Bulgarian press review, January 18, 2010

Press Review
Sofia, January 18(BTA)


FOREIGN POLICY

The opinion of the legal department of the European Parliament, to be made public officially today, will refute allegations that Bulgarian Commissioner-designate Rumiana Jeleva was involved in a conflict of interest while being an MEP in Strasbourg, Andrei Kovachev MEP of GERB told "Monitor."

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The item which "Troud" devotes to the Bulgarian commisisoner-designate is headlined "Last Battle for Jeleva." Bulgaria has been maligned in Brussels by political stooges, political scientist Ognyan Minchev writes in "Troud." "If Jeleva lied, even unknowingly, that she is not involved in a conflict of interest between her status as MEP and her past as a business woman, her candidature should have been withdrawn immediately. This should have been done timely, with dignity and by respecting the rules that apply to all. Not through malicious reports made by Bulgarian MEPs who owe their career to notorious gangsters and who managed to make it to the European Parliament because they bought votes. And not through Positano's intrigues and lobbying." [The headquarters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is in Positano Street, Sofia.]. In Minchev's view, if the political enemies of Irina Bokova and Meglena Kouneva had thrown "even one-tenth of the mud which the Social Liberal coalition used to besmear Jeleva's public image," their success in UNESCO and the European Commission would have been "problematic and scandalously disgracing." "Bulgaria has no other chance for success but by mobilizing its most competent and dignified citizens to represent it."

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The BSP attacks on Jeleva are political revanchism, sociologist Antonii Gulubov notes in "Monitor." In his opinion, the change of the government has removed the umbrella covering organized crime. Svetoslav Terziev writes in "Sega" that Europe does not like Prime Minister Boyko Borissov any more. "Being focused on the Rumiana Jeleva show, we failed to notice that Brussels deprived us of 2,000 million euro," the subtitle of the item reads.

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The European Commission has approved the allocation of 116 million leva in state aid to Bulgarian tobacco growers in 2010, the press reports quoting Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov. A letter was received from Director-General Jean-Luc Demarty, who heads the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, which says that Bulgaria's arguments that the aid for tobacco producers is part of an already existing and approved scheme, included in Bulgaria's Europe Agreement, were accepted.

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"Agca Released, We Should Sue Him for Libel," Georgi Milkov suggests in "24 Chassa." The slanderous allegations made by Ali Agca, a proven terrorist and killer, caused harm to innocent Bulgarians and their families, to the entire Bulgarian state, he says. "Some may say there is no legal ground for his trial. Or that quite a long time has passed since then. But I think a claim cannot become void by prescription when the question is about justice and retribution."

HOME SCENE

"Instead of a moratorium, we could introduce sticter requirements for projects involving renewable energy sources," Environment Minister Nona Karadjova says in an interview given to "Dnevnik."

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"We have collected 228 million leva more than we did in 2009 and over 600 million leva more than expected," National Revenue Agency Executive Director Krassimir Stefanov says in an interview for "Troud." "I expect the public to help us remove corrupted employees from the system; members of the public may call telephone number 070018700 for alerts," he says. The interview is headlined "Football Players' Pay Comes to Light."

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"Why should I step down, given that the BSP and its partners achieved Bulgaria's accession to the EU," Socialist leader and ex-prime minister Sergei Stanishev asks in an interview given to "24 Chassa." He describes the four-year term of his cabinet as the most successful time for Bulgarian economy during the transition when the highest rise in living standards was achieved. Stanishev says that the BSP should be made a leading political force by the local and presidential elections to be held in 2011. Commenting on the incumbent government, he says that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov seems willing to introduce an authoritarian rule and that a feeling of non-freedom is emerging again, starting with the media and ending with the serious pressure put on the business.

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"Douma" and "Zemya" quote Stanishev as saying that the executive government owes huge amounts of money to various municipalities for infrastructure projects and that the money is withheld on purpose so that Finance Minister Simeon Djankov could report Bulgaria has the smallest budget deficit.

