Employers and government agree: Entry into the Eurozone is priority #1

During a meeting of the heads of employers' organizations with Prime Minister Gulab Donev, the priorities of the Association of Bulgarian Employers' Organizations (ABEO), previously provided to the Prime Minister, were discussed. The focus of the meeting was energy, the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, the adoption of the euro, as well as, last but not least, inflation, announced the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), rotating chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Regarding energy, employers emphasized that they welcome the continuation of the compensation measure. They emphasized that it is a question of compensations and not of aid, because this money was taken from the enterprises due to distortions and imperfections in the wholesale electricity market. Possible upgrades to the compensation mechanism through differentiated approaches to be proposed by a working group were discussed.

On the topic of European programs and projects, the employers asked to speed up the process. A very important focus is the Recovery and Resilience Plan and employers' organizations have declared their support for the government's efforts to renegotiate it in the "Energy" part.

The Prime Minister explained the government's initiative to monitor the pricing of food products and the possibilities of reducing inflation. Business representatives expressed support for the government's actions to introduce a daily monitoring and control mechanism along the entire supply chain of goods from the manufacturer to the store counters. The employers and the service cabinet expressed a common view of the need for a thorough analysis of the problem, including a clear signal about unfair practices on the market. The chairman of the ABEO and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry reminded the responsibilities of the institutions that have special powers in this area, such as the Commission for the Protection of Competition and the Commission for the Protection of Consumers, which in this situation should show additional activity. Working groups were proposed to focus on reducing the prices of the goods and services that weigh the most in the consumer basket and in which the largest increase is reported. The members of the cabinet confirmed that they are preparing a plan to maintain a constructive dialogue between the government and business in order to solve the problems affecting all Bulgarian citizens.

In connection with the introduction of the euro, the representatives of the employers' organizations drew attention to the fact that it is imperative to start an active campaign to explain to the public what the effects are - positive, negative and what are the advantages of the adoption of the European currency. The employers will seek the cooperation of the BNB and commercial banks, experts from the countries that have recently entered the Eurozone, to explain what the expected results are, the difficulties they have encountered and for Bulgaria to avoid negative moments in this process. The preparation of the country for admission to the OECD was also discussed.

During the subsequent press conference, Tsvetan Simeonov, rotating chairman of the Association of Bulgarian Employers' Organizations, stated that the meeting with the new cabinet is a good signal that the dialogue with the government in the previous mandate will continue successfully. Employers rely on this dialogue, to ask timely questions to seek timely answers and solutions.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the management of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, the Union for Business Initiative, as well as members of the official government: Atanas Pekanov, Deputy Minister - Chairman of European Funds Management, Lazar Lazarov, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policies and Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Hristo Alexiev, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Transport and Communications, Rosen Hristov, Minister of Energy, Alexander Pulev, Minister of Innovation and Growth, Yavor Gechev, Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Svrakov, Deputy Minister of Finance and Prof. Alexander Marinov, Chairman of the Strategic Council to the President and Advisor to the Prime Minister.