109 - POLITICS - GOVERNMENT - 100 DAYS - REPORT amplified

Government Reports
First 100 Days in
Office


Sofia, February 13 (BTA) - Positive assessments and optimism
prevailed as deputy prime ministers and ministers of Boyko
Borissov's government reported their performance in their first
100 days in office on Friday, while the political parties varied
in their views.

Deputy Prime Minister Roumyana Buchvarova

Roumyana Buchvarova, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of
coalition policy and the state administration, assessed in
positive terms the government's work so far. "The government is
doing well with its operational tasks and the general
government tasks. We shouldn't forget the calming of the
political atmosphere and the spirit of constructivism in
addressing them. Predictability and calm provide a good
groundwork for a stable government and clarity of developmental
vision."

She said that a wide front of reforms have started: in the
judiciary, in the Interior Ministry, health care, education, the
energy sector, the retirement system. The purpose of all is to
improve the welfare of people, Buchvarova added.

She dismissed as ill-founded the accusations of a purge in the
state administration. "Figures show that new appointments in the
government bodies are 77 per cent and in the political
cabinets 85 per cent, which means that 15 per cent of the
personnel has remained the same."

Buchvarova gave high marks to the idea for reforms in health
care and hailed the concept of e-health care.


Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev

Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev said that during its
first 100 days the government was often in a situation where it
had to rescue things - from large infrastructure projects to
whole sectors - instead of thinking of development.

He mentioned as accomplishments the restored investments in
heavy infrastructure and the start of a new type of investment
such as the programme for retrofitting of apartment buildings.

Donchev said that the volume of EU funding may reach one-fifth
of all public spending in 2015 which will be an unprecedented
level since the accession to the EU in 2007.

Donchev expects all the operational programmes for the 2014-2020
programming period to be approved by mid-year. He recalled that
three programmes were ready for approval: Good Governance,
Innovations and Competitiveness, and Science and Education for
Smart Growth. A formal decision about them is expected in the
next few weeks. Disputes with the European Commission are under
way on some of its proposals concerning operational programmes
Regions in Growth and Environment. "We will argue as long as it
takes," said Donchev, adding that the sides differed on the type
of beneficiaries, the number of supported cities and towns, and
some types of investment. He said he would risk a delay of a
couple of more months rather than have programmes which do not
meet Bulgaria's needs. He expects the problem areas to be
tackled by mid-year and the programmes to be approved.


Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva

Meglena Kuneva, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of coordinating
the European policies and institutional matters, said her
personal ambition is to continue working to achieve several
specific goals of priority: secure entry for Bulgaria in the
Schengen area, good preparation and successful Bulgarian
Presidency of the EU in 2018 and accomplishing significant
results in the counter-corruption combat.

Kuneva said the first 100 days were a good start. "We've
achieved quite a lot: Bulgaria proved to be a constructive and
loyal partner of the EU and NATO and a proof of that were
several key visits within a month," she said. Another
accomplishment she mentioned was the adoption of the government
programme and providing a groundwork for reforming the
judiciary by supporting a strategy update. Preparations for the
Bulgarian EU Presidency in 2018 have started.

After the talks Prime Minister Boyko Borissov held in Brussels
on Thursday, the countries which support Bulgaria's entry in
Schengen without reservation are now 20, but there still are a
few which are very important and will take some persuading.

Kuneva said that in her capacity as leader of a party from the
Reformist Bloc, she believes their participation in the
government is good for Bulgaria. She called the Bloc "a
guarantor of the irreversibility and scale of reforms".


Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Policy
Ivaylo Kalfin

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Policy,
Ivaylo Kalfin, said he "has largely reached an accord" with his
colleagues in the government.

He noted that the funding for social policies this year was
increased by 200 million leva, that the first two EU-funded
programmes that were approved for Bulgaria this year are in the
social sector and these will provide 2.5 billion leva for
social activity in the coming years.

Kalfin noted "serious discussions and resistance in the area of
incomes policy" and said that the changes in the retirement
system are making progress "in an atmosphere of transparency and
dialogue with the social partners and the parties in
Parliament".


Regional Development and Public Works Minister Liliyana Pavlova

Regional Development and Public Works Minister Liliyana Pavlova
said her Ministry's performance in the first 100 days had been
successful. She stressed that no EU funding was lost: "We did
not lose a single lev in EU financing when there was a risk of
losing over 200 million leva under Operational Programme
Regional Development." She recalled that the minimum amount to
be paid out was 211 million leva, while over 244 million leva
were actually paid out. Pavlova recalled that the negotiations
on launching the new Operational Programme Regions in Growth had
been completed and the programme was expected to be approved
late this spring at the latest.

"We are ready and will open the first calls for proposals under
this programme concerning the urban environment, roads and
regional and educational infrastructure so that 2015 will not be
a year of zero absorption of EU funds," said Pavlova.

Contracts have already been signed under the National Programme
for Energy Renovation of Multi-family Residential Buildings.


Parties' opinions vary on the government's first 100 days

Patriotic Front floor leader Valeri Simeonov said the work of
the Finance Ministry is mostly a liability for the government.
He mentioned as mistakes the decisions (later reversed) for the
pension funds and for suspension of train services.

He recalled that his group is not supportive of the motion for a
parliamentary vote on an 8 billion euro debt in coming years.

Simeonov reiterated that his group will support the government
for as long as it follows its programme and noted that some
items from the Patriotic Front programme are being implemented
as well: building a fence along the Bulgarian-Turkish border to
deter illegal migrants and imposing a moratorium on the export
of raw timber.

He also said that "the elimination of Movement for Rights and
Freedoms appointees is making good progress and we are happy
with it".

Commenting the government's performance in the corridors of
Parliament, Reformist Bloc co-leader Radan Kanev said that "the
direction is right but the pace is slow". He specified that it
was his personal assessment, not his group's.

Georgi Kyuchoukov MP of the ABV party said the government
ensured political stability, which is its top achievement. He
assessed the cabinet's first 100 days in positive terms. He said
there were weaknesses in the economy, especially the plans for
issuing new debt.

The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party said these have been
100 days of sham reforms and disappointments. Speaking on behalf
of his BSP - Left Bulgaria group, Zhelyo Boychev MP said that
all social payments have been frozen for mothers and children
and the Thursday approval by the competent parliamentary
committee of 8 billion leva for a new debt made the cabinet "a
government of manipulations".

The government has so far failed to deliver on its promise to
bring stability and stepped up economic growth, he added.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) gives the Borissov
government a mark of three (on a scale of a lowest of 2 to a
highest of six). "These were 100 days of ruthless compromises
among government partners with ideological differences, 100 days
of political repressions against appointees of MRF and other
parties, " said Aliosman Imamov.

He said that this government is incapable of carrying through
reforms due to the profound ideological differences among the
parties supporting it.

According to Imamov, the government programme is an eclectic
mix and the reform proposals are modest and lack a clear vision.

The group of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre gave a mark of "4"
to the government. "The worst problem of this government is that
GERB are trying to do reforms while all the Reformers and the
Patriots are doing is publicity stunts," they said in a
declaration. They called upon the government to prepare an
emergency strategy for reform in the energy sector considering
the deterioration of relations with Russia.

The nationalist Ataka was the most critical. Its deputy floor
leader Stanislav Stanilov said that the government is doing
nothing. The areas of worst performance are culture, followed by
foreign policy and education.