Bulgarian Press Review September 7, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, September 7 (BTA)


HOME SCENE

"Bulgaria Mourns 15 Drowned in Lake Ohrid," "Sega" says in its highlights. September 7 is a day of national mourning for the 15 Bulgarians who perished when the Ilinden tourist boat sank in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. For the first time the Bulgarian government reacted adequately and organized the return of the surviving Bulgarian tourists in a matter of hours. President Georgi Purvanov's surprising visit to Ohrid caused confusion; his desire to see the survivors at the airport of the Macedonian city delayed their return and stirred up their discontent.
"Sega" says further on that there were a lot of irregularities about the "ill-fated trip." The owners of Klyunchev, the carrier company, will probably be fined and may even be held criminally liable. "We should not let this case just pass," Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov is quoted as saying. President Purvanov also called to hold the trip organizers liable. In his words, if experts say so, legislative changes could be made, too.
"Troud" presents the theory of the Macedonian Interior Ministry about the accident, according to which the reason for the tragedy in Lake Ohrid was a problem with the rudder. The steel rope of the rudder broke because the boat was overloaded, "Telegraf" writes.
"Troud" reports that President Purvanov attended a memorial prayer officiated at by Metropolitan Nikolai in St Virgin Mary Church in Plovdiv. In his view, a special unit should be established to perform the functions of the former Emergency Situations Ministry. Metropolitan Nikolai of Plovdiv saw the finger of God in the tragedy. He called on all people to come to their senses and realize how much they irritate God with their lack of reason.
"Zemya" reports that a parliamentary commission will investigate the Lake Ohrid accident. "The tragedy is of such proportions that will no doubt draw a reaction from Parliament," National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva is quoted as saying yesterday. If necessary, a special commission will be set up to investigate the accident, she said. In her words, the case will be carefully considered and if there is some imperfection in the current law, there will be a legislative initiative to remove it, she said.

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"A curved line running in parallel to the blue one is not a straight line," "Sega" writes observing that the "Blue" have changed their behaviour six times in the last two months. Enthusiastic about the right-of-centre majority in parliament, the Blue coalition has became the first parliamentary group which publicly criticizes the new government. Democrats for Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov, for instance, stated that the new government is not in the clear how long the crisis would go on and is working piecemeal. His partner, Union of Democratic Forces Chairman Martin Dimitrov, said the government is late with the required anti-crisis measures. However, it would be better for the Blue Coalition to try to help the government with managerial ideas and laws. Having been left outside the executive, they appear to be trying to be both rulers and opposition, which is not a winning tactic, the daily says.

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Interviewed for "24 Chassa," Supreme Administrative Court President Konstantin Penchev suggests that supreme magistrates be elected by regions. In his view, there is no system to assess magistrates before their appointment to a senior position. Now magistrates may put up their own candidature for any position and win it by winning the mandatory minimum of 13 votes but it is not clear whether and in what he or she is better than the rest. "And if such a magistrate is later caught with a bribe, nobody bears moral responsibility for it. Parliament should decide if magistrates can name themselves for a higher position," Penchev says.

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All regional chiefs of the Interior Ministry directorates are being replaced at the moment, which is expected to build a new image of the Ministry, "Troud" notes. The daily sums up all changes at the directorates except for the Sofia one, the chief of which has been recently appointed. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov gave a 20-day credit of confidence to all police chiefs.
"I have been after Mityo Ochite for eight years," Milen Dimitrov, Police Director of Bourgas, says in an interview given to "Monitor." In his view, some provisions in the Penal Code are not in line with the realities. The society develops dynamically, and the laws develop slowly. It takes a strong, organized State to stand up against organized crime, Dimitrov says. He is categorical that drug boss Dimiter Zhelyazkov, or Mityo Ochite (Mityo the Eyes) as he is known, is "an organized
criminal, which means that he is not alone." In Dimitrov's words, the fact that Zhelyazkov is in the focus of the media makes the people behind him feel quite comfortable in doing what they do. "The State must not allow criminals to choose their punishment. That is why some changes should be done in the Code of Criminal Procedure," Dimitrov says.

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The Bulgarian pension system is bankrupt, Georgi Angelov from the Open Society Institute says in "Troud." In his words, the reason to call the system "bankrupt" is that retirees get low pensions and workers pay high social insurance contributions. He sees the reform of the pension system as its capitalization: young people should make larger savings towards a pension. Furthermore, as owner of enterprises, real estates, woodlands and infrastructure amounting to billions of leva, the State could finance the pension system lending it sustainable stability and finally replacing the current "bankrupt" model.

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"Troud" carries an interview with Academician Nikola Subotinov, President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), who says that the Academy has nearly 130 products which may be introduced right away. "We are setting up companies of our own in which our doctoral students and scientists will introduce our products, will organize productions and will make money," Subotinov says. "On the average, about 120 companies use our products here, in Bulgaria, annually. This number is not small but far from enough. We have patented products in our laboratories in which nobody shows interest. That is why we are setting up those companies. We want that the young and enterprising people use them."


ECONOMY

In a month, the cabinet has economized 450 million leva, "24 Chassa" says. In August Bulgaria's budget deficit was 105 million leva, according to Dow Jones. In July the deficit was 565 million leva. According to the agency, the deficit shrank as a result of cutting down government spending by 15 per cent, the largest cut of all other EU member states. It is pointed out that the government intends to decrease salaries paid in the public sector and to freeze pensions until the summer of 2010. The worst effects of the crisis are still to hit the economy but further spending cuts should see Bulgaria balance its budget in 2009, Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Djankov told Dow Jones.

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"This country is by 300 million leva reacher after a signature," "24 Chassa" says. The daily discusses the measure taken by Boyko Borissov cabinet to stop fuel smuggling. It is recalled that as of October 1, 2009 all petrol stations in Bulgaria should be linked to the National revenue Agency and to report the amounts of fuel sold on a daily basis. This may prove to be one of the most efficient ways of curbing fuel smuggling. Oddly enough, no government did not do it until now. The excuse was that there was no money and that it was not possible technically to build such links. However, experts' estimates show that a petrol station is to invest about 2,000 - 3,000 leva in the project. There are 2,000 petrol stations in Bulgaria which have not been fiscalized. Multiplying their number by 3,000 leva makes a total of 6 million leva - money which the previous governments were reluctant to spend although the return on the investment would be 300 million leva more every year.



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 7, 2009

• Day of National Mourning for the victims of the tragic accident in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, in which a tourist boat sank. Fifteen Bulgarian citizens drowned, 40 survived.

• Bodies of the Bulgarians who died in Ohrid Lake should be identified by their relatives first, and then they could be transported to Bulgaria, said deputy foreign minister Marin Raykov. The forensic medicine in Macedonia has not accepted identification of the bodies made by the other tourists in the group to issue death certificates.

• Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva and Japan Ambassador in Sofia Tsuneharu Takeda exchange notes on a 350,000 euro donation from the Japanese government for the National Art Gallery. The donation is provided under the Japanese Programme for Grant Aid in Culture.