Revenue Agency has collected less than one-third of outstanding student loans
The National Revenue Agency (NRA) has reimbursed less than one-third of outstanding bank loans that students and doctoral students have received on a state guarantee to pay their studies at state or private universities. For 14 years, 1588 of the withdrawals have not returned them. The obligations have become early and the state has paid nearly BGN 11 million to banks. Of these, the NRA has reimbursed nearly BGN 3.5 million from the debtors, having withdrawn several loans, is understood by the answers of the Agency to Dnevnik questions.
Student lending under the light conditions (by state guarantee) was introduced in order to provide equal access to higher education. In order to be approved, candidates must not be 35 years old, they need to study in a regular form, not to acquire the same educational and scientific degree, not to have been removed or interrupted their education. The loan must be repaid up to 10 years after graduation.
According to the law, the state extinguishes the unfulfilled parts of the students’ obligations in case of early repayment of the loan in cases where they do not repay their obligations to the banks.
| When the state pays the borrowers’ obligations to the banks, the right to receive from them all that she paid at their own expense arises, together with the statutory interest from the moment of payment, explains the press center of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) for Diary. |
The claims of the state against borrowers are private state claims and are established and collected by the National Revenue Agency.
The state has paid nearly BGN 11 million for outstanding student loans
The Ministry of Education and Science implements the activities and procedures related to the implementation of the program for lending to students and doctoral students specified in the Law on Lending of Students and PhD students. With regard to the Student Lending Program, the Ministry of Education and Science maintains information on the number, status and movement of loans granted for both training and maintenance, including for loans with an activated state guarantee. It has no functions and powers to monitor the residence, including those who have used student loan, added from there.
| The number of early loans for 14 years is 1588 with a total of nearly BGN 11 million, the Minister’s report is understood. |
The revenue agency reports to be « Dnevnik » that the money raised from 2010 to 2024 is in the total amount of BGN 3 499 760.83, of which BGN 2 173 351.77, and the rest are interest and expenses on the writ of execution.
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The completed obligations are for 683 debtors under 724 enforcement lists. By the end of 2024, receivables were administered to the NRA to 839 debtors under 901 enforcement lists, with more than half of the receivables older than 5 years and not collected despite the actions taken.
| The revenue agency emphasizes that the number of debtors and executive sheets does not coincide with the indicated number of loans from the Ministry of Education and Science, as there are debtors with more than one loan, as well as those against which more than one writ of execution have been issued. |
What makes it difficult for the agency to raise the money
Asked « Diary » what are the main obstacles to the collection of receivables from the NRA, they indicate that they are not secured and in most cases debtors have no property, which can be taken away. Among the reasons are the lack of evidence that debtors carry out employment or live permanently abroad.
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From there, they add that when they are obliged to be foreign nationals and leave Bulgaria, it is not possible for private state claims to be forced. By the end of 2024, the NRA was administered to 44 foreign nationals for principal in the total amount of BGN 2 374 012.
Among the reasons, the NRA also indicates the dispute on the part of the debtors of the existence, the amount of obligations or the prerequisites for activating the guarantee (for example, for announcing loans for early repayable, the formation of long or charged interest by banks before activating the guarantee).
