The government supports the financial decentralization of municipalities

The government supports the financial decentralization of municipalities after a careful analysis to be made by the Ministry of Finance. This was stated by the Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov at a meeting with representatives of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB). Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel and Deputy Minister of Finance Georgi Klisurski also took part in the conversation.

There is political agreement to take real steps towards greater autonomy of local authorities, the Prime Minister pointed out. However, it is necessary to find a sustainable approach that will not allow damage to any municipality. In addition, the decentralization process must develop in parallel with increasing transparency and improving control over the spending of public funds. The possibilities of creating new target funds, through which the municipalities can finance their projects, were discussed.

During the conversation, the mayors presented a financial decentralization model supported by all municipalities, which was developed in 2022 based on official data provided by the Ministry of Finance and other state institutions. It examines possible scenarios for all 265 municipalities in the country.

The mayors expressed satisfaction that their proposals were heard during the preparation of the state budget for this year. They hope for an equally fruitful discussion of the 2024 project.

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Gabriel declared her readiness to assist municipalities to work more actively with Bulgarian trade attachés and ambassadors abroad in order to attract investments more easily.