Bulgarian press review, December 10, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, December 10 (BTA)

HOME SCENE

"Troud" reports that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has withdrawn from the parliamentary committees. The seven Socialist MPs serving as committee deputy chairpersons, quit on Wednesday. This happened after the MPs voted 112-58 to relieve their colleague Emilia Maslarova of her duties as chair of the parliamentary Labour and Social Policy Committee. The motive behind this move was that Maslarova was without immunity and it was immoral that she held a high-ranking position in Parliament.
"BSP will not serve as a fig leave to cover Parliament's shameful acts," BSP leader Sergei Stanishev is reported as saying before journalists. He accused GERB of turning Parliament into a machine for voting decisions, in which even the MPs of the majority do not believe.

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"Sega" writes that the parliamentary group of Order, Lawfulness and Justice (OLJ) has been erased from the register of parliamentary groups after National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva announced that Mario Tagarinski has submitted an application for leaving the group. Tagarinski's move reduced the number of the OLJ group to nine MPs and according to the parliamentary rules of organization and procedure the group has terminated its existence as the number is below the minimum of ten members.

OLJ leader Yane Yanev is cited as saying that "the energy mafia and interests along the GERB-Purvanov axis" are behind the disintegration of the group. In Yanev's view the purpose was to remove him from the Consultative Council on National Security under the President. The OLJ parliamentary group will be transformed into a political group that would comply with the decisions of the party leadership. The main political objective of the newly-formed group will be suspension of the mandate of the 41st National Assembly and convening of a Grand National Assembly.

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In an interview granted for the "Troud" paper Atanas Atanassov, Chairman of the National Assembly Internal Security and Public Order Committee, says it has been obvious for some ten years now that the lack of access to the traffic of data causes serious problems in the combat against heavy crimes. This is why it is necessary to amend the Electronic Communications Act. If there is strict control over the selection of staff, there would be no abuses of such information, Atanassov believes. The project, among other things, envisages amendment to the Penal Code under which persons, having misused such data, will face a two-year imprisonment or probation. However, it is clear that there could never be a 100 per cent guarantee, Atanassov goes on to say. If there is leakage, the law will be changed.

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The author of a commentary in "Sega" recalls that there have been Bulgarian servicemen in Afghanistan since February 2002. It is not clear whether these people wonder what they are doing there, he writes. It is certain, however, that the person that still is this country's Foreign Minister, Rumiana Jeleva, and the cabinet, represented by her, have not asked anyone, when they announced that new units will be committed to Afghanistan. Besides, Bulgaria has already contributed to NATO's Afghan National Army Trust Fund. According to the author, the decisions for involvement or withdrawal of military actions should be taken after a broad political debate and public discussion.


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Parliament extended the validity of the ID documents and driving licences expiring in 2010 with further six months, "Troud" writes on its front page. However, it would be impossible to use such "semi-valid" documents to travel abroad. People frequently travelling to Greece would be most affected.

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"Troud" publishes the results of an opinion poll published by the Mediana Agency. In the past three months support for the GERB party dropped by 10 per cent. Yet, it is too early to say that the public confidence is undermined. Boyko Borissov keeps on being the most popular politician in this country. However, according to the forecasts, the following six months will be the hardest. EU funding is the only resource that could be used to alleviate the situation.

ECONOMY

The 2009 budget will be changed to include a deficit of 500 million leva, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov is quoted as saying by "Troud". This deficit accounts for 0.756 per cent of the country's GDP, the Finance Minister explains. "Thus Bulgaria would be among the EU countries with lowest deficit." Djankov also says that the November surplus was 48 million leva. Besides, the anticipated drop of GDP is changed from 6.5 to 4.9 per cent.

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"24 Chassa" runs an interview with Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov. Asked about the measures that would be undertaken in support of business next year, Traikov says: "They are related even to the fact that we work in team with the remaining ministries, particularly, the Finance Ministry in achieving the macroeconomic goals. Given the budgetary situation the best thing to do is to preserve the favourable conditions for the business activity." Traikov also mentions the active measures: the operational programme, the Development Bank and maximum usage of export insurance.

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In an interview for "Troud" Transport Minister Aleksandar Tsvetkov mentions Danube Bridge 2 and the Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway line as the two biggest projects under the ISPA programme. "There is considerable delay on them. This is why we drafted new schedule and held meetings with the project management units. I think that we mapped out measures, which are already yielding results. We presented new schedules in Brussels and I am optimistic that the railway line will be completed in time." The project implementation is being monitored on a daily basis and non-absorption of the funds would not be allowed, Tsvetkov also says.

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"I believe that the Prime Minister understands why it is important to bust the bank cartel," Aleksei Petrov, Executive Director of the Union of Economic Enterprise, says in an interview for "24 Chassa". Petrov voices support for the idea that budget funds be re-channeled to small and medium-sized enterprises. According to him, there is a tacit agreement to keep the interest rates high at any cost. This prevents the Bulgarian companies from being competitive, he states.

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"Telegraf" writes that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov have hinted that pensioners could receive extra money for Christmas. "We will discuss with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov whether to distribute part of the funds allocated for Christmas bonuses for civil servants among pensioners and socially-disadvantaged, Djankov says cited by the paper.

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"Standart News" cites financier Emil Hursev as saying that workers should be given a bonus salary for Christmas. In his view this would be a strong incentive for them, particularly in a time of a crisis. Hursev also says in the interview that the foreign forecasts about Bulgaria are always wrong. "This is so because every time we would be placed in a matrix, drafted 20 years ago, when Europe's economic geography was different," says he. The same matrix is used today although it is already outdated, Hursev notes.


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 – December 10, 2009

· A private vault on Sofia's Dondoukov Boulevard, owned by the Aso-Pireli security company, was robbed in the early hours of December 10 2009. According to first accounts, between 160 and 190 of the vault's boxes have been opened and emptied by the robbers.
The armed robbery happened 10 minutes after midnight, when a group of armed men attacked the two security guards at the vault. The guards were pushed to the floor and handcuffed. After emptying the vault's boxes, attackers left the scene, taking the CCTV recordings with them.

· Roumyana Zheleva, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister and European Commissioner-designate, has been elected vice president of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political party in the European Parliament.
Zheleva was one of the 10 EPP vice presidents to EPP president Wilfried Martens elected at the party's statutory congress held in Bonn, Germany, on December 9 and 10 2009. She got the votes of 218 delegates.

· Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, has asked addressed the Congress of the European People’s Party in Bonn, Germany, asking the EU rightists for support: “I use this occasion to ask all of you for support in two respects, which will be extremely important for our government. First, for unfreezing the EU funding payments which were blocked during the term of the Socialists… Second, for giving us a chance to be admitted to the Eurozone. So that we can adopt the euro in Bulgaria in 2,5 - 3 years, if possible.”