Bulgarian press review, November 19, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, November 19 (BTA)


THE HOME SCENE

"Troud" leads with the debates in Parliament about the lack of debate before the 2010 draft budget passed on first reading Tuesday ("Meatballs and Vibrations in Parliament"). It quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as saying of the behavior of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), "I go there [in Parliament], and the whole government goes, and we wait to hear questions, and none of them is there - they are eating meatballs. I call this shameless". In Parliament, incumbents and opposition spent an hour fighting about, who gets the blame for the failed debate, the story says.

"24 Chassa", "Troud", "Zemya" and "Douma" carry an article by ex-Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev who calls the lack of debate on the draft budget "unseen in contemporary Bulgarian and European democratic history". He accuses the Parliamentary chair of violating the rules of procedure by proceeding with the vote and not giving the floor to MPs who have asked in writing to speak during the debate. Of the 2010 draft budget, he says that it will take the country into the worst of the crisis.

***
"Troud" runs an interview ("Boyko, You Are on The Right Path, Be a Man of Principles!") with former President Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-97) who urges Prime Minister Borissov to be more cautious when he speaks and not to react immediately to all questions or remarks. Of President Georgi Purvanov, Zhelev says that he is the first historian of the transition to become both a politician and a statesman. "A politician becomes a statesman when he is in a critical situation and proves capable of standing up against his own party in the name of national interests - and Purvanov passed this test when [Socialist PM-designate Nikolai] Dobrev and himself returned the mandate [to form a government] on February 4, 1997. Purvanov did more than go through a personal evolution from being a NATO opponent to being a NATO advocate: he took his own party along this tough road," says the interviewee.

***
In a "24 Chassa" interview, Prof. Lyudmil Georgiev of the MRF national leadership says that some people in the party believe MRF can be in the government together with GERB. He says these are people who have only been with MRF in the recent years, have only seen their party in power and don’t know that "every single moment of MRF's being in opposition has the beneficial effect of consolidating the party ranks".

***
The papers give prominence to revelations by Order, Lawfulness, Justice leader Yanev Yanev that four MPs of MRF and one of the Socialist party have had contacts with a notorious trader in influence whose name cropped up in a scandal over senior magisterial appointments. Yanev is quoted as saying that more names are likely to come to light after a check of all 1,040 names in the cell phone of "the lobbyist", Krassimir Georgiev, is completed.

Yanev was speaking to reporters after meeting with the anti-corruption commission with the Supreme Judicial Council in his capacity as chairman of the parliamentary anti-corruption committee.


***
"24 Chassa" reports that all Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) employees aged over 65 will be sent into retirement. The paper quotes Academy President Nikolai Subotinov who was speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Borissov.

In a "Novinar" interview, Subotinov says that the BAS scholars get the lowest wages in all Europe. For this reason the Academy is unable to hire young people and keeps researchers of pensionable age.

***
From the spring of 2010, Sofianites will probably be charged even for parking outside their own home, if the parking areas are designated White Zone and drivers are allowed to use it only after paying, "Monitor" reports. A proposal to this effect has been made by the transport committee with the Sofia Municipal Council. According to "Telegraf", some parts of central Sofia will be made totally car-free and the other parts will up the charge for parking.

***
The Sofia Town Hall will have to pay 2,161 leva in indemnity to a 28-year-old woman who was bitten in the leg by two stray dogs in central Sofia in the summer of 2008, says "24 Chassa". The woman has won a case against the municipal authorities at two instances.

ECONOMY

Brussels unblocked over 82.5 million euro under Phare, "Klassa" reports in a front-page story. A front-page headline in "Dnevnik" says that 127 million euro of Phare money has been salvaged but three times as much has been lost. According to the paper, Bulgarian taxpayers will finance some of the flawed projects approved for Phare funding. The paper quotes Finance Minister Simeon Djankov as saying that Bulgaria has moved for unfreezing 91 million euro of a total of 130 million that has been frozen under the previous government. 64 million will be released with immediate effect and the rest will hopefully come next year. The European Commission has also unblocked 63 million euro for twinning projects - mostly for honoraria for EU experts providing aid in various areas. This adds up to a total of 127 million euro under Phare which will be salvaged, "Dnevnik" says.

***
In a "24 Chassa" interview, one of the partners in the sport betting company Euro football, Alexander Toumparov, says that imposing a higher tax on gambling is equal to lobbying in favour of illegal gambling. In his words, the real tax rate for gambling is not 10 per cent but 35-40 per cent.

