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"I am very proud of what has been done in the last 8 months on the topics that bring us here today.

Immediately after we took office, we fought for an additional 5 million BGN for the system;

we were able to start the construction of a new prison;

we signed new agreements with the unions.

I am proud that we managed to make a smooth transition from a 24-hour to a 12-hour working regime of the supervisory and security staff in places of deprivation of liberty from January 1 of this year.

A reform that every minister before me wanted, but did not dare to do because of the threats of protests".

This was stated by Minister Krum Zarkov

Krum Zarkov was born on November 21, 1982. He graduated from the 9th French Language School "Alphonse de ).

It was also attended by Deputy Minister Maria Pavlova

Maria Pavlova is the acting minister of justice in the office of Ognyan Gerdzhikov. She was born, the professional leaders of the two specialized directorates also took part.

Unions in the Ministry of Justice and the department's management did not reach an agreement

As part of the social dialogue between the Ministry of Justice and the unions, the question of the intention of protest action, stated by one of the seven organizations and a federation, was put on the table for discussion.

The reason for the dissatisfaction, according to the members of the SSZB, is the changed since the beginning of the year working regime in places of deprivation of liberty - from 24 hours to 12 hours.

The Ministry of Justice cited conclusions from an analysis for the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year.

The figures show that after the introduction of the 12-hour work shifts of the supervisory and security staff, overtime has decreased by 84 percent, which in financial terms equals BGN 871,425.

In hours – 51,566 hours of overtime at the beginning of last year compared to 8,365 for this year.

With the passage of 12-hour shifts, the number of staff in places of deprivation of liberty during daylight hours has increased, which is necessary to conduct all planned and additional activities with prisoners and detainees.

Practice shows that switching to a shorter duty does not tear the employee away from the family environment for a whole day and does not lead to mental and physical strain.

At the meeting, the clear position of the Ministry of Justice was stated that the effective implementation of the 12-hour work schedule will continue, both with a view to complying with national legislation, European standards and the prescriptions of international human rights organizations, as well as in accordance with the financial results achieved by limiting overtime work .

The trade union organizations were also provided with information on the actions taken to prepare the state budget for 2023, and it was pointed out that all the demands of the GDIN and GDO have been reported and submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

As a result of the active position of the Ministry of Justice, the draft budget for 2023 foresees an increase compared to the approved expenses for 2022.

Measures were outlined and proposed by a working group with the participation of all trade unions against the aggression exercised against the employees of the State Department of Internal Affairs and Social Security by prisoners and detainees.

Maria Pavlova

Krum Zarkov