Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and former prime minister Sergei Stanishev met Thursday with representatives of employers' organization and said that he is skeptical about the plan with anti-crisis measures proposed by the government on September 23. He said that some of the measures are implemented "pursuant to the law", others are desirable, and for some it is not clear how they will be implemented. He gave as an example the completion of the Trakia motorway.

According to Stanishev, the only clear intention of the incumbents is the reduction of the contributory burden by two percentage points, which, in his opinion, could create a big problem during crisis and low rate of collection.

Stanishev said he is pessimistic about the revenue part of the budget.

The BSP Chairman said that a seminar the parliamentary group of the Coalition for Bulgaria organizes during the weekend will discuss proposals for legal amendments intended to save jobs.

Representatives of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) urged for ensuring access to budget financing for the business and revising business charges to make them proportionate to costs. BIA Deputy Chairman Kamen Kolev said that the total amount of money which the state has not yet reimbursed to the business is 500 million leva, which creates a problem for the companies.

Chairman of the Association of Industrial Capital Vassil Velev suggested an option whereby the tentative orders for gas quantities be renegotiated on a quarterly basis. He said that at the end of the year the companies will have to pay a 10 per cent penalty for unused quantities of gas.

Source: BTA