EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
The Almanac will be a kind of collection and compendium of every government measure that violates, takes away, limits the freedoms of Bulgarian citizens. With this publication, we aim to keep our audience informed about all the restrictions on their freedoms that the government imposes. We will add new cases as soon as they are published in the State Gazette and we will archive the Almanac when the government ends its mandate.
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Criteria for inclusion in the Almanac:
- reduction of freedoms
- increasing penalties for violations and victimless crimes
- increase in tax burden, social security rates, social spending, government debt
- increasing the repressive powers of state bodies
- various regulations limiting the free disposal of your private property
- Environmental regulations
- Annoying bureaucracy of a general nature
2020
- He opened the pre-election purse with the 2021 budget
Increase the minimum pension by 20%
Expanded the scope and raised child allowances between 5 and 10%
Increase all public sector salaries
Significantly increased teachers' salaries - Engaged in the distribution of printed publications for a modest 60 million per year
- Introduced toll fees for republican roads
- Oblige parents to vaccinate their children if they want access to kindergarten
- Mandate all 4-year-olds to attend preschool
- Created a state-owned oil company with bonded warehouses and gas stations
- Allow SANS to view all available data on students and pupils at the Ministry of Education and Science.
- Bans on people with unpaid traffic police fines from leaving the country
- It burdened the budget and endangered our international partnerships in "Turkish Stream"
- Practically nationalizes the water and sewerage companies, creating a state holding
- The confusion with Regulation H-18 for electronic stores and cash registers continues
- Bowed his head to the Eurocrats and adopted a "Mobility" package that destroys the transport business
- Construction of Belene NPP restarts, having already swallowed over 2 billion of taxpayers' money
- Private companies banned from engaging in lottery games, effectively nationalizing a billion-dollar business
- (The "measures" to deal with Covid-19 have been deliberately omitted. A separate book should be written about them)
2019
- With budget 2020
He raised the minimum wage to 610 leva and the minimum pension to 210 leva.
Increase the salaries of social workers by 15%
He returned the party subsidy to 8 leva per vote. - The new Child Protection Act obliges people to report "bad parents" to the state
- The new Social Services Act introduced a strict licensing regime for a wide range of social services
- Adopted changes to the tax and social security law, increasing control over the taxation of businesses in different jurisdictions
- Introduced a patent tax for Airbnb
- Minibuses can only be owned by legal entities
- Increased debt by another 500 million leva to purchase new F-16 fighter jets
- Ban and impose a fine of 500 to 3000 leva for a tent on the beach
- Increase fines for noise above 70 decibels for individuals and legal entities
- Inspectors chased away unlicensed tour guides
- Introduce a fine if you take a dog over 5 kg outside without a muzzle – 500 to 1000 leva
- a range of NGO activities
- It gave power to private bailiffs to also collect unpaid traffic police fines.
- He forgave 8 million leva of debts of the Mufti's office and gave them even more subsidies
- Adopted amendments to the Personal Data Act, allowing for checks on journalists for publications and investigations
- Burdened doctors and dentists with the additional requirement to report to the NHIF the examinations of pensioners with the numbers from the receipts
- Amended Regulation 18 of the National Revenue Agency and obliged all merchants to purchase new cash books by 30.06.2019, then in July amended the Regulation again and canceled cash books. In addition, it created complete chaos in e-commerce regulations
- Tax only private courier services with 20% VAT
- Adopted a Law on Measures Against Money Laundering, obliging individuals to report information about money laundering to the state
- Appoint a whole new unit of "Toll Police" to monitor regularly paid vignettes
- Oblige all carriers to register for VAT
- Significantly increased fines for traffic violations
- Tightened the requirements and restrictions for obtaining firearms and gas weapons
2018
- With budget 2019
Increase the maximum pension to 1200 leva and the minimum to 220 leva
Increase the maximum social security income to 3,000 leva
Increased taxes on older cars and removed relief for declaring more than one home
Increase social and health insurance benefits for some employees by over 15% - Introduced a very broad definition of “Social Services” and subjected a large number of
- Increased administrative appeal fees between 14 and 900 times
- Adopted a Law on the Development and Construction of the Sofia Municipality, limiting building construction in the center of Sofia to 50 meters and creating zones for skyscrapers
- Allow civilian cars to install speed cameras
- Allow 48 hours of arrest, without the right to notice
- Introduced changes to the Personal Data Protection Act, which introduced the tough European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- Restricted the export of certain drugs and imposed an obligation on drug importers to report weekly to the BDA about their stocks
- Criminalizes the illegal felling of trees with penalties of up to 6 years in prison
- Introduced a new requirement for lease contracts to be notarized and registered with the municipal agricultural services
- Adopted a requirement to be "in good faith" when bidding on public procurement
- Empower NAFA officers to use physical force, film and arrest violators
- Criminalizes the production of alcohol and tobacco products without a permit, with a prison sentence of up to 6 years
- Oblige print, electronic and online media to indicate on their websites information about their beneficial owner and to declare the funding received for the previous year
- Oblige restaurant owners to report to municipal authorities whether they have paid for copyrights
2017
- With Budget 2018:
- Raised the minimum wage to 510 BGN from 01.01.2018
- Raise the minimum insurance thresholds and the contribution to the Pension Fund
- Increase the excise tax on cigarettes to 177 leva per 1000 pieces
- Increase the excise tax on heated tobacco products to 233 BGN/kg. - Amend the Road Traffic Act, punishing with criminal prosecution up to 3 years in prison anyone who has ever used a narcotic substance in their life
- Accepted the possibility for foreign governments to investigate Bulgarian citizens with the so-called "European Investigation Order"
- Oblige the beneficial owners of enterprises to declare their ownership to the Commercial Register
"Amend the Road Traffic Act, punishing with criminal prosecution up to 3 years in prison anyone who has ever used a narcotic substance in their life"
It's not enough, we need more. These freedom-loving people with drugs and alcohol are the same ones who push the pedal to the max and kill innocents on the road.
It's a victimless crime.
It's like taking the guns of the entire nation because one guy is going to shoot his wife...