"Achieving a 3% deficit is not as big a challenge as they are trying to make it out to be, if this policy, which has become a tradition in the last national assemblies where there was no governing majority, is stopped - for political parties to propose all kinds of budget waste. We need to return to a situation of stability, and it can be guaranteed by ending all the temporary measures given because of the pandemic, because of the war in Ukraine - the reduction of tax rates and excise duties."

This opinion was expressed in an interview for BNR by Lidiya Shuleva, former Minister of Economy and Social Policy and former Deputy Prime Minister.

Businessman: "Excess profit" tax is a fundamental mistake

"There are wastes in the budget that have led to serious disproportionate profits in certain sectors at the expense of others, and it is high time that this be stopped. 

There is no worse form of management of public funds than handing out compensations and benefits to scumbags

," commented Shuleva. in the show "First of all".

The implementation of budget revenues is not as great as it was supposed to be because of inflation, the former deputy prime minister added.

The excess profit tax is quite a shocking measure, Shuleva believes.

In her words, "the compensations that were distributed went to companies that generated excess profits and at the very least they should be stopped."

If they are not given away - this is safer money than collecting a hypothetical profit tax from all companies.

"It is disproportionate. And if these subsidies are stopped, exactly what the excess profits tax is expected to receive will be received from the suspended compensations."

According to Shuleva, an excess profit tax will affect small and medium-sized companies, which were affected the most during the pandemic and closures.

Now the smallest increase they would have has to be taxed, which is unfair, she stressed.

According to her, these companies have barely managed to recover their revenues and indicators from the period before the pandemic.