'MRF–New Beginning' Urges Finance Minister to Provide Funds for Presidential Administration Vehicles

Following amendments to the National Service for Protection (NSP) Act passed by the National Assembly, the Presidential Administration has been left without a dedicated fleet of vehicles for its use. Until now, staff of the President’s office were the only state administration employees authorised to use vehicles provided by the NSP.

In response, the MRF–New Beginning parliamentary group sent a letter to Finance Minister Temenushka Petkova, calling for urgent measures in coordination with the Presidential Administration to secure, through a Council of Ministers decree, the necessary funding for purchasing official vehicles and for providing the required personnel.

According to the party, the Presidential Administration should have its own fleet, like all other state institutions, regardless of the individual holding the presidential office. The institution itself, they emphasise, is more important than the person temporarily occupying the position.

“The executive branch must enable the provision of the required vehicles for the Presidential Administration, equivalent to what is standard for all state bodies,” the statement reads.

The MRF–New Beginning group also stressed that President Radev’s advisors and secretaries are not more privileged than civil servants in ministries, agencies, or other state structures, and therefore should be served by a fleet belonging to the institution itself, in line with standard practice.

The party criticised the President’s use of personal or non-specialised vehicles:

“Radev’s use of cheap PR stunts, such as travelling in his wife’s car, creates difficulties and tension for NSP and Ministry of Interior staff. It is costly, as a significant human and technical resource is mobilised for his security. Using non-specialised vehicles for these trips — essentially demonstrations — undermines the authority of the Presidential institution and the state. Presenting this behaviour as an act of solidarity with staff is blatant demagoguery and hypocrisy,” the statement reads.

MRF–New Beginning concluded by noting that while Radev will soon leave office and, according to the Constitution, may no longer hold the post, the institution itself remains and must operate at full capacity and with authority, as is expected in a European state.