EWRC Chairman: The Prime Minister speaks incompetently

The government wants to brutally crush us, I am ready to file a defamation lawsuit, commented Ivan Ivanov

“For 22 years, no one has accused the EWRC of sabotaging the government. The things that have been said may be due to either a low level of information or a high level of incompetence in the matter. But this cannot be an excuse for the Bulgarian prime minister. – when he is not incompetent, he should seek advice and be more restrained in his statements … The slogan zero tolerance for corruption is good, but it must be accompanied by another – zero tolerance for incompetence “.

This was stated on the air of the Bulgarian National Radio by the long-term chairman of the EWRC Ivan Ivanov. Ivanov explained the silence on the subject so far by the fact that he was shocked by the absurd allegations against the commission. EWRC announced its decision to increase the price of electricity from January 1, the first day of the new government’s inauguration. Prices were frozen for three months by a decision of the National Assembly.

“The schedule on which the commission works is firmly and legally regulated. There are minimum deadlines for announcing it, deadlines for holding public hearings, scheduling meetings. The commission is an independent body and its work does not depend on the dates on which a government enters position or resigns “, Ivanov commented. According to him, the government has shown intent not only on the date of the EWRC decision, but also on its content, as well as its unwillingness to consult on the imposed insane moratorium on prices.

“With purely regulatory measures, without a single lev from the budget, we managed to reduce the increase in the price of electricity from 64% to 11.5%. I explained to the caretaker prime minister how it may not be felt at all if VAT is reduced by 20 at 10% “, Ivanov commented. He added that this would not harm the treasury, but instead the cabinet has turned to a harmful moratorium.

“Prime Minister Petkov and his closest circle have repeatedly said that a detailed analysis must be made for each decision. What has been done with the moratorium is just the opposite. He was admitted for literally an hour, with a cosmetic change the next day. This moratorium is doing serious damage – these three months the prices have been frozen, but in fact they are rising and this is inevitable. This price must be paid later by Bulgarian consumers, “Ivanov said. According to him, the moratorium has divided the various consumers, depriving some of them of compensation. There are no rules for compensation for gas consumers yet, and people who are on wood and pellets will continue to buy them at many times higher prices, Ivanov explained. According to him, the moratorium will drain hundreds of millions from the compensation budget, which can be used more efficiently.

OFFENSE

“I am in the process of collecting my personal belongings from the EWRC, because I believe that the government will fulfill the request to appoint a new chairman of the EWRC by the end of January. But I remained at the head of the commission after the expiration of my term, because the law obliges me. I am ready to file a defamation lawsuit for the claim that the EWRC is not doing its job and I am here to protect mainly the people who work in the commission. The European Commission has also been informed about the government’s intervention in the work of the EWRC, from where I expect a position to be obtained, “Ivan Ivanov added. He added that he even had the idea to go on hunger strike because of the unfounded accusations against the commission.

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