NW 19:21:01 18-11-2020
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116 POLITICS - COUNCIL OF MINISTERS - DECISIONS

Council of
Ministers'
Decisions


Sofia, November 18 (BTA) - At its regular meeting here on Wednesday, the Council of Ministers made the following decisions as reported by the Government Information Service:

-- elected Todor Tabakov of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as member of the Governing Board of the State Fund for Guaranteeing the Stability of the Pension System (also known as the Silver Fund) for 2021. Tabakov replaces Ivan Todorov in accordance with the rotational principle for nominating members of the Fund's Governing Board from the nationally representative employers' organizations. The Silver Fund is managed by an eight-member Governing Board, chaired by the Finance Minister with the Labour and Social Policy Minister as his deputy chair;

-- amended and supplemented the Rate Schedule of Fees Collected by the State Health Control Authorities and the National Centres on Public Health Affairs under the Health Act. Fees for administrative services with an expired legal base are scrapped, as well as fees for laboratory services and analyses requested by natural and legal persons. Changes are made, in connection with the Foods Act, to existing State fees by defining fees related to the new administrative requirements for bottling mineral, spring and table water. A new fee is introduced in connection with the Protection from Ambient Noise Act for issuing a statement about observing noise level threshold values;

-- decided that all 2,118,500 pensioners will receive an additional 50 leva towards their December pensions, regardless of their amount. The Government will allocate an additional 105,925,000 leva for this purpose under the Public Social Insurance Budget;

-- amended and supplemented the rules of procedure for enforcing the National Service for Protection Act. The objective is to change the National Service for Protection's organizational structure in order to optimize and reduce the number of the main structural units;

-- approved the distribution of 388,472 leva under the municipalities' budgets, which provide 368,472 leva for supporting classes for acquiring qualifications that are part of protected professions, expected to experience labour shortages;

-- authorized the Managing Authority of Operational Programme (OP) for Food and/or Basic Material Assistance under the Fund for European Aid for the Most Deprived in Bulgaria (2014-2020) to conclude contracts for the provision of financial aid to the amount of up to 5 per cent over the OP's budget, thus ensuring some 50,000 persons from the most vulnerable groups will continue to receive a free lunch after January 1, 2021. The resources will be provided within the European Commission's REACT-EU mechanism;

-- amended the Rules of Organization of the Health Ministry, which will have two more deputy ministers so as to provide the Health Minister with assistance in the implementation of activities curbing the spread of COVID-19;

-- authorized the Managing Authority of OP Human Resources Development (2014-2020) to conclude contracts for the provision of grant aid to the amount of up to 3.21 per cent over the OP's budget for measures against COVID-19. This will unlock 73 million leva for urgent contracts and funding for new operations for the provision of timely and necessary support for the Bulgarian society and businesses amid the surge of coronavirus cases. The overcontracted resources will be offset by the forthcoming additional funding under the REACT-EU mechanism for OP Human Resources Development (2014-2020);

-- proposed that the head of State decree the appointment of Brigadier General Anatoliy Krustev head of the Strategic Planning Directorate effective January 25, 2021;

-- approved a draft loan agreement between the EU as Lender and Bulgaria as Borrower, and authorized the Finance Minister to sign the agreement subject to ratification by Parliament. The maximum amount of resources that the EU can extend to Bulgaria under the SURE instrument is 511 million euro, with a maximum average maturity of 15 years. The availability period of the financial assistance is 18 months;

-- approved 6,374,930 leva in additional transfers to the 2020 budget of the Health Ministry to top up the budget of the Emergency Support Instrument which will facilitate Bulgaria's access to COVID-19 vaccines if there are shortages. Also, the cabinet approved additional expenditures of up to 14 million leva for 17,280 doses of Veklury (Remdesivir) for the treatment of the coronavirus in November and December 2020;

-- decided to issue a new consular letters patent in connection with the renewal of the exequatur of Bulgaria's honorary consul in Italy Gianni Maria Stornello, who is seated in Turin with a consular
district spanning the Piedmont region;

-- approved changes to the rules for implementation of the Social Assistance Act. Families with children of up to 14 years of age who attend school online will also be eligible for assistance because of COVID-19 restrictions. Previously the assistance was available only in case children had to be educated remotely due to quarantine;

-- adopted a decree to amend the 2020 State Budget Act in connection with the State e-Government Agency. Due to the aggravated situation because of COVID-19 restrictions more communication equipment is needed as well as adequate support for the centres;

-- authorized the passenger division of BDZ to sell through direct
contracting spare parts for electric and diesel multiple units to Romania's Alstom Transport SA;

-- adopted changes to the Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020;

-- proposed amendments to the Film Industry Act to increase the budget for film making, film distribution, festivals, cultural events, promotions and screeningя to 10,000,000 leva annually. A 15 million leva state aid scheme will refund expenditures and provide incentives;

-- amended the indicative distribution of funds under the EU operational programmes in 2014-2020 to support the overcoming of the effects of the crisis and the preparations for the green, digital and resilient recovery of the economy (REACT-EU). Funding under the Operational Programme for Human Resources Development is increased by 80 million leva to fund a 120 million leva scheme for prevention and support for medical and non-medical personnel;

-- amended several statutory instruments in order to align the legislation with the amendments of the Gambling Act. The changes are related to the closure of State Commission on Gambling and the termination of the powers of its chairman and members. Provisions related to the printing of tickets, fills, tokens and other signs certifying participation in gambling games are also amended;

-- disposed of properties. RI/MY, DS, PP


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