No proposal to divert part of second-pillar pension contributions to the National Social Security Institute (NOI) was put to the European Commission, deputy prime minister and finance minister Galab Donev said in a written statement to BTA. The draft 2027 budget has no such diversion either.

The row is over claims that the government is looking for money in pension contributions to plug a hole in public finances. On BNT's "Panorama" show, Bozhidar Bozhanov of Democratic Bulgaria cut in on Donev and said he had a letter from him to the Commission. Bozhanov said the letter proposes that part of the pension contribution temporarily go to the first pillar of the pension system.

How it all started: Efremova: No talks on changes to second pension pillar

Donev says his official proposal to the Commission, published on its website, has no diversion from the second pillar to NOI. The letter is dated 2 November 2026. He says the draft budget plan sent on 15 October, the letter and the draft 2027 budget all match.

He told Bozhanov the letter contains comments made with the Commission, and they give no grounds to claim the government is seeking money this way. The budget procedure began in August, and various proposals and ideas were discussed during it. The finance ministry decides which of them go into the draft budget. Donev added that those in power are in talks with the pension companies and that their policy toward them is quite different from what is claimed.

The draft 2027 budget was presented yesterday at the University of National and World Economy, sent to the social partners and published on the ministry's website.

Donev also spoke about the three audit reports by the National Audit Office. They cover the management of the finance ministry, the Road Infrastructure Agency (API) and State Social Security. Parliament ordered them in early July. The audit covers the period from the start of 2020 to the end of May 2026, and the results were made public on Monday.

Donev said the audits do not assess ideas and intentions. They record specific violations and actions that affected how public money was managed and spent. He gave two examples. About €767m (1.5bn leva) was hidden from the budget deficit to meet the conditions for the euro. Road contracts worth about €9.2bn (18bn leva) were signed when the API budget was about €5.6bn (11bn leva). He added popular budgets with excessive spending, and said these are only some of the examples.

Donev spoke of the last six years of "irresponsible management of public finances". He said all the parties that themselves called their political arrangement a "patchwork coalition" (sglobka) are to blame.

Prime minister Rumen Radev commented on the issue this week and called baseless the claims that the government will steal from pensions through the second pillar. "It is time for some politicians to realise that the election campaign is over, and the manipulation should end with it," he said.