Bulgarian Press Review, April 8, 2010

Press Review
Sofia, April 8 (BTA)



HOME SCENE

"Standart News" writes on its front page that private distributors sell electricity to consumers at double prices. The National Electricity Company (NEK) sells electricity 44 per cent cheaper than the price at which it is purchased from thermal power stations, "Klassa" notes. According to the daily, it is contemplated to terminate the privatization contracts with CEZ, E.ON and EVN. "Boyko wants dividends from CEZ, E.on and EVN - or nationalization," "24 Chassa" writes. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has poured his anger on the electricity distribution enterprises and NEK although the prices of electric power are regulated by a state commission, "Sega" observes. "Troud" leads with the headline "Boyko Targets Electricity Distributors." NEK, the state-controlled energy company, is being milked dry - this is yet another disclosure about shady deals in this country PM Borissov made on Wednesday. NEK buys electricity from producers at 90 leva/MWH on the average and sells it at 88 leva to distributors. At the same time, electricity distributors sell it at 146 leva/MWH to end users, Borissov said. "An end will be put to this, whatever the cost," the prime minister stated angrily. Asked if this means that the privatization contracts with electricity distributors will be terminated, he answered: "Yes, I am thinking about all possible options. This scheme will be discontinued." The prime minister has ordered to be presented a report on energy, the press says. Then all materials will be submitted to the prosecuting
authority "to bring it all out of anonymity" and name the culprits for milking NEK dry.
"The CEZ Image in Bulgaria Has Been Seriously Impaired," "24 Chassa" says in the headline of an interview with CEZ Bulgaria Regional Manager Jan Vavera. He admits that the company management has made mistakes that include the numerous legal actions brought against the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation. In his words, the rumours that CEZ is withdrawing from Bulgaria may be politically motivated.

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PM Borissov has instructed Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov to claim between 5 million and 6 million leva from the German-based company Siemens in compensation for a problem in printing the new identity documents of Bulgarians, "24 Chassa" reports. Due to a software problem of the system, the first express orders for passports with biometric data placed on Tuesday could not be carried out. Working all the night, experts managed to issue only 630 identity documents in Sofia, Tsvetanov said. The IDs will be sent to the regional centres where the applications were filed using the services of courier companies with Siemens covering the expenses involved. "24 Chassa" quotes Doychin Cholakov, head of Corporate Communications at Siemens, who says that the experts are actively working to optimize the system and make up for the delay and that he hopes this will happen by the end of the week. According to him, the problem has occurred as a result of the enormous interest in getting new IDs - the applications are three times more than projected and the time limit for printing the documents is too short, he said. Siemens had only six months after signing the contract to develop the extremely sophisticated system. Late on Tuesday Italian specialists arrived in Bulgaria to help cope with the problem.

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"Americans Bite 0.3 ha Off Government Residence," "24 Chassa" says in its highlights. Part of the land belonging to the Lozenets Government Residence went into private hands. The defence Ministry, which owned this piece of property, has confirmed the news. The court awarded two lots of nearly 0.3 ha within the premises of the Lozenets Residence to the Bulgarian-American venture Lozenets Development Company. A procedure for the physical partition of the land will follow, "24 Chassa" writes. There are 23 former owners claiming parts of the attractive property, too. If their claims are granted, the State will lose half of the Lozenets Residence. The Defence Ministry keeps silent about the fate of the underground command post of the army established there.

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Under the headline "Ghettos for Children" psychologist Ivan Igov writes in "Standart News" that it is a wide-spread practice to place healthy children and mentally deficient children in the same institutional care facility and that the methods used to evaluate the children's health status are inefficient.

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This year for the first time the external evaluation of students and the high school entrance exams will be held as one exam consisting of two modules, "Troud" writes referring to Asen Alexandrov, advisor to Education, Youth and Science Minister Sergei Ignatov for secondary education. The first module, designed to evaluate students learning outcomes in general, is mandatory; the second one is for the students willing to enroll in elite high schools.

