Bulgarian Press Review September 24, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, September 24 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

All Thursday papers lead on the news of the eight million leva in taxes, which football clubs failed to pay. "Tax Penalty for Football", caps "Troud", reporting that First Division football players paid taxes and social contributions over salaries of 220 leva, while they actually received between 5,000 and 18,000 leva. Audits have found that eight football clubs owe 7.8 million leva in taxes and interest. "Troud" reports that at 2,145,843 leva, CSKA has run the largest debt, followed by Botev Plovdiv with 1,475,000 leva and Lokomotiv Plovdiv with 1,189,669 leva.

"Troud" quotes Yane Yanev, chair of the parliamentary committee on fight against corruption, as saying that many football teams operate with hidden funds and are used as front by their presidents for money laundering.

***

"Troud" runs a report on the war Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is waging on the Amnesty Act. The cabinet decided to ask the Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional provisions in the Amnesty Act, under which persons who committed negligent mismanagement before July 1, 2008, cannot be brought to justice if the offence carries up to five years' imprisonment.

Borissov recalled that this loophole has allowed the board of the Sofia heating utility, several mayors of district cities and ministers to get away with crimes that they had committed.

Borissov pointed out the inherent weakness in the law which exonerates senior officials of the Stanishev cabinet and punishes their successors.

***

"24 Chassa" reports that the former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, his sister and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Ahmed Dogan will be interviewed by the parliamentary Anti-Corruption and Conflict of Interests Committee. Eleonora Nikolova, legal aide of Committee Chair Yane Yanev, said that the committee had followed up on 130 alerts on corruption and conflict of interest in four weeks. According to Yanev, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister were compensated at the expense of other heirs of Tsar Ferdinand. The committee will hold a hearing to see if they arranged for incorrect details to be filed. MRF leader Ahmed Dogan will also be interviewed about his assets.

***

Two Airbus aircraft, ordered by the previous government, have caused a rift in the government, "Troud" reports. The ministers are debating whether to return both aircraft or to purchase one. If the two machines are returned, Bulgaria stands to lose 15 million leva in installments and probably as much in penalties for failure to fulfill the contract. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that if the cabinet decides to keep one, the government will pay the cost of 44 million dollars. "Troud" cites controversial data about the purchase of the two planes. The winning company BHAir did not own any aircraft, as was one of the requirements for the bidders.

***

In an interview for "Troud", Lazar Grouev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation, says that the all Bulgarian governments keep reinventing the wheel. He advises the new cabinet to decide whether it will continue with the penal policy of its predecessors or whether it will change it. Grouev says that everyone is ready to leave the problem to the prosecution authorities.

***

The dailies report that the former leadership of the Defence Ministry had purchased apartments at costs which were roughly 30 per cent higher than their market value. In the spring of 2009, the team of former defence minister Nikolai Tsonev signed a contract for the purchase of 309 apartments for roughly 25 million leva. However, the money will be paid in instalments into 2010 as well.

***

"Douma" quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as saying that he calls for severe punishment for assault of a police officer. According to Borissov, such offence should carry a prison sentence instead of a fine.

***

FOREIGN POLICY

Among Thursday's highlights is the election of Irina Bokova as UNESCO Director General. "I dedicate my victory to all Bulgarians," says Bokova in an interview for "Troud". Bokova adds that as UNESCO Director General, she will set as her priorities the improved dialogue between civilizations, tolerance, respect for diversity and humanism. She will also focus on climate change and the promotion of UNESCO efforts as world leader in education policies. "Troud" runs a comprehensive article on Bokova, headlined "Bulgarian Lady Scales World Summit".

"24 Chassa" quotes Bokova as saying that she has managed to beat the mistrust inherent in all Bulgarians in their own abilities. Bokova also said that she toured 47 countries to rally support for her nomination, she believed in herself and she succeeded.

"Dnevnik" writes that according to many observers Bokova surprisingly beat Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk Hosny to the post of UNESCO Director General in the final round of voting. According to "Telegraph", France is the country which has decided the vote. Interviewed by "Standart News", Bokova vows to prove that the vote is not a blow at the Arab world.

***

"Klassa" frontpages a report that a group of MPs motioned the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee to appoint three independent scientists to analyze the swap of the Bulgarian foreign debt made by the government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and then finance minister Milen Velchev.Bulgaria is suspected to have lost between 380 million and 700 million euro.



ECONOMY

"Troud" reports that the minimum contributory income for self-employed persons will be raised to 420 leva, as one of the measures in the government economic recovery plan. The minimum contributory threshold now is set at 260 leva. The thresholds for bakers and doctors will see the highest rise in 2010, as is evident from the latest agreements between businesses and trade unions.

***

"Dnevnik" writes that in order to improve the conditions for business, the government proposes a reduction of social insurance contributions by 2 per cent in 2010 and by 1 per cent over each of the next three years to a total of 5 per cent during the government's term.

***

"Sega" runs a comment on the revolutionary approach of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov to appoint senior revenue officers through contests, noting that it should apply for lower positions in the system as well.


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 – September 24, 2009

• A Bulgarian court has ruled that property and bank accounts, owned by energy tycoon Hristo Kovachki, worth the record-high BGN 143, 4 million, be garnished. Sofia city court ruling came at the demand of the state body, dealing with illegally acquired property. Should Kovachki be found guilty, the property in question will be confiscated. The news comes ten days after Sofia City Prosecutor, Nikolay Kokinov, said he has received a huge amount of tax evasion evidence against Hristo Kovachki.

• Pension funds have lost around BGN 600 – 650 million only in 2008 due to the collapse of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), while insurers have lost BGN 350 – 400 million, said Ivan Kostov, co-chairperson of the Blue Coalition. The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) deputy chairperson Ralitsa Agayn, who is in charge of the insurance market, responds that the insurance companies have not suffered huge loss last year. According to Agayn, it is not true that insurance companies have lost BGN 400 million, as stated by Coalition for Bulgaria party co-chairperson Ivan Kostov.

• According to an inquiry about the Transatlantic trends of the people worldwide 72 % of the Bulgarian citizens show their sympathy for US President Obama. The support for him in Poland and Rumania is about 52 %. Currently Obama’s charismatic person has even better reputation among the Bulgarians then the USA itself.