Bulgarian Press Review, October 20, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October20 (BTA)
HOME SCENE

"There are hard times ahead," Petyo Tsekov says in "Sega." "After the congresses of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) it is more than clear that only people having the profile of [Prime Minister] Boyko [Borissov] can defeat Boyko," Tsekov writes.

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"Having received a new confidence credit as leader of the BSP, Sergei Stanishev decided to take radical action against his enemies," "Sega" says referring to sources in the party.

"Roumen Ovcharov's and Roumen Petkov's withdrawal from the party leadership is mandatory," BSP MP Anton Koutev says in "Klassa." The race for the BSP leadership was not normal, Georgi Kadiev of the National Council of the party says in the same daily.

If the BSP finds the right solution, it will keep its political influence and will remain a force dominating the left. However, there is another scenario, too: the BSP keeps its influence but a new, radically different organization emerges in the left, sociologist Zhivko Georgiev says in an interview for "Troud." In his view, the Socialist part must say clearly "why it proved incapable to govern" this country and "why it proved to be an ill-prepared opposition." Georgiev says that Stanishev should improve his ability to work in a team with people who may not be always of the same mind. "In its present condition, the BSP is without future," Georgiev says in another interview given to "Telegraf.

According to journalist Valeria Veleva of the same daily, instead of being a "congress of truth", the BSP's latest forum was held hostage of the status quo and the agony of the party. In Veleva's words, Stanishev stakes on the appeal "Let the bygones be bygones and let us look ahead" but "he is yet to see how many people will fall away from him and the party and to realize that he has been a loser ever since 2005." The idea of "a boutique left party with 40 MPs" was the dream of Aleksander Lilov, known as the Strategist of the party, when he watched Zhan Videnov's failure in 1996," Veleva notes. "Well, 13 years later Stanishev helped in the dream coming true."

Commenting on the party congress, "24 Chassa' says that the BSP has been late and that the party should have thought about a leader much earlier.

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"Novinar" carries an interview with UDF chief secretary Ivan Sotirov who expresses the view that the Blue Coalition, of which the UDF is a member, has no future.

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Referring to Minister without Portfolio Bojidar Dimitrov, who quoted figures of the Citizenship Council with the Justice Ministry, "Troud" writes that 1,075 Bulgarian expatriates were granted Bulgarian citizenship between September 16 and October 16 alone. The number of applications considered increased about three-fold in a month, and shelved citizenship applications, filed years ago, dropped to 47,000. The procedure became quicker thanks to the better coordination between the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for National Security (SANS).


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"Zemya" and "Klassa" quote President Georgi Purvanov who says: "I think there is a minister in the cabinet who has been trying to play a prime minister. In fact I think this minister should go to his niche where he has too many responsibilities to have time to express attitudes and enforce models and mechanisms for all other ministries." When asked if he had in mind Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, Purvanov laughed and said everybody could guess who he was talking about.

ECONOMY

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Djankov wants a more risky management of the fiscal reserve, "Sega" says in a subtitle.

"Klassa" front-pages a report on Djankov's proposal to deposit part of the fiscal reserve with commercial banks which pay higher interest if a balanced budget is achieved. Now about 2,000 million of Bulgaria's fiscal reserve, which totals 8,000 million leva, may be put in commercial banks where it would earn 6 per cent interest while the National Bank of Bulgaria where the reserve is deposited pays an interest of only 0.3 - 0.5 per cent, the daily writes referring to Djankov.

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According to "Pari," the gas crisis that occurred earlier this year may happen again. Bulgaria is not connected with the gas networks of Greece and Romania and will not have such connecting pipelines next year, too. At the moment, the modernization of the Chiren gas facility appears to be more realistic, says Boris Pekov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Energy Holding.

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Nearly 219,000 people have been laid off since the beginning of 2009 due to the crisis, "Dnevnik" writes referring to Deputy Labour and Social Policy Minister Krassimir Popov. Employers and trade-unionists forecast that more than 100,000 will become redundant over the next 12 months. According to the Employment Agency, about 80,000 persons registered by the labour offices have been out of work for more than a year. Official statistics show that in january-September average unemployment rose from 6.5 to 8.03 per cent - a record-high figure for the last 15 months.

