Bulgarian Press Review, October 13, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October 13 (BTA)

HOME SCENE

"Troud" says that there are four candidates for leader of the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS): Nikolay Vassilev, former state administration minister; Hristina Hristova, labour and social policy minister in Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's cabinet (2001-2005); Bilyana Raeva, former MEP; and Iliya Lingorski, currently NMSS Deputy Chairman. The vacancy was opened when Saxe-Coburg-Gotha resigned as leader of the party after the NMSS failed to win seats in parliament at the general elections. On Monday the candidates presented their concepts about the development of their party.

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Ataka will support the bid of incumbent Education, Youth and Science Minister Yordanka Fandakova (GERB) for mayor of Sofia. On Tuesday the Ataka leaders are meeting Fandakova to hear her ideas about the development of Bulgaria's capital and then they will make their final decision. According to Ataka leader Volen Siderov, the purpose is to consolidate the votes and "crush" the candidate of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in the very first round of the mayoral by-election.

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GERB, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) are almost ready with a draft agreement on joint action and policies in Sofia, "Troud" reports. The agreement prioritizes the construction of a waste treatment plant by the end of the term of the current Municipal Council, extending Sofia's subway, resolving the problem of overbuilding the capital. There is no clause providing for the appointment of deputy mayors affiliated to the UDF or DSB in the agreement, participants in the negotiations are quoted as saying.

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"Presidential Sponsor Awaits Fast Final of Trial," "Sega" writes in a headline. The money laundering case against Lyudmil Stoykov, said to have sponsored the Bulgarian president, businessman Mario Nikolov and another five defendants will be tried according to a summary procedure. Judge Roumyana Chenalova agreed to the summary procedure the defence lawyers requested and decided to proceed with the case. As a result, seven of the 11 witnesses will not have to testify in court; the court will use their testimony given during the investigation. Only one of the nine expert examination reports will be heard. In this type of summary procedure, if the court declared the defendants guilty, it is not obligated to award a punishment that is less than the minimum one.

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Roumen Ovcharov, economy and energy minister in Sergei Stanishev's cabinet, has amnesia about the shady deals at Sofia's heating utility Toplofikatsia, "Monitor" notes. Appearing in the Sofia City Court as a witness in a mismanagement case against Toplofikatsia's former chief Valentin Dimitrov and the Management Board of the company, Ovcharov said he did not remember exactly what had been going on at the utility. According to the indictment, Toplofikatsia was inflicted a loss of 2 million leva.

ECONOMY

"Troud" headlines a commentary "The Pizza 'Budget' Has Got to Grow. But How?" Georgi Angelov from the Open Society Institute suggests some ideas: Absorption of EU funds. Payment of all EU subsidies for agriculture suspending, at the same time, the payment of any Bulgarian subsidies to farmers. The army and the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) own a lot of property, therefore they should start selling it instead of asking the government for money to purchase the equipment they need. Overmanning is typical for Bulgaria and the solution is the appointment of fewer employees paying them higher wages and setting higher requirements for their performance at work. To appoint professionals who have experience and can secure profits for the companies they work for. A stable budget policy will help attract more investor interest towards Bulgaria.

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The 2010 budget is the most serious test for the cabinet since 1997, says Luchezar Bogdanov, managing partner in Industry Watch Group. In an interview with "Klassa" he says that this is the first budget after 1997 which should forecast a weaker economy and its effect on the revenue side of the national budget. In his words, there is not so much detailed information to see whether the government is realistic enough in projecting the expected negative developments in regard to revenue collection. "What matters is to see that the sectors are reformed in such a way as to produce better products at the same or lower costs," Bogdanov says.

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The ministries' expenditure budgets are going to be cut down by another 10 per cent, "Troud" reports referring to a statement Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rosen Plevneliev made on Monday. His Ministry's expenditure budget for 2009 was 100 million leva and it has already been reduced to 85 million. The business should concentrate on investments and the creation of jobs, Plevneliev said opening a national roundtable on a better Spatial Development Act. In his view, there is no better anticrisis measure than European money but "there is no way for it to come if we do not change the business climate."

