18.01.2013

"There are no delays in VAT refund to businesses. Presently VAT is refunded within 30 days and that is one of the NRA successes in the past two years", Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov said in an interview for the TV7 Good Morning, Bulgaria program. "Under the law VAT refund can be delayed only in case of violations found during a tax inspection and when the violation is brought to court", Minister Djankov specified. The Deputy Prime Minister announced that work was ongoing on the idea to shorten the time for VAT refund to the most conscientious tax payers to 10 days. He added that during the past 2012 the Customs Agency and the NRA exceeded the program and collected more revenues. "The introduction of the single payment account aims at lowering red tape for business and at ending VAT fraud. At the beginning of February we would be able to estimate the results of its introduction", Djankov clarified.

About the fate of VMZ-Sopot the Deputy Prime Minister commented that no more public money should be injected there and that the plant should have been sold long ago. Djankov gave an example with TEREM, a company with the same activities that had contracts and worked well. "We will help with state budget funds for social programs for the people that will leave VMZ-Sopot", Simeon Djankov said further.

The Deputy Prime Minister commented that this year growth was expected in agriculture and tourism. "We expect major increase of Russian and Ukrainian tourists and this has been confirmed during my yesterday's visit to Moscow", he announced. The Minister foresees also a possible growth in housing construction as there has been registered an increased interest in purchase of dwellings in Bulgaria by Russians. "We hope that the threshold for permanently residing foreigners in Bulgaria will be reduced to BGN 300,000 since the Law on Investments is in second reading at the National Assembly", the Minister commented.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs owes the New York municipality around USD 60 million for not paid local taxes and charges by our embassy there because during the triple coalition nothing has been paid. We have the same problem in Germany. We are trying to reschedule the payments", Deputy Prime Minister Djankov said in reponse to a question by viewers.