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"We are planning to mobilize 7,000 - 7,500 million US dollars for a global programme for buying bad assets," World Bank Vice President Kristalina Georgieva says in "Troud." "We are working with partners from the private sector, selecting the assets by priority types and countries in advance," she says. In her words, roads are the fastest way to achieve economic growth.

FOREIGN POLICY

Ambassador Luchezar Petkov to the US and Ambassador Branimir Mladenov to Turkey may be recalled before the end of their term, "24 Chassa" writes quoting Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva. The Foreign Ministry has opened disciplinary probe into the two diplomatic missions. The problem in Washington is that documents concerning the general elections have been lost. In Ankara the question is about other things, Jeleva says without going into details.

Korman Ismailov MP from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, says in an interview for "Sega" that the blame for the irregularities of the election process abroad must not be laid at the door of only one party. The interview is headlined "Back to the Dawn of democracy."

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"I have learned that colleagues from the European Parliament, including Bulgarian MEPs, have formed a coalition against my election as European commissioner," Foreign Minister Jeleva says in an interview for "24 Chassa."

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In the first years of its EU membership, Bulgaria has failedto expend 64.4 per cent of the funds designed for it; only 35.6 per cent of the funds have been transferred to it, "24 Chassa" writes. The figures are from a report drawn up by request of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Bulgarian National Assembly which has been sent to the Bulgarian MEPs. Bulgaria has been entitled to get over 1,367 million euro under ISPA, PHARE and SAPARD but it received only 488.9 million. A total of 334 million have not been utilized, 109 million euro is still blocked. Poorest is the absorption of funds under PHARE: 260.5 million euro has been lost, 90 million will probably have to be refunded to the EU. Bulgaria has performed most successfully in the improvement of border control under the so-called Schengen Borders Code, absorbing 230 million out of 258 million euro, an assessment report says. However, in most probability the Bulgarian government would not obtain an extension of the programme and would have to conclude urgently contracts for the rest of the amount before the end of 2009 to be able to use it, "24 Chassa" says referring to the said report.

INTERIOR MINISTRY AND JUSTICE

The investigation of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) who have resigned is just the beginning of purging the Council from magistrates who have dubious connections, "Troud" quotes Justice Minister Margarita Popova as saying in Brussels on Monday. She was interviewed by "Troud" during a conference entitled "Towards EU Global Action against Trafficking in Human Beings" held there. This is the beginning and there will be further development, she said. Other people may also find themselves under investigation - senior administrative officers in the judiciary who used lobbies for their appointment and SJC members involved in it.

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Hundreds of thousands of leva have been stolen from bank accounts in the last few years using various scams; many of the bank account holders do not know yet that they have been robbed, "Troud" writes in its highlights.One of the most popular is through phishing, pharming, vishing and data-stealing malware.

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"24 Chassa" devotes two pages to the murder of Stoyan Stoyanov, a businessman from Bourgas, who was abducted and then killed.

"Telegraf" and "Ekspress" write that there are new suspects in the murder of Belneyski sisters (Rositsa, 18, and Kristina, 15) from the town of Pazardzhik in 2006. The case is still unsolved.

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 20, 2009

· The interior ministry is making everything possible to solve the case with the student Rumen Gunenski Jr, who was kidnapped Monday night in Sofia’s Studentski Grad residential quarter, said interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. Gunenski is the son of a rich businessman who is known for running fuel trading and construction business in the towns of Pravetz and Botevgrad located to the northeast of Sofia. Rumen Gunenski Sr. has been considered as a possible candidate for mayor of the Bulgarian Socialist Party at the local elections in Pravets.

· Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, declared Tuesday that there is an urgent need to introduce an anti-kidnapping law in the country. “It might be just one page long, but it must include draconian sanctions,” the PM stated.