Government of Bulgaria

The reactions show that Bulgaria did very well with its first presidency of the Council of the EU, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said before the voting in Parliament to close the Ministry for the Bulgarian Presidency, Focus News Agency reports.

Mission accomplished, this is what Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU Lilyana Pavlova said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers, reporting on the results of the Trio Estonia - Bulgaria - Austria, which has chaired the Council of the European Union from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2018, Focus News Agency reports. 

The government is considering hiring an international, independent consultant to analyse the concession contract for the Bansko ski area and the mistakes made in the contract back in 2001, Minister of Environment and Water Neno Dimov told a briefing in the Council of Ministers, Focus News Agency reports.

Parliament will close the ministry for the Bulgarian presidency of the EU Council and will release Lilyana Pavlova from the post of Minister, reported BGNES. 

This proposal was made by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and it is included in the agenda of the National Assembly for the last meetings before the Christmas vacation.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has vetoed penal code amendments and returned to parliament the revisions for a new debate, his press office said, reports Focus News Agency. 

The five-time World Cup winner and four times World Ski Champion Mark Ghirardelli announced at a meeting with several ministers that he is the majority owner of Yulen AD. He showed original documents from which it could be seen that he owned 100% of Tax Services Limited, which is the majority owner of Yulen AD. This is stated in a press release from the Ministry of Environment and Water.

The head of Sofia Directorate of Interior, Ivaylo Ivanov, has been nominated for Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, Minister Mladen Marinov said at a briefing in the Council of Ministers, Focus News Agency reports.

His nomination has been submitted to the Council of Ministers, it will then be submitted to the President for an appointment decree.

Pope Francis will visit Bulgaria and Macedonia in May 2019. This was said by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva. She confirmed that an invitation has been sent, reports Darik. 
 
The Pope never travels to just one country, Zaharieva commented to bTV and added that the preparation for the visit was serious.
 

The Parliament accepted Ivaylo Moskovski's resignation as MP, Focus News Agency reports. He filed his resignation on October 30. He had returned to parliament after stepping down as transport minister over the deadly bus crash near Svoge together with former regional development and interior ministers Nikolay Nankov and Valentin Radev.

Citizens gathered in a protest-educational reading before the Council of Ministers.

The reason is that on November 15, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov gave a bTV interview from his cabinet and it was seen that his library had no books but only framed pictures.