Millions of taxpayers' money are flowing into "black" holes*

We paid for a bridge connecting two puddles and for a sociological study about potholes in the roads.

What is happening to my money – this is the question that every Bulgarian taxpayer should ask himself after leafing through the pages of the new “Black Book of Government Waste in Bulgaria”. What is happening to nearly 40% of the country’s GDP; what initiatives will 35 billion leva of state budget and European funds be invested in in the coming 2016? How will the goals set in the government’s public policies be achieved, and most importantly – will it be understood whether there is room for optimization, for improving efficiency and reducing costs.

The "Black Book" contains ten examples of unacceptable waste of taxpayer money. They span the past 15 years and cover cases from all areas of the work carried out by the state apparatus. It is squandered both in the central and local administration, with the money of Bulgarian and European taxpayers, for huge and very small projects. This waste has no color, party or political affiliation, it is, unfortunately, an inseparable part of the budgetary and state process, not only in our country, but also in other places around the world.

Examples of waste

The publication begins with the so-called "Mud Bridge" in the village of Slaveevo, Dobrichko, a classic example of the "bridges to nowhere" that have become popular overseas - built simply because there was some money that needed to be spent. For almost 10 thousand leva, the residents of Slaveevo received a facility that connects one muddy puddle with another. They themselves say that when it is dry, no one uses the bridge, and when it rains, it is practically impossible to reach it because of the water that floods the approaches. The sum of 10 thousand may sound small against the background of the billions in the central budget, but this is close to the maintenance of a novice worker in a company for an entire year.

The book also includes a revelation about Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", made by the students of the "alma mater" themselves, who took it upon themselves to check what their own fees and 47 million leva of state subsidy, which was paid to the university in 2015, were used for. Their study shows that in 2014 alone, the university overpaid for the purchase of yellow cheese, rice, chicken, etc. by the amount of 90,053 leva. To the food costs, we must add alcohol worth 5,880 leva for the needs of the university. An expense whose expediency is difficult to determine, especially given the financial situation of the university, whose debts to the state budget alone are 42 million leva.

Interesting information about the wastefulness of various state institutions is contained in the detailed reports of institutions such as the National Audit Office and the State Financial Inspection Agency (SFI). It is in a document of the SFI that we read about the interesting expenses of the sister company of BDZ - the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI). It examines numerous contracts for the performance of various services of the NRI. For example, the repairs and strengthening activities of a section of about 100 meters of railway between the village of Samovodene and the city of Veliko Tarnovo in 2012 for a total of 4.8 million leva. Not only does the amount itself seem shockingly large (for comparison, a previous order for the repair of 290 kilometers of railway cost 400 million leva), but the state inspection also identifies a number of other inconsistencies and problems in the implementation of the repair activities.

Another story is as funny as it is startling - namely the idea of the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) to conduct a survey of public perceptions about the condition of the road network in the country for the "modest" sum of 600 thousand leva. Collecting sociological data on the condition of the roads is quite eccentric, since there are much more accurate and clear criteria by which one can assess whether the road infrastructure is good or not.

There are many examples of absurd spending: the problematic program for mass renovation of panel houses and its real cost; the stories about the millions spent on advertising logos in tourism; the fakery around the Ledenika cave, which cost the Bulgarian and European taxpayer 5 million leva; the millions spent on e-government and software, which we can easily save, etc. For the online tourist portal alone in 2009, the State Tourism Agency (predecessor of today's Ministry of Tourism) spent 2 million leva - and only for the completion of an existing site. For comparison, the complete construction of the tourist portal in Denmark cost 800 thousand euros, which is 400 thousand euros less than the domestic public procurement.

Why is a "Black Book" needed?

The purpose of publications like the Black Book is not simply to cause a furor or to click our tongues. Shocking cases should direct us to general conclusions, to destroy illusions and myths. Among the most widespread myths regarding fiscal policy is that by spending public resources, an unlimited number of private problems can be solved. That the money with which the government operates comes from somewhere else, not from our taxes, which we pay while working or shopping. It is time to realize that taxes are actually always paid by the people - regardless of whether they are on income, profit or consumption, and that in spending public resources, there is inevitably a restriction of freedom of choice and some form of clientelism.

The myth that we simply need to elect some lamb politicians who will watch over us and not waste our money must be replaced by the understanding that there must be constant control over the spending of our money. And often, we simply have to refuse to hand over more to the political class and bureaucracy. 40% of everything created in the country is already too much.

The national debt will grow from 13% of GDP in 2008 to 30% in 2016. It is time to balance the budget, but not with new or higher taxes, but with cuts in at least this type of spending, which can be read about in the "Black Book".

*The article was published in Trud newspaper on 14.12.2015 - the original can be found HERE

Did you like it? Take a minute to support the EKIP on Patreon!