Bulgarian Press Review October 2, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October 2 (BTA)

"24 Chasa" and "Troud" front-page the allegations of Levski owner Todor Batkov that CSKA planned and executed the scam with the bogus transfer of four Levski players to Russian champion Rubin Kazan. Because of the hoax, Zhivko Milanov, Ze Soares, Darko Tasevski and Youssef Rabeh missed a local derby with CSKA which Levski lost 0-2. Cases in connection with grave crimes are pending against CSKA and Titan owners Dimiter Yossifov Borissov and Ivo Dimitrov Ivanov, Batkov said in a Darik Radio interview, quoted in the top story of "Standart News."

THE HOME SCENE

"Sega" writes on its front page that a working group to the State Forests Agency, which has been looking into the case for one month, recommended that the State bring a court action against former prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha for the recovery of a 452.1 hectares excessof forests wrongfully restituted to him by decision of the Samokov land commission. According to the report, part of the contested property has already been excluded from the forest stock, which means that it can be overbuilt. That is why the working group recommends that the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry also join the defence of teh state interest.

Milen Velchev told a "24 Chassa" interviewer that he has not yet decided whether to run for leader of the National Movement for Surge and Stability. As he puts it, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha will make the best chairman of the party but, "in all likelihood he is reluctant to accept this position." "You will hear our position on the Cabinet after its completes its first 100 days in office," Velchev says.

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Sofianites give the Government and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov over 65 per cent confidence, the Centre for Analyses and Marketing (CAP) found in a poll. Between 44 and 48 per cent of the capital city residents said they would vote for Yordanka Fandakova in the forthcoming mayoral byelections, and 11 per cent would back the Left candidate Georgi Kadiev, CAP Director Yulii Pavlov writes in "24 Chassa."

"We will stop nepotist appointments," GERB Administrative Secretary Tsvetomir Paounov told "Troud." The idea is that proposals for appointments from party structures be put on record, so that it would be clear who backs the nominee.

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"The really heavy blows against [BSP leader Sergei] Stanishev have yet to come," Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) National Council member Georgi Bliznashki says in "Troud." He argues that the disintegration processes may intensify and dismisses as "illusory" the idea that "Stanishev's clique is in a position to consolidate the party and restore it to the role of a relevant opposition factor." "A change at the top of the party is inevitable," Bozhinov believes.

"In four years' time, we will again struggle for power," BSP Executive Bureau member Kiril Dobrev says in "Troud." As he puts it, the BSP congress can follow two scenarious: "a needless battle of egos" or "what can we do for the BSP".

BULGARIA - EU

"Our EU commissioner deserves an important portfolio," Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva says in an interview for "Standart News.""The European Commission gave us an advance of 650 million euro, we must now speed up payments to the people," Juliana Nikolova, head of the Secretariat to the EU Funds Management Council, says in a "Monitor" interview.

ECONOMY

The increased excise duties on cigarettes will bring an extra 130 million leva to the Exchequer in 2010, which will be channelled into health care, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said from Gothenburg, quoted on the front page of "Klassa." As from next year, the most popular cigarette brands will be hiked by an average 38 per cent to 4.50 leva the pack, the daily notes.

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"The electricity bill can be revised instantly," EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said, interviewed by "24 Chassa." She notes that people are most unhappy with banking services and with the energy market.

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"The best option would be to scrap the retirement age altogether: a person should be able to decide on his own when to retire and what social insurance contributions to pay so as to accumulate enough money for retirement on his pension account," Open Society Institute-Sofia economist Georgi Angelov argues in "Novinar."

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"Our worst mistake is that we have been trying for years to promote an image rather than a typical taste of wine," Order, Lawfulness and Justice Party MP Dimiter Choukarski writes in "24 Chassa."

JUSTICE, HOME AFFAIRS

A seven-member gang that blackmailed a businessman for 500,000 euro has been detected, the papers report, citing Interior Minister General Commissioner Kalin Georgiev and Sofia Deputy City Prosecutor Roman Vassilev. Law enforcers struck simultaneously in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas on Wednesday. The amount was demanded so as "to fix certain problems" facing the businessman "by exerting certain influence." The businessman was told that the money was needed
to bribe senior government officials. Organized Crime Control Directorate chief Stanimir Florov limited himself to specifying that the businessman was a defendant in a pending case and that he himself alerted the police about the blackmailers, "Troud" writes. The paper alleges that Veliko Turnovo Mayor Roumen Rashev was mentioned in the conspiracy, probably without being aware of it. "It was not clear whether the businessman was engaged in litigation with City Hall or was promised access to senior magistrates through Rashev's influence," writes "Troud."

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Hospitals bled the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) by "treating" deceased patients according to clinical pathways, "Monitir" writes in a front-page item. Expensive medicines and consumables were dispensed for the dead, and activities performed for living persons were fraudulently reported. Doctors even entered conduct of preventive examinations on the medical records of long dead people and claimed extra money from the NHIF, said NHIF Non-Hospital Medical Care Control Directorate head Galya Yordanova. "Prosecutors are probing five hospitals over scams," the paper notes.

"Rigorize the sanctions for telephone fraudsters," Supreme Bar Council Deputy Chairman Hari Haralambiev appeals in "24 Chassa." "An elderly lady took her life, and they defrauded even me, an experienced lawyer," he notes.

"Countercorruption, too, is jihad," Chief Mufti Mustafa Hadji says in a "Troud" interview. "We must safeguard the essential benefits: calm and peace," he appeals.


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Montenegrin-born Serbian drug lord Budimir Kujovic, who has been sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for organizing and leading a drug trafficking ring, has brought a civil action for 10,000 leva against "Novinar" reporter Fani Chodjoumova, "Novinar" reports. Kujovic alleges that a story entitled "Joca Amsterdam and Kujo: the Politicians' Short Memory" "ascribed to him serious crimes and thereby exceedingly severely damaged his honour and dignity." Chodjoumova allegedly tarnished his reputation and "inflicted on him a serious personal injury in the form of anxiety, despair, irritation and constant fear."

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The Economedia Company, which publishes the "Dnevnik" daily and the "Kapital" weekly, and Re: TV are suing the BSP for copyright infringement, "Dnevnik" reports. In an election campaign video the party used without permission material prepared by Re: TV on an order by "Kapital." The BSP campaign headquarters had the video broadcast on the major national TV stations. The material, which gained notoriety as "the plane and the axe", uses footage from an interview that Democrats for Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov and Union of Democratic Forces leader Martin Dimitrov gave to "Kapital" days earlier, the daily writes.

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"We are seeking a Bulgarian to manage our TV channels here," Modern Times Group (MTG) President Hans-Holger Albrecht says in a "24 Chassa" interview. The Swedish entertainment broadcasting group owns the Nova TV, Diema, Diema Family, Diema 2 and MM channels.

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 2, 2009

• The required capital to register a limited liability company has been lowered to the symbolic BGN 2 or EUR 1 by the Bulgarian Parliament. The MPs approved the change in Bulgaria’s Commercial Law Friday at the second and final reading of the amendments in the Trade Act, lowering the required registration amount from BGN 5 000 to BGN 2.

• The former MP Maria Kapon has given signal of corrupt practices and conflicts of interest related to the MP and former Minister of Economy and Energy Rumen Ovcharov. This was announced by the Chairman of the parliamentary Anti-corruption and conflict of interest commission Yane Yanev (OLJ).

• A parliamentary ad hoc committee of inquiry into electoral violations will investigate why the materials of the July 5 Bulgarian parliamentary elections, sent from Turkey, were delayed for more than two months, committee chair Yavor Notev declared.