payable within the term of three years to 65 persons for "special merits to the Bulgarian state and the nation". It's mainly about musicians, but also poets and composers.

The Ministry of Culture is the mover of the draft proposal. The iconic Bulgarian celebrities, such as Vasil Naydenov, Dancho Karadzhov, Orlin Goranov, Kiril Marichkov, Yordanka Hristova, Nedyalko Yordanov, Haigashot Agassyan, Mitko Shterev, Stefan Diomov, Stefan Dimitrov and his wife Bogdana Karadocheva, Kristina Dimitrova, Petya Buyuklieva, Stefka Berova and a bunch of others are on the list.

According to the government, the 65 should be awarded for their "outstanding achievements and overall contribution to the Bulgarian culture."

For 42 of them, BGN 500 is provided per month, and for 23 - 350 BGN.

That makes a total of BGN 29,050 monthly for all, and over BGN 1 million in three years.

The curious point is that the Council of Ministers did not boast about its proposal. The decision was not disclosed by the government's press office in the "bulletin" published on February 3.

However, it can be found on the website of the Parliament, as well as in the Information System for Legal Information on the website of the Council of Ministers.

The “shyness” of the "Borisov 3" government on the subject may have been explained by the fact that the decision would be interpreted as a "curtsey" to the prominent artists at the end of this government’s tenure and on the eve of the parliamentary election. Some of them have repeatedly criticized the government. Others have had problems with the National Revenue Agency for many years and have made their claims public.

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