President Radev presents caretaker Cabinet's priorities

Securing purchasing power, supporting the most vulnerable, and curbing speculation are among the main tasks that President Rumen Radev has set for the caretaker cabinet, as well as holding fair and transparent elections. The head of State presented here on Friday the tasks and priorities of the new caretaker cabinet, appointed by him on Thursday. 

Radev noted that the prices of necessities continue to rise, Bulgarians are getting poorer, living with difficulties and worrying about the future.

The head of State noted that the main priorities of the caretaker cabinet should be aimed at securing the purchasing power of Bulgarians and fighting against impoverishment, while supporting the most vulnerable, curbing monopolies and speculation, improving the conditions for economic development, supporting domestic producers, and attracting foreign investment.

The caretaker government's main task is to prepare fair and transparent elections – a task made increasingly more complicated in light of the amendments to the Election Code, the President added.

He expressed his expectations of an even greater strengthening of border security in cooperation with the European Commission, fighting crime, lawlessness on the roads, and drug trafficking. The head of State also set as priority the continuation of the initiative to build a National Children's Hospital and the preparation of emergency air medical services.

According to the President, Bulgaria is facing an extremely contested election campaign. He believes the parties have not taken responsibility for governing in difficult times, and some of the campaign participants will try to reap dividends on the caretaker government's back, to provoke its members daily and attribute the cabinet's successes to themselves. Radev called on the caretaker ministers to remain neutral, not to interfere in the campaign, but to defend the truth, their personal dignity, that of the Ministries they represent, and most of all - that of the Bulgarian citizens.

This second term will be even more difficult because the problems are many and the expectations are high, which calls for a close monitoring of the people's problems and work for them, Radev said.

Talking about the cabinet's first term, Radev said the forecasts had been for very negative scenarios for the economy, state institutions coming to a standstill, record-high fuel prices and galloping inflation. He said the first caretaker cabinet had coped successfully with many challenges: a shortage of gas, tenders, an unfinished gas interconnector with Greece and wildly inflated prices, frozen infrastructure projects, lack of laws called for by the Recovery and Resilience  Plan, lack of progress in further European integration and a standstill in the modernization of the Armed Forces. To these things he added record migration pressure, a war nextdoor.

Things came to a second tenure of the Galab Donev caretaker government after none of three exploratory mandated for the formation of a Cabinet within this Parliament succeeded, and the President announced that he was going to disband Parliament from February 2, appoint a new caretaker government and schedule early elections for April 2.

The only one new name in it is Culture Minister Nayden Todorov, who replaced Velislav Minekov.