"Vazrazhdane" organises protest in front of the National statistical Institute

Calls for the resignation of the Chairman of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) have been made by representatives of "Vazrazhdane" party and a scandal in the institution. The reason is that "Vazrazhdane" claims that the national statistics are falsifying inflation data in order to allow the country to enter the Eurozone. The NSI responded by stating that the institution is under pressure and receiving threats.

"Get the data out because you are liars and fraudsters. You are in charge of statistics, and there is no one in Bulgaria who believes your 2.6%. Based on this 2.6%, you want to bury our children, our grandchildren by pushing us into the Eurozone," said Tsontcho Ganev from "Vazrazhdane."

"It is not the job of the NSI to propose or not propose whether we should enter the Eurozone or any other zone. That is a political decision. The NSI does not give recommendations or advice on where we should be," said Associate Professor Dr. Atanas Atanasov, Chairman of the NSI.

"The NSI is under attack only by one political party, as far as I can see—this is the 'Vazrazhdane' party—and no one has ever exerted any pressure," he added.

"Moreover, we are receiving emails with threats," Dr. Atanasov said further.

"If he does not comply with the law and make this data public and provide it so that prices and inflation can be calculated publicly and transparently, we will demand his resignation," said Simeon Slavchev of the MIR party.