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The Labour and Social Policy Ministry is expected to run a deficit of nearly 100 million leva by the end of the year, "Dnevnik" writes referring to what Minister Totyu Mladenov told a news conference Monday. "We will ask the previous government, including ex-social minister Emilia Maslarova, how it came to that," he said. "We will ask why the contracts under the Beautiful Bulgaria Project exceed the budget allocation for the project by 7.4 million leva, why the money designed for disabled people had already been spent by the middle of the year, why an unrealistic budget was drawn so that now we have got to cover the deficit?" Mladenov said further that his Ministry's budget for 2010 is by 385 million leva less than this year's one.

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"Sega" announces on its front page that the municipalities will not provide services for bad tax payers. This is what Deputy Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said at a meeting with mayors in Sandanski. The government is drafting changes to the Code of Administrative Procedure for this purpose. People owe the municipalities millions in unpaid taxes and fees and at the same time the municipal administrations are losing cases instituted against them for refusing to deliver administrative services to irregular taxpayers.

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"21 Rich Customs Officers Handed Over to Prosecution," "Troud" writes in a headline. A serious check is being conducted of customs employees and so far 21 have been found to possess impressive assets of dubious origin, Customs Agency Director Vanyo Tanov said. The findings were submitted to the National Revenue Agency for verification and possible referral to the prosecuting authority. "Raising the excise duty on cigarettes always leads to an expansion of smuggling and the black market," Tanov said commenting on the forthcoming revision of tax laws.
"The best performers will be allowed to choose the customs office they will work at," Tanov says in "Standart News." On Monday the Customs Agency started testing the competence of its staff. The purpose of the tests is to see if there are weaknesses in the training of customs employees so as to remove them. "It is not a secret that completing the structural reform of the customs, some people will have to go. Based on the results of the tests and on some additional criteria, dismissed will be the ones who have not the necessary competence to discharge their duties," Tanov says.

FOREIGN POLICY

"Borissov to Paris: "We Have No Money for the Corvettes," "24 Chassa' says covering Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's visit to France. Without beating about the bush, Borissov told his French counterpart Francois Fillon why Bulgaria could not purchase the French modern ships although negotiations on the deal had been going on for several years. The French side showed understanding for the Bulgarian problems with the corvettes. Fillon promised to talk to the French companies operating in the nuclear power generation sector and ask them if they would like to invest in Bulgaria's Belene N-plant so as to make it an "European project." Fillon also pledged to assist in the payment of 300 million euro Brussels promised to Bulgaria as additional compensation for the closure of units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy N-plant.

BULGARIA - EU

"Sega" runs a commentary saying that "Bulgaria Will Make a Good Gatekeeper of EU." The daily writes that incumbent Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva is making a serious bid for the position of EU enlargement commissioner. "Four months ago such a bid would have been taken as a joke, having in mind that the previous government used to produce absurdities right to the end. However, a new government came but the bid remained - as well as a spare variant, claiming the energy or any other sector. "Hence the conclusion that the governments come and go but the yarnings remain the same because the State is the same," the author of the commentary notes.

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 – October 13, 2009

· Strong wind has broken trees and caused damage in many districts in Bulgaria, Civil Protection announced. The police, Civil Protection and Fire Safety and Rescue Directorate General are working in the affected areas. Most people report fallen trees and advertising boards and parts of roofs.

· Pre-trial proceeding against unidentified person over manipulations of the Bulgarian general elections has been opened, Sofia city prosecutor Nikolay Kokinov announced. Kokinov noted the proceeding is against officials, who have taken part in organizing Bulgarian general elections in Turkey and in some regions in Bulgaria.

· Bulgarian police have arrested a man who is suspect of carrying out numerous pedophile raids in Sofia in which he stabbed young children with a syringe. The suspect was caught after an eight-year-old victim from the Vedrare village in central Bulgaria managed to memorize the license plate number of a man who took down her pants and threatened her with a syringe.