Bulgarian Press Review October 5, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, October 5 (BTA)

HOME SCENE

"24 Chassa" publishes an interview with Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. He is asked to comment on his last week statement that he had been investigated by the State Agency for National Security (SANS). "The way in which SANS was established and the absence of parliamentary control at that time resulted in a possibility for SANS to be turned into political police." The then prime minister is responsible for everything that was happening then at the Agency, Tsvetanov notes. In his view such actions are impossible today given the current efficient parliamentary control over SANS and the Interior Ministry.

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"Standart News" quotes Interior Minister Tsvetanov as saying that a delegation to USA, headed by him, exchanged experience and received practical advice upon its visit to the HQ of the FBI. There Tsvetanov received a handbook of combatting mafia. The question is about public procurement contracts, tenders, lobbying, he is cited as saying. It includes all possible schemes and tricks, he added. The handbook will be submitted to the competent Bulgarian services. Tsvetanov proposes that companies, awarded public procurement contracts of over 10 million leva's worth under the previous cabinet of former Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, be subjected to checks. This would be a concrete measure against high-level corruption.

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The author of an analysis in "Sega" raises the issue of why Bulgarians abroad should be entitled to vote. In his view it is only Bulgarian nationals, permanently residing in the country's territory and paying taxes on income, earned in the country, should be eligible to vote. "We pay about 20 million leva so as to elect several politicians and these funds do not come from other laws; Bulgaria is their homeland but the state is an imaginary concept for them, he adds.

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The universities should award the title of a professor after accreditation, says Prof. Borislav Borissov, Rector of the University of National and World Economy and Chairman of the Rectors' Board, in an interview for "Monitor". He states that the academic community is ready for a new Academic Degrees and Academic Ranks Act and for updating the system. This means that university and academic structures would themselves award degrees and ranks while a state body would exercise control as to whether the requirements of the law have been observed. However, not all higher schools would be licensed to award

ECONOMY

"Troud" writes in a frontpage story that last Wednesday Finance Minister Simeon Djankov sent letters to the other cabinet ministers and the chief of certain agencies, including SANS and the National Statistical Institute, asking them to present by November 1 plans on laying off at least 15 per cent of their staff. Whole units with duplicating activities will be closed while certain operations will no longer be directly financed under the budget. According to Finance Ministry figures, currently there are 87,000 people working in the administration. This means that 13,050 are to be made redundant.

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Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Kamen Kichev is cited by "Dnevnik" as saying he does not see any arguments against granting a concession for the management of the Sofia Central Railway Station. The Ministry is considering possibilities that passengers of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) receive information on train delays or cancelled services via their mobile phones. In his view passengers should be able to buy tickets via the Internet as well. A long-term strategy on upgrading compartments and locomotives is being currently drafted, says he.

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Last week former MP Maria Kapon asked the National Assembly Anti-corruption Committee to check whether former minister Roumen Ovcharov and his relations hold accounts in offshore banks, "Troud" writes. The state has grounds to be curious about the export of capital by power holders to offshore banks or anonymous companies on the Bahamas. The paper writes that not only Ovcharov but everyone who has held an official position during the period of transition should be checked. It would suffice to make a detailed list of these 3,000 to 4,000 people and their families and send it to several states. The politicians should realize that the biggest benefit will be for themselves. These, who have been fair to the electorate, would take a breath of relief and noone would suspect him.

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Sanctions against offending employers will be eased, "Sega" writes. The Chief Labour Inspectorate is reconsidering its policy to this effect, the paper says. The Inspectorate's experts have drafted amendments to the Labour Code introducing a minimum amount of fines for gross violations. Late last year these fines were increased four to ten fold. Fines of 10,000 to 15,000 leva and, in certain cases, up to 30,000 leva were introduced. The experts quote the crisis and the financial dire straits in certain sectors as the main reason behind their decision.

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Interviewed by "24 Chassa", Bulgartabac chief Ivan Bilarev says that the new higher excise duties will not ruin the company nor would they result in its bankruptcy. The expectations are about shrinking of the market share. "Bulgartabac is not against an increase of the excise duty in principle. Be it 100 euro suffice there is not smuggling. The question is not whether to increase the excise duty up to 76 euro but to make a phased markup and take parallel measures against smuggled cigarettes, he noted.

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Apart from the excise duty, the government is planning to raise the house tax as well, "Sega" writes. The fees charged by municipalities on the purchase of new estates are also expected to go up. This is envisaged in draft amendments to the Local Taxes and Fees Act sponsored by Finance Minister Djankov.

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Every third entity, which has privatized a company, does not comply with the requirements, says Roussi Statkov, member of the Supervisory Board of the Agency for Post-privatization Control, in an interview for the "Troud" paper. The compensations set exceed 1,400 million leva. Of these the court has awarded 500 million leva to the Agency and 100 million have already been contributed to the national budget. Another 100 million leva have been paid in compensation instruments. Claims for some 800 million leva in compensations are pending court judgment. Statkov says the Agency is ready to file claims for another 250 million leva.

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The Consultative Council on Pension Reform is considering the possibility to envisage the payment of a second pension to the people, born before 1960, as well, "Troud" writes referring to Social Minister Totyu Mladenov. The idea is either to refund part of the taxes paid by them or to set up a special fund and contribute privatization proceeds to it.

The pension system increasingly resembles an Asian one, says former social minister Ivan Neikov in an interview granted for "Sega". In his view one may not expect a steady, autonomous financial system, not depending on the budget but capable of paying ever higher pensions, if this social security system is turned into the main donor of the Bulgarian economy. "I am already considering to propose to remove the payment of social security contributions. This would fully alleviatebusiness and we would switch to a tax system only," says he. A next step would be to equalize pensions. This is already a fact in certain Central Asian countries, Neikov also says. "The country is walking towards Europe while our pension system - towards Central Asia," he concludes.

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 5, 2009

• The Russian government has announced that it is considering the possibility of giving a EUR 3,8 Billion loan to Bulgaria for the construction of Belene NPP, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin stated today before journalists in Turkey.
Responding the statement, Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov said that a loan for the construction of Belene NPP has not been requested from Russia.

• The construction workers who died last Friday when an old building collapsed in Prague’s historical center are to be officially identified today. It is believed that two Bulgarians are among them. The Bulgarian National Radio announced that one of the workers is fourty year old man from the city of Plovdiv.

• A criminal group has attempted to blackmail the mayor of the northern Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo, mayor Dr. Rumen Rashev announced at a news briefing today. The blackmail had to do with the ongoing trials against Rashev. On behalf of three well-known persons the group demanded EUR 500,000 so that he could be acquitted.