Bulgarian Press Review, October 19, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October 19 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

"Troud" quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as saying that there does exist a report by the State Agency for National Security (SANS) about corrupt ministers from the previous three-party cabinet. The report in question has been a topic of a lot of rumors and doubts as to whether it existed. Speaking in a talk show on Nova TV on Saturday Borissov said the report exists and is authentic. He said he has ordered SANS to check in regard of which materials in the report the prosecuting magistracy has started investigations, whether such investigations have been halted and on what grounds.

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"Borissov's Grand Slam" caps a comment in "Standart News" which says that while the analysts wait for the first 100 of the new government to pass, the prime minister made the cabinet, started checks against the previous incumbents, spelled out the directions of the changes and held meetings with exactly the necessary people at exactly the right places. These shuttles of the Prime Minister remind one of the style of Henry Kissinger in solving acute problems, writes the author. In addition, they are evidence of a yet another more categorical change of the national orientation towards closer integration with the key member states of the EU. The author writes that a unique characteristic of Borissov is that at such meetings he does not go with final decisions but rather tries to find answers to questions on the principle of mutual benefit, reaches acceptable compromises but does not make fatal concessions.

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Interviewed by "Standart News" Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) leader Ivan Kostov says it is ridiculous to say that he is the "guru" of the government. Kostov says that if someone wants to advise the cabinet, the person should be familiar with key documents in the making, such as the budget and the strategy for national security. Kostov says DSB support the government but at the same time want to be a fulsome corrective of the incumbents. According to Kostov, the most important thing is to ensure that Bulgaria is on the right track.

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The developments during Sunday's congress of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the re-election of its leader, Sergei Stanishev, are one of the most commented topics in the Monday press. "Troud" reports that after a day of debates the voting showed that Stansihev leads 2 to 1 against his rivals. The other three candidates for the BSP leadership post were Mladen Chervenyakov, Tatyana Doncheva and Yanaki Stoilov. Stanishev himself demanded that the agenda include an item for electing a new leader of the party.

In his report to the congress the former prime minister said there were moments in his tenure when "he wanted to quit everything".

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The Monday newspapers report at length about one more party forum, the extraordinary congress of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). "Troud" says that IMRO started to split but re-elected Krassimir Karakachanov its leader. The other candidate was Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria, Mayor Slavcho Atanassov. A group of delegates walked out of the congress including Atanassov himself who threatened that the forum and all resolutions passed by it will be appealed against in court. Delegates at the congress accused Karakachanov for the coalitions he concluded with two parties and for the party's abysmal performance at the July 5 general elections.

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"Troud" interviews National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) Deputy Chairman and former finance minister Milen Velchev who warns that the increased excise duty on tobacco and cigarettes will push up contraband trade. Velchev also dwells on the upcoming forum of the party which has to elect a new leader after Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha tendered his resignation in the wake of the July 5 general elections. NMSS could not even clear the 4 per cent threshold for entry in Parliament. Velchev says he does not have a favourite among the four candidates for NMSS leader. He says also he is optimistic about the prospects before NMSS.

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All of the Monday dailies report about the outcome of a crime committed in 2008. Speaking at a news conference on Sunday Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that a former judge and a former executive director of the State Receivables Agency commissioned the murder of a Bourgas, on the Black Sea, -based businessman, 36-year-old president of the Graniti company, Stoyan Stoyanov. He was kidnapped in 2008 and then was killed. His body was found two days ago buried in a wooded area near Bourgas.

Stoyanov's kidnapping and murder involved an organized criminal group of four persons, and another two people commissioned the acts, the Interior Minister said. The businessman was killed over a real estate dispute.

Galin Kostov, a former judge at the District Court of Varna and later a lawyer, currently working as a private enforcement agent, is one of the two people who commissioned Stoyanov's murder. Kostov is being held in custody. The other one is Stanislav Mihailov, who will be put on an international wanted list as he is outside the country. Between 2002 and 2006, he was executive director of the State Receivables Agency, Tsvetanov said. According to evidence available so far, Kostov and Mihailov hired two men to organize the kidnapping and the murder. On their part, the two men used the services of two other persons.

