Bulgarian Press Review October 30, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October 30 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

Eighty hospitals are expected to be closed down in January-June 2010, "Troud" and "Dnevnik" write. The reason is that they would not have the specialists and equipment now required to be able to conclude an agreement with the National Health Insurance Fund, Health МMinister Bozhidar Nanev is quoted as saying. Next year the health care budget will be by 500 million leva less. Unlike the budget of the Physical Education and Sports Ministry, which is up by 137 per cent, "Troud" notes.

The budget of the Labour and Social Policy Ministry will be by 347 million leva less, and the money designed for sports are up by nearly 18 million leva, "Klassa" says.

The 2010 draft budget allocates 890.6 million leva for the Defence Ministry's expenditure, 10.3 per cent down from the 2009 budget allocation, "Bulgarska Armia" observes.

Only 100 million leva are budgeted for subsidies for farmers, twofold less compared with last year, "Zemya" writes on its front page. Calculations of the Association of Agricultural Producers show that farmers will get only 2.3 leva per 0.1 ha, while the new leadership of the Agriculture and Food Ministry has promised a subsidy of at least 10 leva per 0.1 ha.

"Deal with corruption and you will be strong in agriculture," Israeli Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shalom Simhon says in an interview granted to Klassa." He also says that Israel exports more than one-third of its agricultural produce and would support the introduction of new technologies in Bulgaria.

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About two million Bulgarians will be infected with the swine flu A(H1H1) virus in the next few months, "Novinar" says referring to Chief Health Inspector D-r Tencho Tenev. So far over 200 swine flu cases have been registered in Bulgaria. However, experts believe that the infected are much more, at least 50,000.

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Tihomir Georgiev proposes through "24 Chassa" to establish a fund for people in vigilant coma. His 20-year-old daughter is in such a state after a road accident.

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Interviewed by "Dnevnik," the new director of the Cadastre Agency, Aleksander Lazarov, says that there is no money to draw up a cadastral map of highways. Now there is a cadastral map for about 15 per cent of Bulgaria's territory, which would increase to 18 per cent by the end of 2009. In his words, 25 million leva are required to complete the map of the Black Sea coast.

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"Berlusconi advised us to set up a centre-right bloc," Ataka leader Volen Siderov says in an interview for "Klassa." In his words, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms have been "stunned by the election blow but are already recovering."

FOREIGN POLICY

Commenting on a statement by Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in their highlights, "Douma," "Zemya," and "Novinar" write that Macedonia has territorial claims on Bulgaria. "Gruevski has presented Aegean and Pirin Macedonia as his own," "24 Chassa" notes quoting what Gruevski said in Australia "Here in Australia, the Macedonians have the unique opportunity to live altogether as one, the Aegean Macedonians and the Pirin Macedonians. That doesn't happen in your mother country," he said addressing the Macedonian community in Australia a few days ago calling on them not to divide on a geographical basis because "there are no Vardar, Aegean, Pirin Macedonians, but only Macedonians."

"Troud" and "Sega" write that Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov was amazed by Gruevski's position which he harshly criticized as an expression of Macedonia's territorial designs and which he described as inadmissible.

Discussing the issue, Minister without Portfolio Bojidar Dimitrov, who is in charge of expatriate Bulgarians, says in "24 Chassa" that the Macedonian political elite does not want EU and NATO membership and knowingly creates obstacles to Macedonia's accession to these organizations, including by making territorial claims on Bulgaria and Greece. "Skopje decided that these countries will vote against the admission of Macedonia to NATO and the EU. In this way the incumbents there will shake off the responsibility they have before their voters for the EU and NATO refusal to admit Macedonia," he says.

Interviewed for "24 Chassa," historian and academician Georgi Markov commends that the Bulgarian government send a note through the Foreign Ministry stating clearly that Bulgaria will not support Macedonia's bid for NATO and the EU unconditionally. In his words, the attitude of Macedonia's ordinary citizens to the citizens of Bulgaria is becoming ever better but the managers of most media are still under the influence of Belgrade. The interview with Markov is headlined "We Have Trump Card against Ankara's and Skopje's Rough Play: They Want to Join the EU."

ECONOMY

"After the German company RWE pulled out of the Belene nuclear power plant project, new investors will be invited by holding an international tender but we have not asked Russia for a loan," Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov says in an interview for "24 Chassa." Germany announced its decision to pull out. French, Italian and Russian companies will be invited to take part in the tender on an equal footing. The N-plant will be constructed if investors are found, he says. In Traikov's words, the Belene N-plant is not crucial for guaranteeing Bulgaria's energy balance.

There are three consultants on the Belene project at the moment: Deloitte, financial consultant; BNP Paribas, leading credit structuring bank; and WorleyParsons, engineering consultant. The consultants have been paid a total of almost 90 million euro so far.

