Bulgarian Press Review July 22, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, July 22 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

"Vratsa Mayor and BMA President Will Be Ministers," headlines "24 Chassa".

"Troud" writes that Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) President Bojidar Nanev is certain to be given the post of health minister in the future cabinet. Nanev, who has three specialities in general, pediatric and thoracic surgery, was elected BMA President with just two votes ahead of the other contender for the post. Vratsa Mayor Totyu Mladenov, former head of the General Labour Inspectorate, will become labour minister.

37-year old Dessislava Taneva, tipped as agriculture and foods minister, has succeeded in each of her undertakings, reports "Troud". Her rise began in 1996. She took up a job with Mel Invest Holding at the age of 23 to become its CEO two years later and has served on the management of companies operating in areas as diverse as milling, animal feed production, brewery, machine building, animal husbandry, bread making and the hotel business, or 61 altogether. In 1998 she was named businesswoman of the year by a women's magazine. Taneva says for "24 Chassa" that she will give up all her positions on company boards. According to "Standart News", the agriculture ministry will regain control over forests.

"Woman In Charge of Environment Again," headlines an article about Nona Karadjova, who is said to be named minister of environment. According to the article, she is one of the leading environmental experts. Under two consecutive governments, of Kostov [1997-2001] and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha [2001-2005], she served as head of the EU Integration department with the
Environment Ministry and was a key figure in the accession talks with the EU on the environment chapter. Besides, she is an expert on separate waste collection. In an interview for "Standart News", former caretaker prime minister Reneta Indjova says that women are given key role when times are tough.

In an interview for "Monitor", outgoing Interior Minister Mihail Mikov says that the expert leadership of the Ministry should stay. "24 Chassa" writes that future interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has the most unenviable job of all ministers. The Interior Ministry is likened to a landslide, and the State Agency for National Security as a striker, waiting on others for passes to score.

"Life Made Me a Fighter," caps an article on culture minister designate Vejdi Rashidov, who has gone a long way from the orphanage to the ministerial chair. Of his priorities, Rashidov says that he wants to make life better for prominent artists and that Bulgarians have to learn to work in order to absorb EU funds.

***

Interviewed by "Sega", former BSP [Bulgarian Socialist Party] leader and strategist Alexander Lilov says that the first step for recovering after the election knockdown is to change the leadership of the BSP.

In an interview for "Troud", Ognyan Gerdjikov, former Parliament chairman of the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) says that if the NMSS manages to relaunch itself, its non-aggressive behaviour will be appreciated in time.

Commenting on the post-election reality for "Troud", former MP Lyuben Dilov says that Bulgaria has jumped from Marx straight into Marquez.

General Ivan Mechkov, the newly appointed head of the Military Police Service, has no authorization for handling classified information and cannot fulfil his full duties, according to Chair of the State Commission on Information Security Tsveta Markova, quoted by "Troud". Markova has sent a letter to Mechkov, asking him not to take over as head of the service, as he will get an unauthorized access to classified information. As a military attache in Rome, Mechkov had authorized access, which was suspended at the end of his term. His two years' service at the Ministry of Defence did not require him to be authorized.

BULGARIA-EU

"Brussels' Austerity Suddenly Melts Away," headlines an article in "Sega" by Svetoslav Terziev. According to him, the Barroso Commission will be giving Wednesday a public lecture in cowardice to the EU bloc. The fearsome guard dog of the EU treaties will have its tail tucked between its legs in front of 500,000 Europeans while making excuses why in three years it could not protect the underlying principle of the EU treaties, which is the supremacy of the law, violated by allegedly the most corrupt state. The third annual report of the European Commission on progress in Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism in the areas of justice and home affairs is a triumph for outgoing Prime Minister Stanishev over his mentors from Brussels.

"Douma" quotes Hristo Manchev of the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office as saying that the prosecuting magistracy is checking 135 cases of EU funds embezzlement.

"Sega" cites the findings of a survey conducted by the Open Society Institute, which suggest that the Bulgarian society displays significant racial and ethnic prejudice towards new Arab, Vietnamese and Chinese minorities.

ECONOMY

The National Revenue Agency (NRA) will run checks into properties connected with Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan, frontpages "24 Chassa". These are the so-called Boyana Palace near Sofia, where Dogan resides, the Casa Domini Complex in Ribaritsa, the Orpheus SPA Complex in Devin and the Rossenets Park in Bourgas. The NRA will also have to say where the 366,590 leva income which Dogan reported for 2008 came from. The check, which has been instituted by the prosecution magistracy, will run until August 22.

A third of sellers on the property market are struggling financially, writes "24 Chassa", citing a survey of the Address property agency. Rents of commercial property dropped by 25 per cent in the first half of 2009, according to data of the Foros agency.

"Dnevnik" writes that efforts on the part of the state to encourage Bulgarians to holiday at the Black Sea have failed, quoting State Tourism Agency Chair Anelia Kroushkova. Turkey and Greece are the destinations of choice, as they offer cheaper holidays, better infrastructure and services.

In an interview for "24 Chassa", financier Andrei Prumov says that home-made oligarchs are sponsored by the state. According to Prumov, the 8:5:3 rationing system of the outgoing tripartite coalition turned public funds into a feeder for the energy, construction, forest and transport mafia. Prumov calls for eliminating "contraband channels which have been running for decades under the auspices of public officials."

SOCIETY

Lori, 14, and her friends Daya and Polly, both 17, saved two children and their sitter from drowning in the village of Lozenets, on the Black Sea, on July 15, reports "Troud". Despite the red danger flag, the sitter and the two little girls had been playing in the water, when currents swept them away.

Links to some Bulgarian info websites in English:

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




Most discussed topics of the day – July 22, 2009

• Bulgarian Parliament accepted the resignation of the government of Sergei Stanishev. The government will continue to function until the formation of a new government.
• Members of Bulgaria's parliament, who were collaborators of the so called State Security, the intelligence and secret police during the communist regime, will not be allowed to assume key posts in the national assembly. MPs with state security records will not be able to head parliamentary commissions, join international delegations and be members of the interior security and defense commissions, as well as those that control the county's State Agency for National Security (DANS) and European funds.
• Parliament adopted a declaration on its top priorities. The document passed on 156 votes from GERB, the Blue Coalition, Ataka and Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ), one against and 26 abstentions by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). Topmost of all priorities in the declaration is to establish a worthy place for Bulgaria as an EU Member State. It is followed by improving the welfare of Bulgarians by ensuring financial stability and economic growth, lawfulness, rule of law and national security.
• European Commission today publishes regular reports on Bulgaria and Romania in implementing the mechanism imposed by the Commission for cooperation and verification in the field of justice and home affairs in the two most recent member states of the European Union. The report proves that the cooperation and verification mechanism is working well and there are results. There is some inertia in terms of the reforms in both the countries but they should be backed by stronger political will in terms of the corruption and the organized crime in Bulgaria. Bulgaria decided to open itself for a dialog with the Commission. The state still has to take measures in the fight against corruption and organized crime, the report reads. The next report will be released in the summer of 2010. The cooperation and verification mechanism continues. The European Commission gives 21 recommendations to Bulgaria and 16 to Romania.
• People in Asia have seen the longest total solar eclipse this century, with large areas of India and China plunged into darkness. Amateur stargazers and scientists traveled far to see the eclipse, which lasted six minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point.