Bulgarian press review, July 24, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, July 24 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

The proposed structure and lineup of the future government presented Thursday by Prime Minister-would-be Boiko Borissov fills the front pages of the Friday press. The papers write that the new government will have 15 ministries, 16 ministers and two deputy prime ministers (of finance Simeon Djankov and of the Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov). They also stress that the Ministries of emergency situations and of state administration are being scrapped, and that the Economy and Energy Ministry takes over tourism, the Transport Ministry IT and communications and the Agriculture Ministry the forestry sector. The Education and Science Ministry becomes Ministry of Education, Youth and Science.

"Sega" comments that under Borissov lots of power gets focused in four mega-ministries: of Economy and Energy, of the Interior which will get under its control the Civil Defence service and the single European emergency line service 112, the Transport Ministry and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science.

The priority for Interior Minister-designate Tsvetan Tsvetanov is to increase the wages in the Interior Ministry and for the Regional Development Minister-designate Rossen Plevneliev to build new motorways, writes "Standard News". Agriculture Minister-designate Miroslav Naidenov tells an interviewer of the same paper that farm cooperatives will save farmers and that Bulgaria could offer organic foods to a hungry Europe.

"Standard News" says that each minister will have three deputies, and writes of "a wave of blue appointments" which is expected to follow the ministerial appointments, especially in the environment and health sector.

It is a reference to the colour of the Right-wing Blue Coalition in Parliament.

"Standard News" writes of the ministers-designate under the headline "Samurai against the Criris". It also carries an article by popular TV journalist Nikolai Berekov who says that "Borissov will replace any government minister who steps sideways".

"24 Chassa" has a story entitled "The Government of the 45-Year-Olds". It observes that 45 is the average age in the proposed government, that a quarter of them are women, five are with background in economics or engineering, two are lawyers, two medical doctors, one is a historian, one an artist, four local administrators and all have managerial experience. The majority are new to politics. There are strong Varna and Vratsa lobbies, with two representatives from each of the two towns, the author says. "Often accused of being unpredictable, Borissov turned out to be real predictable. He needed his ministers to be new faces, to be uninvolved in conflict of interest, to be independent of various circles and not to be the object of political bargaining," he also says.

Social analyst Roumyana Buchvarova of Market Links tells "24 Chassa" that Borissov is the first prime minister to take office with prior experience in government.
"Dnevnik" has a front-page story entitled "The Borissov Format: More Experts and Few Politicians". The paper also says that businesses expect guarantees of transparency. Ivo Prokopiev, the President of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, tells "Dnevnik" that the most important thing now is to take control of unemployment.

"The Government of Great Expectations" headlines a story in "Pari". The paper praises the strong presence of experts in the proposed government and says it is now expected to carry out the GERB programme.

"Hands off the flat [income] tax!", financier Emil Hursev says in "Troud" by way of an advice to the new government.

"Novinar" writes that the surprise designation of history professor Bozhidar Dimitrov as minister without portfolio in charge of expatriate Bulgarians and the cultural and historical heritage drove a wedge between the Blue Coalition and GERB. The story says that Dimitrov's nomination followed the adoption of a rule by Parliament which disqualifies collaborators of the communist-era secret services from taking the leadership of parliamentary committees - and Dimitrov is known to have worked for the State Security service under communism [implying that Dimitrov was preparing to become the chairman of a parliamentary committee]. Blue Coalition co-chairman Martin Dimitrov said that they would not support the history professor (and former senior socialist party member) over his connections with State Security and would propose that each minister-designate be put to the vote personally. Martin Dimitrov's Union of Democratic Forces will decide on Saturday whether to support the Borissov government if it is voted en block.

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"Douma" and "Troud" report Parliament's decision whereby as of January 1, 2010, or sooner, voting in Parliament will be done by biometric cards. The decision was put down in the parliamentary rules of procedure.

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The commission for identification of criminal assets has been working under excessive pressure in the past six months, writes "24 Chassa". The commission chairman, Stoyan Koushlev, tells this paper that they have been under pressure in connection with assets involved in several high-profile cases including those of the Galev Brothers and Alexander Tomov, the ex-CEO of the Kremikovtsi steel mill and president of the football club CSKA of Sofia. In Tomov's case, the commission has even received calls from MPs from the anti-corruption committee in the previous Parliament, says Koushlev.

Koushlev's commission has its eye on a 7 million leva property owned by the Varna-based father and son Vesselin and Hristo Danov, reports "Troud". Scores of properties, bank accounts and company shares owned by the two have been distrained. Danov has been found guilty of participating in an armed crime group for laundering money from prostitution, people and drug trafficking.


FOREIGN POLICY

"Standard News" writes that US president Barack Obama has nominated for the position of US Ambassador to Bulgaria Marc S. Ellenbogen, "a universal expert in politics and economy", to replace outgoing ambassador Nancy McEldowney.The paper says that Ellenbogen is a well-known investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. And a top journalist too - he has become famous for his geopolitical commentaries for UPI agency. The 47-year-old Ellenbogen is the chairman of the Board of Directors of 'Global Panel' Foundation, which has brought under control more than one conflict around the world. Former US president Bill Clinton has consulted him on various occasions, the report says.

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In an interview for "Standard News", British Ambassador to Bulgaria Steve Williams says that the recent European Commission report on Bulgaria's progress in reforming justice and fighting organized crime and corruption "should be invaluable for the new government, in helping it to determine where action needs to be taken".

In the same paper, French Ambassador Etienne de Poncins says that report the European Commission released Wednesday should be used as a guidebook by the new government.

ECONOMY

A little Las Vegas will emerge on a 12 ha plot in the territory of the Varna Sea Gardens, that the TIM group bought June 15 from the government, "24 Chassa" reports. According to the paper, TIM has imposed a total ban on any information on the deal with the government and on their project. It is alleged that they plan to build boutique hotels, fishing villages, upscale restaurants, casinos and a marina. Nobody at the construction department of the Varna Town Hall would provide any information on the project or when it was designed.

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In a "Troud" interview, Margarita Todorova of the Black Sea resort of Albena says they might have to close down hotels next year. Albena gets vacationers with average incomes while it has hoped for wealthier visitors, she says.

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Bulgarians' homes lost 21.9 per cent of their value in the past year, "Troud" says reporting official statistics. The crisis has eaten away over 300 leva for each square meter of housing and in April-June 2009 the average housing price in Bulgaria was 1,074 leva/sq m.

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"Monitor" leads with a story saying that the elitist high schools are half-empty.

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 24, 2009

• President Georgi Purvanov issued a decree, proposing to the National Assembly to elect Boiko Borissov Prime Minister based on the successful implementation of the exploratory mandate. The Decree No 274 was signed July 23 and is promulgated in Friday's State Gazette. The prime minister designate handed Thursday the head of state his proposal on the structure and the lineup of the cabinet, formed on GERB mandate. Parliament will vote on the draft cabinet at an extraordinary sitting on July 27.

• Borislav Atanassov, the owner of a Sofia building company AKB Properties, has been kidnapped from the Simeonovo quarter of the Bulgarian capital. 33-year-old Atanassov was taken by four masked men late Thursday night and was bundled into the trunk of a Mercedes jeep. He was kidnapped in front of his home, in an area that is protected by a private security firm. According to the Interior Minisrty Atanassov himself has a criminal record for kidnapping and has been banned from leaving the country.

• The police busted an organized group for buying exams at the University for National and Word Economy (UNWE), press centre of the Ministry of Interior informed. Lecturers and mediators are involved in the scheme as the price for ‘services’ varied from BGN 500 to 4 000.