Kostov: the state is on the brink of helplessness

“The country is on the verge of a helplessness of the institutions to face the health crisis. And in general, this pandemic required a lot of work since February to lead the country down a narrow path in which there are gaps on both sides – “On the one hand, a health crisis and, on the other, an economic and social crisis. This time the authorities were lost. Now he is dealing with means that suggest a panic reaction. “

This he told BNR Ivan Kostov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria in the period 1997-2001.

He stressed that he delivered an assessment and forecast on August 1, which is delayed between 40 and 50 days, but gave the opportunity, if the authorities had listened, within 3 months to make preparations to comply with the second wave of pandemic crisis, which he said was much more serious than the first.

“My warnings were not heeded … I now realize that my efforts to get involved were futile, and I am pessimistic about the effect of this interview.”Said Kostov, recalling that he had granted 10 interviews since the beginning of the epidemic.

According to Lack of public trust does not allow the prime minister to take stricter measures: “People do not trust them and they do not implement the measures, because it is related to trust in the institutions themselves, and trust is undermined by the institutions themselves, because they give contradictory instructions. The measures are constantly changing, reviewed. This suggests there is no crisis management “.

He stressed that the state must not allow people to become infected in their workplaces. “Who said which professions are defended with priority? How do we protect those most affected? Why is there no registry of people who are most vulnerable to infection and will give more victims?”added the former prime minister.

According to him, if the number of beds maintained in the country’s hospitals for the treatment of infectious diseases is now exceeded by four times, sinceOn November 17 we should expect the number of patients to double, to become about 6,000 hospitalized patients..

“This also means doubling the number of people in intensive care, and if the current ratio is maintained, there will be about 450 people who will need intensive care.”, he said.

According to him, competent and experienced people are not in charge of the institutions that have to manage the crisis.

“Why did the chief health inspector, who said he did not know what to do, stop at the post, to give someone who knows the opportunity to stand there? Labor and Social Policy and ending with the Minister of Sports, everyone had to do great things, but not“said the former prime minister.

He described as poor the statistics on which the data of those infected with Covid-19 is announced daily.. “You can’t trust him much. Not manageable. It does not announce to people who have recovered, that they have been cured at home. According to statistics, in our country people get sick for an average of 1 month, this cannot be the case, “Kostov said, adding that”people who can’t read numbers and statistics can’t handle the crisis. “

He also criticized the government’s draft budget for next year:

“The 2021 budget bill breaks the 23-year political consensus on the country’s financial stability. Let those who do listen to me well. The facts show that it was achieved by the United Democratic Forces since 1997. The current Minister of Finance, Kiril Ananiev, was a deputy. Minister of Finance at that time and he knows very well what hardships and difficulties we have overcome to get the country out of the financial catastrophe of the Jean Videnov government. I don’t know why he has now agreed to destabilize the country’s budget to such an extent. “

According to him, pandemics are one-time processes, no matter how long they last, and a single process faces one-time extraordinary costs, such as the 60 by 40 measure.

“There is an epidemic situation – there is a measure, there is no epidemic situation – there is no measure. Expenditures in the budget are constantly increasing, for pensions, for social. This is unacceptable in response to the extraordinary circumstances of the epidemic. This ineligible spending policy will lead to an excessive structural deficit. This will rapidly increase the country’s debt and, with it, the interest costs for servicing it. The state will weaken and have more limited opportunities“He explained.

According to Kostov the real reason for the planned financial destabilization is the government’s preparation for the next parliamentary elections.