Bulgarian Press Review, August 31, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, August 31 (BTA)


HOME SCENE

Several former ministers will be interrogated about scandalous deals and violations at the Prosecution Office in the following days, "Standart News" writes. According to the paper, former social minister Emilia Maslarova will be first and she will be followed by at least five of her former colleagues.

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Healthcare is faced with collapse, "Dnevnik" writes in frontpage story. The daily quotes Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev as saying that the sector is likely to report a deficit of about 350 million leva by the year's end. Nanev was present at a meeting with Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov but concrete measures for going out of the serious situation have not been announced. Separately, the hospitals have already accumulated debts of about 300 million
leva, which are traditionally covered by the state, the dailies write. The deficit of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) totals about 130 million leva and further expenditures of 70 million leva are expected by end-2009. The deficit is mostly due to the new Positive Drug List, Nanev is quoted as saying.

"We have fallen into a trap similar to the one with the pensions. The Positive Drug List contains a higher number of medicines and a higher number of people, entitled to them. This is good but there is no money. This has been a populist act: an expenditure has been budgeted without ensuring the necessary funding for it," the Minister says cited by the press.

Minister Nanev will propose laying off of part of the NHIF senior staff, "Klassa" writes.

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"24 Chassa" writes that the decision to extend monthly welfare benefits only in the course of one year will probably be cancelled due to an August 6 decision of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) that this would violate the European Social Charter. According to ECSR, the access to benefits may not be limited in time and the state should support everyone in need. The limitation was introduced in 2008 by ex-social minister Emilia Maslarova with a view of preventing abuses. As a result of this measure persons, entitled to such benefits, dropped from 230,000 to about 50,000. "If we do not comply, we are facing trials," Deputy Social Minister Valentina Simeonova is quoted as saying. Control over the provision of welfare benefits will be reportedly tightened. An unemployed, who refuses twice a job proposal, will no longer be entitled to such benefits.

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Bulgaria may lose about 250 million leva under PHARE, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Rosen Plevneliev says in an interview for "Pari". Eight lots of motorways of a total value of about 900 million euro will be set into operation by the year's end. "We will try to extend the ISPA programme but we cannot hope for more than six months," says he.

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The Interior Ministry will have to pay at least 58 million leva in compensation, if it wants to terminate the scandalous contract on the new ID documents, "Standart News" writes. Two proceedings have already been launched regarding the non-transparent way in which Siemens won the tender, the daily says.

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The Bulgarian Energy Holding, which the Prime Minister wants to close down, has signed a big deal for the purchase of 77 luxury cars, "Sega" writes. The holding has circumvented the Public Procurement Act and negotiated directly the purchase of the vehicles on leasing.

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Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will seek assistance from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to unfreeze blocked EU funding for Bulgaria, "Standart News" writes. The two will have one-to-one talk in Gdansk.

"When we settle the technical problems with Brussels, this would have a political effect," EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva says in an interview for "Sega".

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Interviewed by the "24 Chassa" paper, Ivan Kostov, Leader of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria and former prime minister, says that he does not share GERB's optimism that recovery will begin in the middle of 2010. "Mr. Djankov will prove right for the world crisis but there have been very serious causes of the domestic crisis," says he. Kostov cites the following reasons: first, the acute budgetary crisis; second, the serious credit crisis in this country; and third, the likely restriction of state expenditures due to the non-fulfillment of the revenue part of the budget.

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The same paper publishes an interview with businessman and Socialist Georgi Gergov. At this stage the Bulgarian Socialist Party is not mature enough for any reform, not to speak about replacement of its leader, says he.

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The exposing of the "witches" by the GERB ministers may be a populist move but, thus, they develop the perspective from which the society will look upon their own performance from now on, Boiko Penchev writes in "Dnevnik". In his view this is the way to form a public environment of intolerance to the attempts at non-transparent governance and, if, at a certain point, this environment becomes detrimental to GERB, so much the worse about them, the author states. In his view, however, the idea about a Day of Genocide against Bulgarians is also populist and it would not lead to anything rational. It is only a form of cultivating a sufferer's self-consciousness.




JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

The National Revenue Agency (NRA) has developed a special computer system that would automatically trace companies, involved in complex financial fraud. The software will conduct searches of the NRA archives to establish possible trade relations between companies, registered under VAT, "Troud" writes. For this purpose, preliminary criteria will be set, such as obligations, VAT refund in large amounts, transfers to several owners. If a suspicious company is tracked down, the system will relay a signal for conducting an inspection. The software has been developed with PHARE funding. In 2008 auditors established undeclared obligations to the amount of 1,438,155,846 leva, "Troud" also writes. VAT-related obligations have the biggest share of some 69 per cent.

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Within a week 2.141 million litres of base oil without excise duty entered the country via the Koulata checkpoint alone, says Gen. Vanyo Tanov, Director of the Customs Agency, in an interview for "Troud". Import of base oil dropped over 60-fold during the inspection, compared with the same time in July. Base oil import stood at slightly over 34,000 litres during the time of the inspection. In the course of 20 years it was the mafia that determined what the Customs would be: weak so as to be controlled. Asked how such a high number of customs officers were controlled, Tanov replied: "There is not any customs officer, who, as part of a smaller or bigger team, has not performed any violation. This why they are easy-to-control. They are paid to be obedient."

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"Troud" quotes Justice Minister Margarita Popova as saying that practicing jurists insist on amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and a large part of these demands are justified. The proposals are already summarized and analyzed within a working group.



ECONOMY

Food prices are heading towards their 2006 levels, according to a survey of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Whole-sale Markets cited by "Troud". In the last months almost all foods were cheaper compared to July. Most tangible was the drop of prices of cooking oil by 41 per cent, of flour by 25 per cent and of dairy products by 15 per cent on the average.

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Madonna may not have the best voice but proved that she is unsurpassed master of the show, "Novinar" writes commenting on the pop singer's concert Saturday evening. She performed in front of over 50,000 people at the Vassil Levski Stadium.







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 – August 31, 2009

• Bulgaria's new finance minister has announced plans to close all state agencies, to be replaced by directorates with the ministries, it emerged on Monday. "Bulgaria currently has a dozen agencies, all of which are located in the capital Sofia. We will shut down all of them, outsourcing some of the services across the country. The state officials are not expected to just sit behind their desks all day, they should go in the province and do some real work there," Minister Simeon Djankov told the morning broadcast of national bTV channel. "I have discussed this proposal with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who welcomed the idea," the minister said. He pledged that the new government will implement reforms that have been badly needed but not executed for the last twenty years.

• Bulgaria is still analyzing the possible options for the future of Belene NPP. It will announce its next steps in the project in September. Up to now Bulgaria has not held talks with potential investors, including from Arab countries, said Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov, the ministry’s press center announced. The minister’s statement comes as a reply to media reports about planned talks with officials with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to discuss opportunities for Arab investors to participate in the construction of the nuclear power plant. If Bulgaria decides to continue the project, it will look for potential investors and could address all countries that show interest.

• Crime-busters have carried out checks in the area around the southwestern village of Krandzhilitsa, municipality of Petrich, Gergana Moralieva, spokeswoman for the District Police Directorate – Blagoevgrad, told FOCUS – Pirin Radio. The police checked woodland owned by the State Forestry Fund and found a field of cut cannabis. They seized 1,540 kg of the drug. Pre-trial proceedings have been opened.