“Good deeds don’t happen by chance, you have to work to achieve them. We all have to work in order to bring this country back on the path of economic growth and live in a better place”. This statement was made by Prime Minister Oresharski during the national forum "Government - Business", which was attended by over 700 representatives of business organizations and entrepreneurs. The main messages of the Prime Minister – no suspension of the currency board in the country, keeping the amount of taxes unchanged, and allocating no money from the state budget on the nationalization of bankrupt enterprises.

The prime minister made a broad retrospective of the work done by his office in recent months, outlining the priorities. In Oresharski’s opinion, Bulgaria will probably be in the top five countries in Europe in terms of low budget deficit for 2013. The cabinet will focus its efforts on infrastructure and on a more active role of the state in the fight against monopolies and competition. On the occasion of the current “hot” topic for the EU and Bulgaria - reindustrialization, the Prime Minister stated categorically that no money from the budget will be spent on the resuscitation of failing private businesses. The reasons are the charges leveled at the cabinet for buying out private companies in bankruptcy. "We're talking about promotion of private investment in industrial enterprises", Oresharski added. He explained that foreign investors are interested to start production with new technology, using the names of the bankrupt former industrial giants.

“One of the revisions of the economic development that the world and Europe has made is that focusing only on services does not create sustainable growth”, Oresharski said during the forum. “So one of the goals of Europe 2020 is the reindustrialization of European economies. And last but not least, a stable macroeconomic environment and fiscal consolidation - a field in which Bulgaria had achievements in the past century. Few European countries can repeat the same success."

The Prime Minister again raised the issue of the delay of e-government. “The situation is tragic. Ministries and departments are filled with hardware but no software via which they can communicate”, he said. One of the most interesting topics for business officials was the currency board in Bulgaria. It will continue until Bulgaria’s accession to the Eurozone, said Prime Minister Oresharski and top financier Peter Tchobanov. "Our experience of the past 15 years shows that fixed exchange rates in a small and highly open economy have far greater benefits," Oresharski said. Low tax rates in Bulgaria will be kept because in the face of strong competition for investment, especially between the countries of the region. “Low taxes give us a substantial advantage, which we cannot deny”, the Premier maintains. Also, a new plan is developed for attracting foreign investment. The Bulgarian banking system remains stable. "It is in a better state than in many European countries that did not cope well with the crisis”, Oresharski said. There is also growth regarding the implementation of European projects. The payments of EU funds from May 2013 to January this year amount to nearly 2 billion euro. As to the energy sector, this year the government plans to accelerate the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline. Exports continue to be the “golden goose” of the Bulgarian economy.

“One of the serious problems of Bulgarian exports, however, is that our industries are relatively small and fragmented”,  Deputy Prime Minister Daniela Bobeva said in her turn. “Regarding the large markets of China and Russia, we should unite manufacturers in order to enter the markets of third countries. This unification is the inevitable condition for the expansion of Bulgarian exports into areas where we are competitive."

English version: Rossitsa Petcova