PM Sergey Stanishev: Attacks Against National Revenue Agency Brutal, Irresponsible And Unproved

The National Revenue Agency (NRA) got strong support by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski and his deputy Kiril Zhelev, who is responsible for the agency’s operating. They attended the meeting of the new management headed by the agency’s chief Krassimir Stefanov, who was appointed to the post by the government two days ago after  the resignation of Maria Murgina was accepted.

Stanishev used the occasion to sharply attack the opposition and to warn them that the National Revenue Agency is closely related to the national security. "Any attempt of discrediting NRA is an attack against our national security, which is extremely dangerous in the current crisis conditions,” the prime minister said. “Each and every lev received in the state budget, is important for maintaining our financial stability,” he added.

Stanishev defined the recent attacks against NRA as "brutal, irresponsible and unproved," accusing the opposition of media speculations that shake confidence in the agency as an institution. By stressing that money received in the budget is of great importance for the realization of the anti-crisis program of the Bulgarian government and for citizens’ jobs protection, the premier urged the opposition to provide the materials it has to the public institutions – the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the Prosecution’s Office – so that they could undergo an accurate and impartial investigation.

According to Stanishev, Bulgaria stays ahead of Great Britain and Germany in terms of VAT collection. "In one, two or three cases of incorrectness or officials’ post abuse, wherever they are registered,
 
the perpetrators will be sanctioned,”
 
the prime minister declared categorically.

A day earlier Stanishev firmly rejected the statement claiming Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski will be dismissed because of the huge scandal in the National Revenue Agency.
"We informed Minister Oresharski about today's meeting and he, on his part, informed the prime minister, who himself decided to support us", Krassimir Stefanov told Bulgaria-News. Stefanov pointed out that there could not be a thousand corrupted tax auditors because it would mean one out of two employees is involved in some frauds. Few days ago it emerged Maria Murgina and high-level officials from the Finance Ministry reacted hysterically by closing two  NRA departments - Analysis, Methodology and Combating Corruption Activities, and Internal Audit. Krasimir Stefanov rejected this information, saying that

it is all about their reconstruction.

They would be directly subordinate to the NRA head, as it is required by the new law that provides for merging NRA and the State Receivables Collection Agency since May 1st and the status of the state employees is to be adopted. Certain side formations will be removed from the now existing structures.

"Centralization of the system will contribute to greater transparency in its work,” Stefanov said. It is not possible for auditors from Plovdiv to control the work of their colleagues who work in a neighboring room,” he added. Stefanov receive the personal assurance of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Valeri Parvanov and head of SANS Petko Sertov that check-ups in the National Revenue Agency will soon be completed, so that it could continue operating at ease.