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Transport Minister Aleksandar Tsvetkov says in "24 Chassa" that new revisions to the Road Traffic Act will introduce ceiling prices taxi drivers could ask envisaging harsh fines for non-compliance. The minister, who sponsored the revisions, says that there are taxi drivers requesting unexplainably expensive fares; there are 300-350 such drivers in Sofia alone. The fare ceilings will be fixed by municipalities.

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The National Union of Driving Instructors proposes that the legal driving age be set at 16 years for driving a motor car, "Troud" reports. This is the practice in the US and some EU countries, Union President Milena Todorova says. Young people would get a provisional driving licence entitling them to drive under the supervision of a full licence holder. It is also suggested to drop education requirements for driving licence applicants; now they are required to have at least primary education.

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In 2009, there was a drop of 22 per cent year-on-year in the average amount of loans up to 36,260 euro (46,800 euro in 2008), shows the annual report of CreditCentre quoted by "Klassa." The reasons include sluggish economic activity in the first half of 2009, declining real estate prices and shrinkage of the portion of financing the banks were prepared to provide. Experts expect that in 2010 loans will increase by 20-25 per cent and that there will be a gradual downward trend in interest rates. A trial census of Bulgaria's population will be taken in the first two weeks of September 2010; the actual census will commence on March 1, 2011, National Statistical Institute Chairperson Mariana Kotseva says in "Telegraf." In 2011, a census of the population will be taken in 27 EU countries at one and the same time.

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

The Sofia City Court did not find evidence proving that Krassimir Marinov (aka The Big Marguin) was running a criminal drug operation, "Novinar" reports. Marinov was released by the court for a second time in the past few days. He was detained on charges of starting and running an organized crime group involved in drug distribution. Three days ago he was released for lack of evidence to substantiate another charge - ordering the assassination of journalist Boby Tsankov. "The Big Marguin: Prosecution Put on Big Trial," "Dnevnik" says in the subtitle of its item on the topic.

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Little Tiger and Sniffer are the new helpers of smugglers bringing cigarettes from Macedonia to Bulgaria,"Standart News" writes. They are two customs officers clearing trucks that carried illegal cigarettes at the Gueshevo checkpoint (on the border with Macedonia), sources in the state security machine told the newspaper. Allegedly, there are seven big smugglers of cigarettes into Bulgaria.

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"We have instituted over 100 pre-trial proceedings for misuse of European funds," Sofia CityDeputy Prosecutor Bozhidar Djambazov says in "Klassa." "We are keeping in mtough with OLAF and discuss various cases every week with them," he says.

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Crime agents have found that some elite disco clubs in Sofia make moonshine alcohol, "Telegraf" says.

CULTURE AND EDUCATION

The public sees the modernization of schools as a key priority for improving secondary education, show the results of a national representative survey conducted by BBSS Gallup International which are published in "Klassa." According to 36 per cent of respondents, upgrading and extending school sports facilities is an important priority. One in five respondents said schools should be equipped with a sufficient number of computers and provided with access to the Internet.

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"Political economics returns as a subject to the University of National and World Economics," Rector Borislav Borislavov says in "Standart News. Besides Marx, students will study John Keynes, too.

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 – Sofia, January 18, 2010



· Protesting Greek farmers are set to block the Bulgarian border for ten days from today as they rally against unpaid subsidies and low prices for their production. There is no information how long the protests will continue. Bulgarian authorities will hold a meeting along Kulata-Promahonas border checkpoint with the strike committee of the Greek farmers to set a passing regime and to receive information about the duration of the blockage.

· Krassimir Marinov - "The Big Margin", was set free on January 17 2010 after the Sofia City Court released him on bail, rejecting the prosecution's third attempt to keep the alleged crime boss behind bars. This was the second time in four days that the court released Marinov on bail, after on January 14 the Sofia Court of Appeals found no evidence to support prosecutors' claims that Marinov and his brother Nikolai "The Little Margin" Marinov had plotted the murder of former radio host Bobbi Tsankov.