Bulgaria’s caretaker PM: Our mistake is we waited too long to introduce the new anti-Covid-19 measures

Bulgaria’s caretaker Prime Minister, Stefan Yanev and the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Energy on October 21gave a briefing after their meeting in the Council of Ministers, which discussed the caretaker government's measures on the crisis with rising energy prices, as well as new anti-epidemic measures..

We are in a difficult pandemic situation and this is not speculation, but a fact that we must take into account, caretaker Prime Minister said.

The Bulgarian healthcare system is at the end of its tethers, he added.

The measures introduced are not an end in themselves. We did what was necessary to postpone them until the last possible moment.

What we are taking as a temporary measure is entirely provoked by the need to preserve the lives of Bulgarian citizens and the stability of the health system, because the alternative is a lockdown, Yanev explained.

I am ready to bear all the political responsibility, he added.

At this time, Bulgaria faces many challenges that we can overcome only with joint efforts. We are facing serious crises, the challenges are many and I understand well the reasons for the negative public reactions, Yanev said.

I will not going to justify myself, nor will I uncritically defend the actions of the caretaker cabinet. Yes, we made mistakes. Making mistakes is human, but at the same time we made many positive steps, he added.

Our mistake is that we waited until the last moment to announce these rules, he added.

We can't talk about lockdown, it's about soft measures, Yanev said.

The question is whether we, as a society, can be responsible for our present and future, so I call on you for a little patience and understanding, for more solidarity and cooperation, Yanev stressed.

He also called on political parties to adequate behaviour and constructive attitude to the problems of the nation, because the problems do not have a party profile.

The Council of Ministers has adopted a programme for compensation of non-household end customers of electricity, which will be available to more than 630,000 non-household customers, who will receive compensation of BGN 110 per megawatt-hour, said Prime Minister Stefan Yanev.

The budget of the programme is BGN 450 million, and the compensations will be paid by the end of 2021, he specified. The funds are from the profit of Kozloduy NPP. There is no need to update the budget, and the payment will happen by reducing the contributions of the dividend of BEH in the coming years.

We have not stopped discussing these problems with business and unions with a desire to hear every opinion, we have taken the opportunities we have as a state and some of the decisions we make exceed the proposals of unions and employers, said Yanev in response to a question by BNT.

By granting this aid to the business, we do not set conditions, the Prime Minister stressed.

The templates for these contracts will be prepared within 5 days and then we will start concluding them, said the Minister of Energy.

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