Bulgarian Press Review, October 15, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October 15 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

In an interview for "Troud", Ataka leader Volen Siderov pledges his unreserved support for the ruling party GERB. Siderov says that his party's strategic objective is to bring down from power the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which came to stand for corruption and bad governance during their tenure. Siderov says that all efforts should go towards keeping these two political formations out of power for the next ten years. For the sake of that, Ataka backs GERB unconditionally, as this is an honest partnership. Siderov dismisses allegations that his party is losing identity by supporting GERB. However he does not foresee run any unification of GERB and Ataka even in the long run. This, however, does not prevent them to put forward a common vision.

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In an interview for "24 Chassa" Peter Koroumbashev, MP of the Left, states that Bulgaria has its first private parliament. He lists a number of law amendments aimed at benefiting certain groups of people. Koroumbashev says that this week Parliament is debating a farm land bill, which gives advantage to large farm land owners over small farmers. He recalls that in these three months amendments were passed before in favour of large concessionaires of hunting estates, large collectors and notaries. Koroumbashev adds that no serious and sensible law has been passed to defend those who are worst hit by the crisis.

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"24 Chassa" runs an analysis dedicated to graft among the judiciary. The article writes that graft will continue to thrive as long as a judge gets much less than a top lawyer, having the same work experience. A top lawyer with over ten to fifteen years of experience earns between 10,000 and 15,000 leva a month, although often working over 12 hours a day. Supreme court judges are presumably the best, and their pay and contributions should be as high as those of top lawyers. The analysis points out that unless judges' wages are adjusted, corruption among the judiciary will be hard to uproot.

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"Monitor" gives prominence to the news item that the leadership of the National Health Insurance Find (NHIF) is going to be dismissed. The newspaper quotes Luchezar Ivanov, chair of the parliamentary Health Care Committee. Amidst heated debates, Parliament rejected the report of the NHIF for 2008. It was stressed that the NHIF had not ensured equal access to health care services. According to Ivanov, the report is "sugar-coated", when there is general dissatisfaction with the quality of the health care system among doctors and patients.

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"Zemya" writes that a complaint filed by the Blue Coalition with the Central Electoral Commission gave Mihail Mihailov (Blue Coalition) and Roushen Riza (Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) seats as MPs. The two replace respectively Ventsislav Vurbanov and Byurhan Abazov, whose election has been annulled by the Constitutional Court.

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"Aleksei Petrov Exposed", caps "Troud". Former adviser with the State Agency for National Security Aleksei Petrov was an associate of the communist-era intelligence. Petrov served with the Terrorism Section of Department Six. This has been established by the secret service files commission. Petrov was checked in his current capacity as member of the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute.

ECONOMY

"Troud" reports that conditions for doing business in Bulgaria are worsening, based on a survey by the National Public Opinion Centre (NPOC) conducted during the International Technical Fair of Plovdiv between September 28 and October 2 among 430 representatives of Bulgarian and foreign companies. In contrast to last year, pessimists who believe that conditions for business are worsening increased three times (from 24 per cent to 68 per cent). Nearly one third of respondents describe the state of their business as "grave". Among the most serious problems listed are lack of markets (38 per cent), unfair competition (30 per cent) and lack of capital (15 per cent). For 11 per cent of respondents loans are "impossible".

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"Sega" writes that the government seeks to receive dividends from state-owned companies. Pressured by the lack of money, the cabinet ordered six state-owned companies to pay nearly 64 million in dividends for 2008 to the budget. According to Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, the funds will be allocated mainly to health care and social services. The government has also launched assessments of the financial performance of 300 companies, where the state has a majority interest. Changes to management will be made based on the reports and those who had misspent funds will be tried.

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"Troud" reports that the government is trying to curb speculation with living property. A person has to have owned a living property for at least three years in order to sell it or swap it without paying an income tax under a government decision. On Wednesday, the cabinet amended five tax laws. The change is designed to curb property speculation. The government also decided to remove tax concessions for young families (under 35) with children who have taken out a mortgage, The government also amended the Local Taxesand Fees Act, allowing local governments to raise tax rates. Higher excise duty on cigarettes, of 76 euro per 1,000 sticks, is expected to bring in extra 232 million leva in 2010.

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"Loans from Friends to Be Declared", headlines "24 Chassa". Loans over 5,000 leva from natural persons are to be declared with the revenue offices, under an amendment to the Natural Persons Income Taxation Act as part of a package of measures against money laundering.

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Post Bank CEO Assen Yagodin forecasts for "Troud" that interest rates will slump with the end of the deposit war. He notes that the profits of banks have lessened due to the deposit war. Interest rates have exceeded the normal limit and the market now is bringing them down to reasonable levels. Loan interest rates are likely to edge down too. To Yagodin, households and businesses seeking loans should try to answer the key question whether they can afford a loan in these conditions.

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"24 Chassa" reports that Bulgaria's railway carrier BDZ and the rail infrastructure operator, National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), are near-bankrupt. Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Aleksandar Tsvetkov broke the news at a news conference on Wednesday, accusing the former government of laying booby traps by increasing the January subsidy to BDZ nearly three times, to 25 million leva from 9 million leva in December 2008. BDZ is said to be taking steps to collect 14 million euro from the Serbian and the Macedonian railway companies. The BDZ management will be cut by 60 per cent, which will save 1 million leva a year.


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"Troud" reports that news of BDZ's demise is not overstated and that it is too late for the company to be saved. The author says that there is no painless way out because the company is faced with an impasse. BDZ short-term debts alone total 150 million leva, and the loss for 2009 is projected at 45 million leva. The railway carrier has long lost the battle with coach services. The only way out for BDZ is to start applying the market principles and offer train services as far out as there is demand and market.

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"Sega" writes that one in three Bulgarians repaying a loan is out of work. Two think tanks with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, composed of economists and social scientists, have picked up on a dangerous trend of tightening the loan noose. Some 35 per cent of those who have taken out a loan are jobless. 2.9 per cent of bank clients are no longer able to repay their loans, and 16 per cent are on the edge. Only 44 per cent do not have difficulties with loan payments. Scientists have detected another trend: chain indebtedness. More and more Bulgarians are forced to seek a new loan in order to pay back old ones.

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 15, 2009

· Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is arriving Thursday on an official visit to Bulgaria.Berlusconi will be the first foreign leader to visit Sofia after the new government of the GERB party and Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, assumed power in Bulgaria.

· Two of the three Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) magistrates, whose names came up as people, who have possibly been involved in an alleged corruption scheme, offered their resignations. Stoyko Stoev and Ivan Dimov said they were submitting resignations during the meeting of the VSS Ethical Committee Thursday. The Committee was convened to decide on how to sanction their three colleagues, who are said to have connections with the man known as “Krasio from Pleven.” The latter allegedly offered magistrates to secure their appointment to high ranking positions through the vote of the VSS in exchange for EUR 200 000 in cash.

· Two policemen were detained for 24 hours and will be fired because of sexual intercourse they had with a 16-year-old girl being on duty, the Chief Commissar of the Interior Ministry Kalin Georgiev announced. “It is idiotic that they themselfes documented their crime,” the Chief Commissar said. The two men have been charged with criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, failure to perform their duties and for having sex with a person between 14 and 18 years of age who does not understand the nature of the act.