site.btaExperts: It Is in Bulgaria’s Interest to See Balkans Become Transport, Logistic, Energy Hub

The idea of turning the Balkans and the Black Sea region into a zone of peace should be a constant and close to us goal and task, especially in terms of opportunities to develop economic, cultural and other mutual relations, the idea of peace is fundamental, the Chairman of the Strategic Institute for National Policies and Ideas (SINPI), Kaloyan Pargov, said at Thursday’s forum "The Modern World and Bulgaria's Place in It", held at the National Assembly.

Other CINPI participants included forum moderator and former caretaker economy minister Daniela Vezieva, Chavdar Minchev, Valeri Belchev and Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Tsonkov, among others. 

The Deputy Chairman of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CRIB), Nikolay Valkanov, Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) Chairman Vassil Velev, Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) Chairman Dobrin Mitrev, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) chief economist Lyuboslav Kostov and banker Levon Hampartzoumian were also among the participants in the event.

"Bulgaria's strategic interests stretch across Europe, the Balkans, the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. There is a need for a strategic Balkan partnership with Greece, Turkiye, Albania, Serbia, Romania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and turning the Balkans into a transport, logistics and energy hub", said CINPI Board member Minchev, who is also Executive Director of the National Association for International Relations (NAMR).

According to former deputy energy minister Damyanov, what supports the Bulgarian energy sector at the moment is completely contrary to the Green Deal and that is the production of electricity from coal-fired plants. "We must make every effort to maintain production from thermal power plants until their resources are exhausted. This guarantees independence and jobs," Damyanov is convinced.

"In the last two years, the budget and the Treasury have become hostage to politics. The continuous budget updates have led to a degraded macro framework, a debt spiral and a huge deficit", Valeri Belchev, a former finance minister, said during the discussion.

According to him, the only solution is to improve the revenue side of the budget. He believes that a mechanism should be put in place for a fairer distribution of excess profits to energy companies.