ECONOMY

The cabinet still owes a lot to the business, former deputy finance minister Krassimir Katev says in a comment in "Troud". Katev notes that the current Finance Ministry is doing well on the "budget front" but the government still owes a lot to the real economy. Katev suggests providing medium-term loans to commercial banks secured by state debt, guaranteeing by the Finance Ministry of the credit risk of the players on the interbank market for short periods, and providing a 500 million leva loan to the Bulgarian Development Bank to be distributed as loans to commercial banks for support to export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises.

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Peter Ganev of the Institute for Market Economy warns in "24 Chassa" against "playing" with the fiscal reserve. He says that spending the fiscal reserve for government projects or programmes, irrespective of whether or not at a time of crisis, is a "the biggest folly possible" and one that will have catastrophic effects. Ganev argues that the fiscal reserve should be used for repayment of the foreign debt and for implementing key reforms.


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In an interview to "Dnevnik" Customs Agency Director Valyo Tanov says that investments were not made on purpose in risk border checkpoints. He is indignant that proper technical equipment and infrastructure are absent at border checkpoints that are on the external EU borders, namely on the border with Turkey, Macedonia and Serbia. Only one border checkpoint, at Lessovo on the border to Turkey, is a modern facility meeting the relevant standards, says Tanov, adding that there was no logic where money was invested. He sees this as a purposeful act so that the state remained "inadequate" for many years. Tanov says that given the current equipment at some border checkpoints and the structure of the customs office, it is impossible to effectively counteract the contraband trade in cigarettes, for example.

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All of the Monday newspapers report on a survey conducted by the National Revenue Agency (NRA) which showed that undeclared loans among members of the public stand at 2,700 million leva. NRA has found that each Bulgarian with a job has received more than 35,000 leva in loans from entities other than banks. At the same time, the National Statistical Institute reports that the average per capita indebtedness is 59 leva. NRA reminded on Saturday that loans over 5,000 leva from natural persons will have to be stated in annual tax returns in 2010.

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"Sega" says that starting from 2011 contributions in private health funds will become mandatory. The respective amendments to the Health Insurance Act will be submitted for debate in Parliament soon. The purpose of the measure is to raise more money for the sector. The daily quotes Finance Minister Simeon Djankov as saying that 84 per cent of clinical pathways are under-financed.

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The leading report in "24 Chassa" tells how companies close to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms have won a project with European funding even before it was announced. The project, worth 15.8 million leva, was under the Environment Operational Programme. It concerned the construction of water supply and sewerage system and a waste water treatment plant in Ardino Municipality, Southern Bulgaria. "24 Chassa" quotes Deputy Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva as saying that the project has been halted and an alert sent to the prosecuting magistracy. She says that other projects also funded by the Environment and Waters Ministry have too been submitted to the prosecuting magistracy because they are implemented by one and the same contractors which in Ardino are known as the Three Pickaxes since the companies in question have no building machinery.

BULGARIA-EU

"GERB is a guarantor for the development of the European right-of-centre formations, say an analysis in "Monitor". The author says the the emergence of the GERB political party is to a large extent a result of the purposeful efforts of the European right-of-centre parties. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's party was the fastest admitted member of the European People's Party (EPP). The messages to Bulgaria from Bonn, Paris and Rome complement each other. The political support for GERB's governance has been clearly stated, writes the author. The parties members of EPP received the trust of the majority of EU citizens to govern in the conditions of a deep political and economic crisis. If they succeed in fulfilling their mission the EU will return to its rightist political roots and will get a new chance for active participation in the process of global development, the comment says.

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 19, 2009

· The financial minister Simeon Dyankov stated today that the fiscal reserve of the country is about BGN 8 billion, which have been kept in the Bulgarian National Bank since 1997, i.e. 12 years at very low interests - about 0.3%. In his words if part of it is put in the deposits of commercial banks the money could “patch up the hole” in healthcare. “We have lots several billions for ten years from inflexible usage of the reserve,” Dyankov said.

· Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov criticized today the current new center-right GERB government; “I think some Ministers should calm down, we have heard too many radical ideas, which have thankfully been virtually withdrawn the next day as they were not only unworkable, but also dangerous.”

· A 5-year-old girl has been killed by a dog in the village of Sushevo, Razgrad District, local police reported Monday. According to witnesses the dog bit the girl into the throat.