BULGARIA’S PARLIAMENT ESTABLISHED COMMITTEE TO INSPECT PENSION FUNDS

On 17th of February, Bulgaria’s Parliament voted to establish an ad-hoc committee, which would examine the work of the pension insurance companies, the funds managed by them and the supervision over them. The ad-hod committee was proposed by the opposition centre-left Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the centre-right Reformist Bloc. The proposal was supported by the centre-right GERB.

The special committee will have a month to complete the inquiry in the work of the pension insurance companies, the universal and professional pension funds managed by these companies and will check how the regulatory framework is applied.

Kornelia Ninova, an MP from the parliamentary group of BSP, will be the Chairperson of the ad-hoc committee. Nastimir Ananiev, an MP from the centre-right coalition Reformist Bloc, will be Deputy Chairperson.

Representatives of GERB party said that in their opinion such committee was not necessary because it would duplicate the activities of the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance. Nevertheless, GERB’s Menda Stoyanova and Tsvetan Tsvetanov called for GERB MP’s to support the establishment of the ad-hoc committee, because should they fail to do so, unfounded suspicions may be raised that they were covering up malpractices.

The Movement for Rights and Freedom (MRF) also said there would be duplication of activities, but would support the establishment of the ad-hoc committee. The left-wing took advantage of the debate to attack Menda Stoyanova saying that as the Head of the Standing Committee on Budget and Finance she manipulated the voting for taking a new foreign debt.

The centre-right Reformist Bloc, nationalist Patriotic Front and the nationalist Ataka also supported the establishment of the ad-hoc committee.

154 MPs voted in favour, 1 voted against and 1 abstained.