Rositsa Velkova: The law on the introduction of the euro will be ready by the end of the year

The preparation for the adoption of the euro as the national currency occupies an increasingly large place in the public and political life of the country. Proof of this is the intensity with which forums like today's started to be organized. I will use the rostrum of today's forum in my capacity as the national coordinator for the preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for the membership in the Eurozone, to introduce you to the active actions taken by the Bulgarian institutions in recent months and their results.

This was stated by the Acting Minister of Finance Rositsa Velkova during the financial conference "Bulgaria in the Eurozone - advantages and opportunities" organized by Dir.bg, KRIB and the Agency for the Promotion of SMEs.

"An extremely strong and necessary sign to the Bulgarian citizens and our European partners that the adoption of the euro with a target date of January 1, 2024 is defined as a national priority, is the decision adopted on October 27, 2022 by the National Assembly, which entrusted the Bulgarian governments from now on to speed up the negotiations with the European institutions and the member states of the Eurozone and to speed up the technical preparations for the introduction of the euro in order to meet the target date set by Bulgaria," said the national coordinator for the introduction of the euro.

"This is a serious step towards ensuring the continuity of Bulgaria's aspiration and work to adopt the euro, as the decision involves both the current caretaker government and the upcoming regular governments. This historic step was extremely important and valuable because it gave the necessary legitimacy and confidence of the teams of the Ministry of Finance and the BNB in front of our European partners. A significant and visible result of this is the Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 6 in Brussels with the Member States of the Eurozone and the Commission on the start of production of euro coins and on the preparatory tasks before the start of the production," Velkova pointed out.

"It is a great responsibility and honor for me to be the Bulgarian Minister of Finance, who, with a mandate from the government, signed this important document together with the governor of the BNB, Mr. Radev, and the representatives of the European Commission," she pointed out.

The document outlines the practical steps that will allow our country to start producing euro coins when it receives approval to join the Eurozone, Velkova explained. In her words, this important event should be supported by actions and work that all institutions must do in the relatively short time that remains until January 1, 2024, warned the Minister of Finance.

Rositsa Velkova recalled that our preparations for membership in the Eurozone are organized and coordinated by a Coordination Council co-chaired by the Minister of Finance and the Deputy Governor of the BNB. The Council is assisted by 8 interdepartmental working groups. Active actions on the technical preparation began already in May with the adoption by the Council of Ministers of the National Plan for the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria. On the basis of this plan, the operational work on replacing the lev with the euro is carried out.

"The plan describes the principles, institutional and legal framework for the introduction of the euro, looking at all the important operational activities. Among the key documents prepared by the working groups since September are the communication strategy for our accession to the Eurozone and a concept of a draft law for the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria.This project is expected to be developed by the end of the year.

"The law on the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria will regulate the public relations related to the adoption of the euro as the official currency in the country," announced Rositsa Velkova.

"The purpose of the law on the introduction of the euro is to establish a procedure for the introduction of the euro, the conversion rate, withdrawal of the lev from circulation, the method and term for exchanging money in cash, the rules for converting prices, wages, social benefits, measures for consumer protection, sanctions and others," explained the Minister of Finance.

By the end of the year, the communication information campaign, which will take place in 2023, will be prepared for launch.

"The aim of the campaign will be to provide accurate, accessible, clear, comprehensible, timely and comprehensive information on all practical aspects that will be covered by the law on the introduction of the euro. The focus of the campaigns will also be to clarify all the questions that have arisen and overcome negative attitudes and the fears of Bulgarian citizens about rising prices, changes in incomes, inflation from the adoption of the euro," said Rositsa Velkova.

"We commissioned a sociological survey on the introduction of the euro. We will inform you of the data from the survey in the coming days," the Minister of Finance also informed.

After joining the lev to ERM II, the adoption of certain laws changes is also necessary, she pointed out. The changes in the Law on Money Laundering, the Commercial Law, the Insurance Code and the BNB Law are extremely important, Velkova emphasized and urged the deputies to approach responsibly and vote for them.

The willingness of our country to join the currency union was also presented in the opening panel by BNB Governor Dimitar Radev, Deputy Prime Minister for European Funds Management Atanas Pekanov, and Vice President Iliana Yotova also offered a welcome. The moderator is Iliya Lingorski, a member of the BNB Management Board.