EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
In the penultimate month of the year, the Bulgarian media again actively sought the expertise of the authors of the EKIP. Particular attention was paid to the topic of “urban planning” on the occasion of the report “Urban Planning Policy in Sofia” published at the beginning of the month with recommendations for improving urban planning policy.
The parking problems were commented on by our chairman Stoyan Panchev on bTV on the first day of November. He explained that the path to solving them lies in expanding the paid zone and increasing its price.
The authors of the report - Georgi Vuldjev and Teodor Karakolev - also took a position on the traffic problems in the capital as well as on the overall urban planning policy. Together with Stoyan Panchev, they presented the EKIP's ideas to the viewers of TV Europe, Bulgaria On Air and Eurocom, the listeners of Bulgarian National Radio and Darik Radio and the readers of Trud and blitz.bg.
On the topic of parking and congestion, the three advocated the basic economic principle of "user pays" as key to easing traffic and argued for their proposed "Congestion" fee and the increase in the price of public parking. In addition, they pointed to the over-centralization and incompetent management of Sofia as a key source of problems for the citizens of the capital.
You can read the full version of the report "Urban Planning Policy in Sofia" here.
In November, EKIP continued to shape public opinion on the topic of “healthcare”. The opinion of our health economist Arkadi Sharkov was sought by the largest national television channels - bTV and Nova. Commenting on the existing health care model in the program “Plus-Minus”, Sharkov pointed out that pouring more funds into an unreformed system is economically inefficient and that deep structural reforms are needed. And in the news broadcast of bTV, the health economist named the amendment of laws into transitional and final provisions as a problem that makes the health care system opaque.
Sharkov expressed similar theses on the air of the Bulgarian National Radio, adding that he hopes that attempts at fundamental reform in healthcare will continue in 2019. In addition, he presented his vision of the most serious problems in the system and the necessary reforms in articles for the newspaper "Sega" and investor.bg.
Our chairman Stoyan Panchev also commented on the problems of healthcare on the air of the program "Delnitsi" on Eurocom. Explaining the imbalances of the system, Panchev pointed out that nearly one million people use healthcare without paying anything and are de facto supported by other taxpayers.
As usual, the Bulgarian media often sought the opinion of our editor-in-chief Georgi Vuldjev on economic topics. At the beginning of the month, in the studio of Business Daily on TV Europe, Vuldjev discussed the innovations in Budget 2019 as well as the overall state of the Bulgarian economy. In the program “Before Everyone” on “Horizont” he advocated for the overall reduction of VAT and social security contributions as a measure to stimulate investments in Bulgaria.
Other economic topics that were commented on by the EKIP in the public space were fuel prices and the pension system. Towards the middle of the month, on the air of the national radio, Vuldjev predicted that retail fuel prices would continue to fall, noting that this was mainly due to global trends, not to the protests. Discussing inflation together with Mika Zaikova in the studio of “Bulgaria Sutra” on BG On Air, he mentioned that a large part of the fuel problem is related to the poor control that the state exercises over tax warehouses, and that this system needs to be reformed.
On November 29, again in the studio of "Bulgaria Morning", the editor-in-chief of EKIP reminded of the bankruptcy of the pension system, emphasizing that the solution to the problem lies in the introduction of a personal account and the gradual transition to private pension insurance.
In November, our expertise was also sought on a number of international topics. EKIP political analyst Kaloyan Pravov, as well as Stoyan Panchev, commented on the midterm elections in the US the day after the announcement of their results. In the morning studio of TV Europe, Pravov expressed the opinion that these elections represent a kind of stalemate between the two parties in the US and that this drastically increases Trump's chances of being re-elected in 2020. On the air of "Crossroads" on VTK, Panchev predicted that the election result means that Trump will face difficulties in implementing his program in domestic politics.
Kaloyan Pravov and Stoyan Panchev also commented on events on the European political scene. On November 22, in the Bloomberg TV Bulgaria studio, Pravov analyzed the clash between the Italian government and the European Commission over Italy's fiscal policy. Pravov argued that Brussels is in a weak position, as it cannot take a position that is neither too soft nor too hard towards Italy, as it risks losing a lot politically.
A few days later, Stoyan Panchev and economist Vladimir Karolev discussed the political and economic consequences of Brexit on Emil Koshlukov’s show “More from the Day” on BNT. Speaking to viewers of the national television, Panchev addressed concerns that there would be abrupt changes in the rules for migration of Bulgarians to the United Kingdom, saying that such a scenario was highly unlikely. In addition, he criticized Theresa May’s Brexit plan, stating that its implementation would not mean a true exit from the EU and would only generate additional problems for London and Brussels in the long term.
