First meeting of the new regular government: PM Denkov assigns a review of large spendings in each ministry

Every minister should review the major expenditures made by the ministries in recent weeks and months and check whether there are any delayed procedures, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov instructed the members of the new cabinet at the first meeting of the Council of Ministers on June 7.

He referred to media publications "about billions of leva being given away without it being clear whether they were directed appropriately, effectively and efficiently", as well as about delayed procedures in ministries that risked to result in a loss of funding.

"Any delay in the last year of the programming period could cost the budget and the state very dearly," Denkov said.

As immediate tasks for the new Council of Ministers, Denkov highlighted the preparation of the budget, calling on all ministers to cooperate with the Ministry of Finance; the staffing of the cabinets of ministries, given the dismissal of deputy ministers on the last working day of the caretaker government; the completion of the management programme together with the experts from the National Assembly, which Denkov described as "our plan, timetable, Bible".

"Please act expeditiously and decisively because we don't have time. No one will give us 100 days, and at the same time it must not be at the expense of quality. Good luck! I'm sure we can be successful as long as we work as a team," Denkov said.