Nikolay Vasilev Delivered a Public Lecture on Economics and State Governance
The third public lecture of the series Meetings with the History" organized by the Political Economy Department was delivered by Nikolay Vassilev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in the period 2001 - 2003. He spoke about the economics and state governance presenting his new book NEXT.BG - A Book for Reformers, Hawks and Storks.
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| Prof. D.Sc. Pencho Penchev, Nikolay Vassilev, Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, Rector of UNWE and Angel Stoykov, Chairman of the Student Council |
"The format of these public lectures provides an opportunity to get acquainted with the ideas, contributions and evaluations of politicians and prominent specialists in various fields of public life", said at the beginning of the event Prof. D. Sc. Pencho Penchev, Head of the Political Economy Department. "In addition to the lecture cycle Meetings with the History, we have also started the second lecture cycle - Meetings with the Future, so we invited Nikolay Vasilev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in the period 2001 – 2003, to present his new book NEXT.BG, in which he comments on economic and management decisions of the past but also makes a forecast of what awaits Bulgaria in the future", pointed out Prof. D.Sc. Pencho Penchev.
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"Where the way of Bulgaria leads" is an extremely important issue and we need such a debate. Our university provides a suitable platform for this kind of discussion and it is no coincidence that the previous speakers were the President Georgy Parvanov and the former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov. I am very happy that today we have with us the ex-Deputy Prime Minister Nikolay Vasilev who will give his answer to the question "Where the way of Bulgaria leads", said in his welcoming speech the Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov. The lecture was also attended by the Chairman of the Student Council Angel Stoykov, by Deans, lecturers and students from the UNWE.
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"The book is 40% economic policy and 60% government. It deals with education, the fight against corruption, the problems of the judiciary, the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Republic of North Macedonia. I do not spare any truths in it, that`s why some people call it ”sharp“. From being the most bankrupt country in the world in February 1997, we paid off most of our foreign debt by 2008 and in that short period, we became the second country in the EU with the lowest debt as a percentage of GDP which is a world achievement. The book is about reformers, hawks and storks. I consider myself the biggest budget hawk in the country in the last 20 years because I am the most jealous about spending the state budget and taking on public debt believing that the right policy is the one that the state pursued earlier", pointed out Nikolay Vasilev in his exposé.
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In his book NEXT.BG the author outlines 4 priorities for the development of Bulgarian nation in the 19th century - demography, long-term financial stability, civilizational choice and preservation of the borders from migration wave. According to him, no management decisions have been taken in recent years regarding these priorities. He points out the demographic policy at first place giving the example that 180 000 children were born in 1950 and now 50 000 are being born which is threatening. Regard the financial stability, no work has been done in this direction, and regarding the civilisation choice, it was made years ago so it puzzles why it is being raised again today. "And are we prepared for a tsunami of emigrants which could have happened in the 21st century?", asked a rhetorical question to the audience the lecturer.
Nikolay Vassilev also highlighted the 4 budget priorities: the demography, education, infrastructure and the modernisation of the army. According to him, the budget policy in recent years has also not been focused on them, no money were given to these areas, despite the huge increase in the budget. In 2020 the state budget is BGN 42 billions, and now it is BGN 67 billions. One of the proposals he made to resolve the demographic crisis is to be given out BGN 20 000 per a newborn child.
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In conclusion, Nikolay vasilev developed the thesis that at the moment there are no major crises in Bulgaria such as war, severe natural disasters, migrant wave but if they occur the country is unprepared to deal with them.
His lecture proviked a heated discussion both in terms of state priorities and budget spending. In the end, the author decided to make his book available free of charge to those who wished to receive it by sending it to the emails provided.
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Nikolay Vasilev
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy in the period 2001 - 2003,
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Communications in the period 2003 - 2005,
- Minister of State Administration and Administrative Reform in the period 2005 - 2009.
