Bulgarian Press Review September 11, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, September 11 (BTA)

BULGARIA - EU

The Friday papers give prominence to the main developments during the Brussels visit of a Bulgarian government delegation headed by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

"Troud" reports that Bulgaria will get an extra 300 million euro in compensations for the early shutdown of reactors of the Kozloduy N-plant, if a proposal by European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso gets the European Parliament's approval ("EU Unties Purse for Bulgarian Energy"). That emerged after Barroso's meeting with Prime Minister Borissov. The EC is also ready to consider Bulgaria's plans to build a second N-plant at Belene. The project could get a loan from Euroatom, Barroso said.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek is quoted as saying after meeting the Bulgarian government leader that Bulgaria has made a positive change in fighting corruption and now Europe should help it deal with its pressing problems in the energy sector and with the release of EU funding. According to Buzek, Brussels also sees positive changes in the anti-corruption efforts.

Borissov is quoted to thank the EP and the European institutions for supporting Bulgarian people by resuming suspended funding, and to say that every single euro Bulgaria gets from the EU will be well-protected against misuse.

THE HOME SCENE

"Troud" carries an interview with Sofia special prosecutor Bozhidar Djambazov ("12 Cases Start against Previous Power-Holders"). He says that some 20 alerts were received in August for offences in the high corridors of power. Those came from the Ministries of Labour, of Defence, of the Interior and of Regional Development. They were in addition to tipoffs for misuse of power that the Sofia City Prosecution Office gets on a daily basis. "But the intensity of submission of alerts last month was unusual," says the interviewee. He believes that that was due to the normal wish of the new government to make a clean start.

***
In a "Troud" interview, former National Security Service chief Gen. Atanas Atanassov says that the State Agency for National Security (SANS) holds no report on corrupt ministers in the previous government but only a memo on select people in the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). He also says that the Agency's main job has been producing public scandals. "[Former Prime Minister Sergei] Stanishev established SANS not to deal with corruption in his government but to cover it up," he says.

Gen. Atanassov also says that an alert about Valeri Tsvetanov, the Agriculture Minister in the previous government who was the first former minister to be charged (for deterimental land swaps), was sent to the prosecuting magistracy before the July 5 elections. According to Gen. Atanassov, the strategy of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Ahmed Dogan was to put ethnic Bulgarians on key offices in power, to act as canon fodder, if necessary.

That is a reference to the fact that Tsvetanov was nominated for the position of Agriculture Minister by MRF which is largely seen to be representing ethnic Turks in Bulgaria and which was one of three partner parties in the previous government (together with BSP and the National Movement for Surge and Stability).

***
An analysis in "Sega" says that the anti-mafia officers will be "the real blade" of the new government. Opinions have never converged about the anti-mafia unit of the Interior Ministry and through the years it has been idolized and condemned. It boasted many accomplishments but it also produced grandiose scandals that jolted the state. Former Prime Minister Stanishev did away with it to clear the way for the new SANS. His successor Borissov is doing quite the opposite: by amending the laws on the Interior Ministry and SANS, the anti-mafia service is restored to the position of the government's darling. It will acquire huge powers and will be the government's true blade in the fight against crime, replacing SANS. But before any important steps are made, the powers of the anti-mafia service and control over it need to get serious consideration, the author says.

***
"Standard News" reports the start of an operation by the law-enforcing bodies against corrupt customs and tax officers ("Operation Komar [Mosquito] against Customs Officers"). According to the story, prosecutors and special agents will be checking meticulously the accounts and assets of customs and tax people. They will be looking for possible conflict of interest and also whether their homes and cars match their declared incomes. It is one of 57 emergency measures from an action plan of Justice Minister Margarita Popova for fighting corruption. Such checks will be made on a regular basis. Also, a system for video surveillance will become operational at four key customs offices before December 15. A new agency, Medical Control, will be set up by the Health Ministry before the end of November to hunt for corrupt physicians, "Standard News" says.

***
"Troud" carries a commentary entitled "Bad Time for War of the Institutions in Bulgaria". It recalls that President Georgi Purvanov has convoked a meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) to examine the measures Bulgaria is taking to reform its judiciary, fight crime and corruption, and absorb efficiently EU funding. That happened as the government approved a Justice Ministry action plan of 57 measures. The plan has been presented in Brussels and got its approval as well as a sign that now results are expected. Reporting this action plan to the CCNS now would be too late. It would have made more sense to get the plan approved informally at a working meeting by the President, Prime Minister and Justice Minister, before making it public. "If the institutions genuinely want consensus on the issues and goals of priority for the whole nation, discussing these through the news media is not the way to go," the commentary says.

***
Reporting the results of a National Public Opinion Centre Ppll, "Troud" writes that 90 per cent of Bulgarians are supportive of a review of the former government. The high expectations remain and the first measures taken by the Borissov governmenet get broad support, writes the paper.

ECONOMY

A front-page story in "Pari" announces the end of the war of interest rates. It quotes EIBank CEO Peter Andonov as saying that there is lots of money on the market and banks have nothing to do with it. First interest rates on deposits go down and the interest on credits will follow suit in the hope of attracting more borrowers, according to a poll among bank managers.
***
"Sega" reports that 14 Bulgarian companies, mostly in the energy sector, feature among the Top 500 of most dynamically developing business in Central and Eastern Europe, compiled by Deloitte. The Strongest performer among the Bulgarian businesses is the LUKOil Neftohim oil refinery, followed by the Bulgarian Energy Holding, telecoms operator Mobiltel, Overgas and BTC, to mention but a few.

***
"Troud" reports that the second-quarter GDP contracted by 4.9 per cent year-on-year ("Production Takes 4.9% Dive"). That emerges from official statistics made public Thursday.

***
In a "Pari" interview, former Economy and Energy Minister and now socialist MP Roumen Ovcharov says that halting the project for construction of the Belene N-plant would be a big mistake. "It is a big mistake to stop a project whose efficiency is proven, for whose start a serious preparation has been made, which has got the support of the EU and which involves a major Western strategic investor, RWE, only because you have not taken the trouble to look at its parameters," says Ovcharov.

He believes that the right policy for Bulgaria is "to understand its long-term energy and economic interests based on its geographic location, and to not allow one or another political force to manipulate them in the name of short-term party goals".


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 – September 11, 2009

• Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, publicly admitted that his relations with the country's President are "bad." "My personal relations with a certain person don't matter when this person represents an institution. Our relations are bad as of today, but this does not have any significance regarding the work of the institutions," the PM stated.

• “It is highly likely for Bulgaria to have to return European financing for a total of EUR 32 million on ten road projects under the PHARE program”, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Lilyana Pavlova announced at a news conference.

• Up to the present moment, there are discussions on new legal actions for protection of the state ownership over the over-claimed property by Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said during the Question Time at the parliament.