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Under an EU inter-bank agreement, to which 25 Bulgarian banks have acceded, Bulgarians can change banks in two days and transfer their accounts with minimum efforts, "Standart News" writes in its highlights.

INTERIOR MINISTRY, COURTS

The Interior Ministry and the special services are trying to regain control of telephone printouts and the Internet traffic which show who and when contacted whom through the Internet, "Sega" says. There is a bill amending the Electronic Communications Act to this effect which will be submitted for approval to the Council of Ministers.

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"Until we go on carrying about hard copies containing classified information which can easily get lost and copied and reach a wide circle of people, there will be problems like that in SANS [State Agency for National security]," Prosecutor General Boris Velchev says in an interview granted to "Troud." He is for amending the Special Surveillance Means Act because it does not have any clauses specifying when and under what conditions the information obtained by using special surveillance means should be destroyed. In his words, there are many loopholes in the law allowing to keep such information and use it for purposes that have nothing to do with the needs of the State or the national security. He observes that the law does not provide a clear definition of the term "national security."

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The names of 13 magistrates proved to be in the notebook of influence monger Krassimir "Krassyo" Georgiev from Pleven, "Monitor" says. The list of names was unveiled by SJC Professional Ethics and Corruption Prevention Commission Chairman Tsoni Tsonev at a Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) meeting on Thursday. Eight of them had applied for electable senior positions in the judiciary but were not appointed. Five were appointed.

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Discussing former prime minister Sergei Stanishev's allegations that his successor Boyko Borissov is involved with a business circle know as Kotaratsite [Tomcats], "24 Chassa" assumes that the question may be about two cousins from Pernik, Ivan Asenov and Bogomil Gyorev, aka Kotaratsite, who hold seven companies, six of them construction ones.

MEDIA

"Swedes Get Control of Cable TV Market," "Pari says in a subtitle. The Swedish private equity fund EQT V has acquiring two of Bulgaria's leading cable TV operators, Eurocom and CableTel and plans to merge them creating a major player in the Bulgarian digital TV and broadband markets. According to Eurocom CEO Istvan Polony, who will be the CEO of the new company, the investments in it come up to 210 million euro.

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"It is time that the agencies and newspapers which have online editions be provided with adequate protection," Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Maksim Minchev says in an interview for "Troud." "That is why we decided together with 'Troud' - and I hear that other colleagues will join us, too - to launch a campaign against piracy and for protection of copyrights," he says. The interview, granted on the eve of the international meeting of news agencies of Southeastern Europe and the Black Sea Region organized by BTA, is headlined "We Should Know What Is the Capital Used to Purchase Media."

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Bulgarian journalist Lidia Pavlova will be conferred the WAZ-IFJ Prize for Courage in Journalism set up by the WAZ Media Group and the International Federation of Journalists. Pavlova is a journalist with the Strouma newspaper. Pavlova works for the local "Strouma" newspaper as a reporter. She is awarded the prize for a series of articles exposing crime and corruption in the Southwestern town of Doupnitsa and the notorious Galev brothers, a pair of dubious businessmen and local overlords.

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 30, 2009

• Bulgarian Minister without portfolio in charge of Bulgarian residents abroad Bozhidar Dimitrov will present at the Council of Ministers a proposal for amendments to the Bulgarian Citizenship Act. The amendments will allow for 30 000 individuals to become Bulgarian citizens each year, Dimitrov believes. He said that currently there is a backlog of at least 50 000 applications that have piled up since 2005. These amandements are expected to ease the procedure of obtaining Bulgarian citizenship for candidates of Bulgarian origin and those who have graduated their higher education in Bulgaria. Some of the amendments envisage also clear and shorter deadlines and counter-corruption measures for the examination of applications for Bulgarian citizenships.

• Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov held talks early Friday with Australia PM Kevin Rudd in Canberra at the PM’s offices in Parliament House. Parvanov and Rudd discussed the two countries’ role in Afghanistan and the the importance of ensuring Afghanistan doesn't again become a safe haven for terrorists. NATO's ongoing role in leading the international military presence in Afghanistan was a part of the leaders' discussion too. Nuclear disarmament was also a focus of the talks, with both saying that they looked forward to working together at the upcoming conference on disarmament next year, at which Bulgaria will hold the presidency.

• There is no serious change in the spreading of the flu virus in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Healthcare announced. Up to the present moment, there is flu epidemic declared only in the municipality of Nikopol. There is high sick rate in the regions of Yambol, Stara Zagora, Gabrovo, Burgas, Pleven, Montana, Shumen and Lovech, where the sick people run to around 100-150 per ach 10,000. The sick rate in the municipality of Tryavna has started gradually decreasing. The epidemic situation in the country is dynamic and it will stay unchanged over the next couple of weeks.