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The press reports that the cabinet has nominated Professor Anna-Maria Borissova as health minister. The new health minister will start her term by ordering inspections, "Monitor" writes. The Sofia chapter of the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) questions the qualities of the nominee for health minister, "Dnevnik" notes. "I don't know what a woman minister without any experience could do," the chairman of the BMA Sofia chapter, Dr Metodi Madjarov, is quoted as saying. "It seems that the prime minister did not have much choice, given that he named as [Bozhidar] Nanev's successor a doctor without any vision about health care but with a lot of experience in advertising medicines," "Sega" says.

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It is contemplated to establish an animal police force devoted to fighting crimes against animals amending the Penal Code accordingly; the idea has been proposed by NGOs, the Agriculture Ministry told "Novinar." The first thing to do is to see whether funds could be allocated for the implementation of the idea at a time of crisis; the next thing is to decide who should be assigned the functions of such police. According to Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov, the required amendments to the Penal Code have already been drafted. They envisage one to three years' imprisonment and fines from 5,000 to 15,000 leva for cruel treatment of animals leading to death or permanent disability. Repeated cruelty or performing the cruel act in the presence of children or harming third persons would be liable to one to five years' imprisonment and a fine from 10,000 to
30,000 leva. "We hope that the amendments will pass in the National Assembly," Naydenov said.

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Journalist Iva Nikolova will run for mayor of Gabrovo as the candidate of the Blue Coalition, "24 Chassa" reports on its front page. The news has been confirmed by the local United Democratic Forces leader Viktor Spassov and municipal councillor Dobromir Valachev (Democrats for Strong Bulgaria). Nikolova was born in Gabrovo; she is the daughter of eminent Bulgarian painter Nikola Nikolov.

ECONOMY

No fiscal measures can replace the structural reforms, Stoyan Mavrodiev, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly economic Committee, says in "Klassa." He is against increasing the burden of taxes - both direct and indirect.

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The price of petrol will go up by 7 per cent if crude oil reaches 90 US dollars per barrel, "Klassa" writes. In the first quarter of 2010, consumption of petrol for private automobiles shrank by 8 per cent and by nearly 20 per cent for vehicles used for business purposes.

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

"If you really think I am a criminal, shoot me!" This is what former defence minister Nikolai Tsonev said when he was arrested in the Academy of Military Medicine on April 1, according to "Troud." However, this part of the video posted on the Interior Ministry web site has been cut off.

FOREIGN POLICY

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov will be the first to be welcomed by Barack Obama at the official dinner with the US President in Prague this evening. It will be attended by 11 state and government leaders of countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It is specified that the leaders will enter the hall in the residence of the US ambassador in Prague in alphabetical order. Borissov, faced with problems in the Bulgarian health care system, is expected to congratulate Obama for ushering a sweeping health reform in the US.

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 – April 8

· Bulgaria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food has filed to the Prosecution Office a list of around 5,000 swap deals for state-owned terrains realized in 2006-2007. The news broke at a press conference of the ministry.Only five of these deals have harmed the state with EUR 8.481 million, Minister of Agriculture and Food Miroslav Naydenov announced. The matter in point concerns five land swaps from the State Land Fund in the areas of Kamchiya (403 decares), Perelik (1,965 decares), Separeva Banya (1,761 decares), Burgas (101 decares) and Kavarna (288 decares).

· The meeting in Prague is of great importance. Of course, the focus will be put on security issues and the challanges, which all of us are facing, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov said in interview to BNT.In Mladenov’s words, the current situation in Kyrgyzstan will be also tabled for discussion, as Afghanistan will be one of the topics in the meeting.The situation in Iran and Iran’s nuclear program will be another topic for discussion, as well as the strategy for NATO’s development, the minister added. “The meeting between the US president and the presidents and prime ministers of the countries in Central and East Europe comes right after the signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which is of historical importance not only for the US – Russia relations but also for everyone’s security and it shows the clear will of the US allies to strengthen the transatlantic connection with the European partners, especially with those in Central and East Europe,” Minister Mladenov remarked.

· Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry has been keeping constant contact with our embassy to Kazakhstan, which is the closest one to Bishkek and has been getting in touch with Bulgarians who are now in Kyrgyzstan, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov said. According to initial data, there are around 700 Bulgarians in Kyrgyzstan, part of them are from mixed marriages. “We have officers at the representations of the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Bishkek. According to latest information – there are no Bulgarian nationals injured in the clashes,” Minister Mladenov said.