***
Property deals take four times as long because of the crisis, "Sega" writes. While in 2007 it took 45 days on average to finalize a deal for the sale of an apartment, in mid-2009 the same took up to six months. These figures are based on an analysis of the real estate market in the EU made by the international chain of real estate agencies ERA. One reason for the slow trade is that buyers expect housing prices to plummet further and sellers are reluctant to lower their price. The story also says that the Building Chamber in Bulgaria is planning to set up its own bank to move the market in mortgage loans. "Standart News" has a full story on the plans for a new bank.

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

According to "Troud", the prosecuting magistracy will press charges against former Defence Minister Nikolai Tsonev even before it does so against his predecessors Nikolai Svinarov and Vesselin Bliznakov. Tsonev will have to explain for the purchase of an American line for building hangars, warehouses, barracks and housing facilities. The cost of the output from this production line is 60 dollars/sq m and experts say that the investment could pay back in 4 months. The machine cost the government close to 13 million leva and the money came from the Air Force budget. It was bought by a memo by then Chief of General Staff Gen. Zlatan Stoikov.

***
"The illusion that we have good laws but nobody observes them can live only until we take a good look at the details," Prosecutor General Boris Velchev writes in an article in "Troud". He says that the Bulgarian system of sanctions is not regulated in an efficient way; there is no repression for offenders which results in lack of respect for the law; prevention of offences is neglected and deprived of efficient mechanisms.

Of the legal opportunities to see a government minister with a sentence, he says that the minister puts his signature after those of the experts who have confirmed by the act of signing that no detriment will follow for the State from this or that deal, which gives the minister a very comfortable position for defence. "He says he is a political figure and understands nothing of the object of the deal, and this is why the administration exists. He says if the experts - lawyers and technical experts, have misled him, the blame is not his. And what happens is that the experts are sacked by the next minister and the former minister gets away without a scratch," Velchev writes.

HEALTH CARE

"The Prime Minister is right: everybody thinks health care is cheap and free and doesn't want to pay more for at, and at the same time takes it for granted that similar amounts or much more should be paid for much less important things," Georgi Angelov, a senior economist with the Open Society Institute, writes in "24 Chassa". He urges people to choose carefully their health insurance fund and hospital - the way they normally do a car repair shop.

NEWS MEDIA

"Pari" leads with a story on the upcoming digitalization of broadcasts. It says that pitfalls in the legislation will make it impossible to meet the 2012 deadline and operators have asked for a postponement.

***
In "Troud", bTV consultant Krassimir Gergov says that there is not going to be a deal for the purchase of bTV this year and he is ready to bet 1 million euro for that. "Troud" says that CME, which already owns the Bulgarian TV channels pro.bg and Ring, as well as Radio Pro FM, is seen as the most likely buyer of Rupert Murdoch's bTV.

***
"Troud" reports the findings of a study among Bulgarian families in Los Angeles which found most children who were born in the US speaking little or no Bulgarian language and totally lacking Bulgarian reading and writing skills. Bulgarian language schools are practically non-existent there and it is all up to the parents to teach their children the Bulgarian language, the story 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 – November 19, 2009

· A 27-year-old pregnant woman infected with the swine flu A (H1N1) virus has died Thursday in the Black Sea city of Burgas. The baby has been delivered and is doing fine. Another woman, whose baby has also been delivered, is in critical condition in the same hospital and is been monitored round the clock. In addition, a 40-year-old man from Burgas also suspected to have been infected with swine flu had died in the ambulance on his way to the hospital. The man had been ill for several days and had been trying to recover at home. He called the ambulance after his condition worsened Thursday, but the doctors were not able to help him.

· Yordan Lechkov, the Mayor of Sliven, has on Thursday demanded the resignation of the Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water, Nona Karadzhova. The mayor announced that he will present his formal statement and supporting documents on Monday. He will also approach Prime Minister Boyko Borisov concerning his demand, as well as the National Fund at the Finance Ministry and the European Commission. The reason for this sacking demand is the suspension of the second phase of a municipal water treatment project in Sliven, a town in the eastern part of Bulgaria.

· The Administration of the Council of Ministers would not spend money for Christmas holidays-cards, advertisement materials, calendars, presents, etc at the order of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, government’ press office informed. The actions are taken over not allowing unnecessary spending of budget funds.