Bulgarian media July 2009

Sofia, July 6 (BTA)

HOME SCENE
The results of the elections for the 41st National Assembly make the headlines in today's press. GERB is close to gaining 120 seats in parliament, "Klassa" writes quoting the election results: 39-41 per cent for GERB, 17-18 per cent for Coalition for Bulgaria (CfB), 11-14 per cent for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), 9-10 per cent for Ataka, about 8 per cent for the Blue Coalition. "Boiko Routs the Reds," "Troud" says. The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) blame MRF leader Ahmed Dogan for their loss, the newspaper writes. "24 Chassa" carries a photo of GERB leader Boiko Borissov and explains that with its 41.5 per cent, GERB does not have to seek an alliance with the Blue Coalition. Announcing that Borissov has won the battle, "Pari" quotes him as saying: "We have thrown the BSP and the MRF out of power." Referring to GERB Chairman Tsvetan Tsvetanov, "Pari" says that the new government will be a centre-right one. Bulgaria opted for the right wing, left-oriented "Douma" notes. "A powerful punitive vote against the BSP and the MRF gave GERB 41 per cent," "Sega" observes. "Borissov and the Blue Coalition will have enough MPs to form a cabinet," the newspaper writes. "Novinar" also says that the next government will be formed by GERB and the Blue Coalition. Both "Novinar" and "Telegraf" draw attention to the "record-high turnout."

"Dnevnik" says that Boiko Borissov will be the new Bulgarian prime minister. "GERB has promised strong centre-right governance," the daily writes adding that GERB and the Blue Coalition will have a total of 132 MPs [in the 240-strong Bulgarian parliament].

"The axe intended for Borissov hit the BSP," journalist Valeria Veleva comments in "Troud." The axe which failed to cut corruption in the triad [i.e. the former ruling coalition of the BSP, NMSS and MRF] is going to strike at the BSP, she writes. The axe strikes at the BSP, Yuliana Oncheva says in "Standart News". According to the daily, there will be a putsch at the BSP.

There is no chance of a GERB-BSP coalition; the chance of GERB forming a three-party coalition is medium, and the chance of it coalescing with the Blue Coalition is very big, Borislav Zyumbyulev writes in "24 Chassa."

The dailies say that according to unofficial results, suspected [and indicted] crime bosses Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov from Doupnitsa, known as the Galevi brothers, have not made it to parliament. They ran in the elections to obtain a release from custody and get immunity from prosecution. Their trial must be resumed immediately, Sofia City Prosecutor Nikolai Kokinov is quoted as saying by "Standart News."

A record-high number went to the polls in Turkey, "24 Chassa" reports. There were voters who collapsed in the heat, lining up outside the polling stations organized in Greece; an additional quantity of ballot papers had to be printed for the Bulgarians voting in Munich (Germany); the turnout in Spain was very high, the daily writes.

According to "Novinar," parties have spent 21 million leva on vote buying. More than 20 locals in the village of Ribnovo got 500 leva each for their votes. The newspaper says that drug traders in Kyustendil and Doupnitsa are under investigation for vote buying; the investigation was prompted by a report shown on Nova Television. The high turnout rendered the buying of votes pointless, "Telegraf" observes.

ECONOMY

"The New Government Will Cut the Budget," reads the headline of an interview "Troud" held with Industry Watch Managing Partner Luchezar Bogdanov.

The incoming incumbents are not ready for concrete quick actions: the dynamic of the crisis and the lack of clear, unambiguous decisions for the first weeks and even months of the term of the new National Assembly and the new government make their task very difficult, Alexander Bozhkov notes in "Dnevnik." Listing the challenges, he warns that there may be a deficit amounting to 1,500 or 2,500 million leva in the 2009 budget if the government expenditure policy is not revised. It is not clear what social expenses have been incurred so far and what expenses will have to be made until the end of the year, Bozhkov says.

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The more the parties in a coalition are, the more unstable it is, Podkrepa Labour Confederation President Konstantin Trenchev observes in "Novinar."

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Motor insurance contracts have gone up by 30 leva, "24 Chassa" writes. Last year insurers posted a loss of more than 100 million leva as a result of third-party motor insurance policies.

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Bulgaria has the lowest cross-border purchase rates and is one with the lowest rate of complaints about the goods and services purchased, "Sega" says quoting a Eurostat survey conducted in the 27 European member states. The cross-border purchase rates for Sweden, Austria and Denmark vary between 50 and 60 per cent, while the rate for Bulgaria is 9 per cent - Bulgarians purchased goods abroad while on holidays or business trips, by Internet, phone or post. The Portuguese and the Greeks travel less and their cross-border purchase rates are close to those for Bulgarians.

INTERIOR MINISTRY

The son of a former Interior Ministry HR head kept in store 16 million fake euros, "24 Chassa' reports. The fake notes, produced by Plovdiv-based counterfeiters, traded at 13 to 30 per cent of the value of the genuine notes. According to Europol Director Robert Wainwright (quoted by "Troud"), since 2004 the counterfeiters produced about 16 million fake euro notes and documents for export to Europe. The ring was broken on the night of June 24 to 25 in an operation conducted in Plovdiv by the Bulgarian special services and their colleagues from Spain and Europol, seizing 485,000 fake euros, documents and consumables for their production. Thirteen men and two women were taken in custody, another two women are under house arrest. Most likely, the fake notes were sent to Europe with the assistance of Nikolai Manahilov who worked at Sofia Airport. The counterfeited notes were kept in store in his lodgings, "24 Chassa" says. Manahilov, aged 33, is son of Angel Manahilov, head of the Human Resources Department of the Plovdiv Regional Police Directorate until a decade ago.





Links to some Bulgarian info websites in English:

• http://www.thebulgarianpost.com/
• http://www.bta.bg/site/bg/index.shtml
• http://www.novinite.com/index.php
• http://www.focus-fen.net/



Most discussed topics of the day – July 6, 2009


• GERB leads with 39.71 per cent based on 100 per cent processed tally sheets from this country and abroad, Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Spokesman Bisser Troyanov said Monday. Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) received 4.13 per cent, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) -14.46 per cent, Ataka - 9.36 per cent, the Coalition for Bulgaria (CfB) - 17.7 per cent, and the Blue Coalition - 6.76 per cent. Twenty-six of the majority rule constituencies are for GERB and five of them - for the MRF.

• Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Filipov has been arrested for bribe. Deputy Prosecutor General Galina Toneva told journalists that they have been investigating him since a few months for trade of influence and abuse of both European and budget funds. The bribe is for hundreds of thousands Bulgarian leva, Toneva added.

• “It is logical to resign as a leader of NDSV” said Simeon Sakskoburggotski, after his party couldn’t pass the 4 % brier of the elections and therefore will not be part of the upcoming parliament.