Sofia Mayor: The Most Expensive “Tax” in Bulgaria Is Not VAT, but Fear

“The most expensive ‘tax’ in Bulgaria is not VAT. The most expensive tax is fear.” This is what Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev wrote in a post on Facebook on January 13.

The fear of “standing out”, of “causing problems”, of “being left alone”, of standing up to whoever holds power at the moment. “And this is exactly what the people rely on who have been running the same system for years,” he wrote.

“Today we see them again lined up like a pack: Delyan Peevski, Boyko Borissov, Slavi Trifonov – and their entire entourage of convenient dependencies. They are not stopped by the fact that Bulgaria is at the bottom of the EU in too many important areas – income, education, life expectancy. They are not stopped by the fact that many families live on the edge. And they are not stopped by conscience – because for them ‘conscience’ is a weakness,” Terziev added.

“The truth is simple and unpleasant: while ordinary people say ‘I don’t understand politics’, others are doing politics with our lives – with our money, with the rules, with appointments, with contracts, with who is protected and who is not.”

“And then they try to convince us that everything is ‘staged’ – that a protest of 100,000 people is the work of ‘smugglers’, that we do not need young doctors, that everyone is the same, that ‘there is no point’ in fighting. This is the technique: to mock the brave and the active, so that only the obedient remain.”

Terziev said he had refused to sign a bill for nearly BGN 400 million that would, in his words, condemn an ordinary family of four in the Lyulin district to an unbearable annual waste collection bill of more than €500 in just a few years.

“Let us also refuse compacency. Without it, this system would collapse. Let us dismantle it once and for all,” the Sofia mayor wrote.

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Earlier on January 13, 'MRF – New Beginning' leader Delyan Peevski called for Terziev’s resignation, saying that because of him “Bulgaria’s capital has been sinking into rubbish and filth”. Also today, GERB leader Boyko Borissov commented that he believes Terziev should not resign and should remain in office until the end of his term, so that it can be seen what it means to be governed by 'We Continue the Change' and 'Yes, Bulgaria'.