Bulgarian press review, December 8, 2009

Press Review
Sofia, December 8 (BTA)

THE HOME SCENE

"Troud" writes that talking with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Monday, Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) leader Yani Yanev demanded ultimatively that his parliamentary group be preserved. "There is only one way for the OLJ - restoring its group by 09:00 hrs on Wednesday," Yanev is quoted as saying. The party is on the verge of disintegration after last Friday its MP Mario Tagarinski walked out of the OLJ parliamentary group. According to the parliamentary rules of procedure, a parliamentary group must have ten members, and now that Tagarinski has left Yanev's group, its members are nine. "After my decision is announced in Parliament, I will remain in it as an independent MP," Tagarinski told National Radio on Monday. In his words, the "OLJ project has become too personalized." "Everybody knows that the word 'ultimatum' does not go down with me," Borissov is quoted as saying.
"OLJ: Here It Comes, There It Goes," "Troud" says discussing the latest developments at the OLJ and the speculations that GERB has a hand in what is happening with it. "The deputy prime minister stated unambiguously that the OLJ is not a political project but a project of SANS (State Agency for National Security)," the author of the article writes. "As if he wanted to say "here it comes, there it goes. Besides, the existence of a political representation fighting corruption more violently than Boyko Borissov is of no use to GERB. That is, this is a clue pointing to an intrigue concocted by the incumbents. On the other hand, however, GERB loses an ally in the fifth month of its rule. What is more, maybe it is making an enemy which is more dangerous than the BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party). Because there is no more dangerous enemy than a former ally.
"Sega" observes that Tagarinski's act has been enough to upset the balance of power. "The buffoonery dubbed 'The OLJ Disintegration' has brought to light the backstage machinations of the concealed government," the item says. "Yani Yanev lost forever his top position in the key Anti-Corruption Committee (Anti-Corruption, Conflict of Interests and Parliamentary Ethics Committee of the National Assembly chaired by Yanev), the purpose of which is to establish the anti-mafia image of the incumbents. The risk of the OLJ taking over the helm of SANS next year, where the damage it can cause may prove fatal, is also eliminated. No doubt, the other two allies of GERB - the Blue Coalition and Ataka - can only but benefit from the weakening of OLJ.

* * *
We should not rule out a coalition of GERB and the MRF (Movement for Rights and Freedoms)," Ivailo Kalfin MEP says in an interview for "Sega." As the major attacks target the BSP while the MRF is in the leeway, Kalfin admits that some secret political agreement between GERB and the MRF is possible. "If we consider the prime minister's language and his attitude to the MRF before and after the elections, and if we consider the attitude of some media to the cabinet, we will see that undoubtedly there is some warmth in the relations between GERB and the MRF. The MRF have not formed a coalition only with GERB of the bigger parties, and such a variant should not be ruled out. It is not important whether it would be an official coalition or just support given when some crucial decision is to be adopted by Parliament. What matters is that they [GERB] can rely on their [the MRF's] support," Kalfin says.

* * *
"UDF Marks Its 20th Anniversary," "24 Chassa" notes. The Union of Democratic Forces was set up on December 7, 1989. The UDF National Council on Monday had an extraordinary meeting and approved a declaration on this occasion. "The UDF is not a party of the transition but a consistent political force which has mapped out the right track Bulgaria should go. We have not betrayed people's hopes. Today is a holiday for all democrats," says the declaration which was passed unanimously.

* * *
Referring to President Georgi Purvanov, who is also Supreme Commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, "24 Chassa" writes that in the opinion of the head of state, cuts in the army's strength should be reduced to a minimum. This is what Purvanov said in Varna on Monday where he attended the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the birth of poet Nikola Vaptsarov. He was commenting on a statement by the defence minister that the army should be downsized due to the Ministry's limited funds. In Purvanov's view, cutting the army's strength should be a step of last resort; before taking it, the Ministry's expenditures should be optimized and the relevant statutory framework should be revised.

* * *
Cadets will have the status of military again, "Troud" says referring to a statement Defence Minister Nikolay Mladenov made at the N. Y. Vaptsarov Naval School in Varna on Monday. In the current Defence Act, the young people studying at the Military University and the military schools are treated as students. However, the new leadership of the Defence Ministry has proposed to revise it and grant them military status.

* * *
"Sega" discusses the head of state's right to pardon inmates, pointing out that this activity should be made public. President Purvanov must take the moral responsibility for the new arrest of Roma leader Tsvetelin Kunchev whom he pardoned four years ago without setting forth his motives in public, the daily writes. "But one thing is clear - it is this pardon that allowed Kunchev to run in the parliamentary elections at the time and to support Purvanov when the latter make his bid for a second term in the Presidency. Which logically raises the question whether the right to pardon involves a humane act or is just used to make deals. The presidential institution should be the most transparent one, and its acts of mercy must be crystal clear. Because this is a right vested in the president by the people both through the Constitution and through the direct election of the head of state. It is not a prerogative of a monarch for life who is under no obligation to give explanations to anybody."

* * *
“24 Chassa" devotes space to the conflict between the Bulgarian Medical Association and the Health Ministry and the lack of a national framework agreement between them. According to Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev, the agreement is ready 95 per cent, what remains are some provisions concerning pricing. The problem is that by law the framework agreement must be signed before passing the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). The other alternative is to amend the operative legislation and sign the agreement after the NHIF budget is approved. In the first case there will be an agreement but the NHIF will not know how much money it has; in the other one the agreement will be concluded on the basis of the available money. It depends what the National Assembly will decide," Nanev says. "The health minister appears to have forgotten he is a medical doctor," Bulgarian Medical Association President Tsvetan Raichinov says. In his words, it is illogical to pledge you are going to stick to the agreement principles and then not to sign an agreement claiming the deadline has been missed. Raichinov is categorical that the medical establishment will not bear responsibility for a reform they are not taking part in.

* * *
"Monitor" runs an interview with Ivan Vulkov, Chairman of the Transport Committee of the National Assembly, who discusses the expected revision of the Road Traffic Act. He observes that the amending bill seeks to improve road traffic safety and reduce road accidents and their victims. Severer sanctions will be introduced for drunk driving, speeding and for persons driving motor vehicles without having a driving licence. A considerable part of the road accidents in the past two years have been due to these three offences.

* * *
"Sega" reports that the prosecuting magistracy have charged two MPs of the MRF, Gyunai Sefer and Mithat Tabakov, with document fraud. In mid-November, Prosecutor General Boris Velchev requested Parliament to strip them of immunity over abuses involving public procurement contracts. Now they are charged with document fraud and if convicted, they may be given between 10 and 20 years in prison.

ECONOMY
Having made a check, "Troud" writes that farmers were not paid their direct subsidies by December 5 as promised. The Finance Ministry said the money would probably be remitted within a week. About 330 million leva of the 771 million leva in direct subsidies and 60 million leva designed for stock-breeders for 2009 were to be paid in December but this would hardly happen as on December 21 the Treasury suspends its operation for the Christmas and New Year season.

* * *
"We are late but it is more important to sell the excess of harmful emissions," Dimiter Brankov, Vice President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, says in an interview for "Dnevnik." Late last week the Environment and Waters Ministry completed the plan on the distribution of quotas among Bulgarian industrial enterprises. After its approval by the Council of Ministers, the plan will be submitted to the European Commission which has been rejecting it for two years now. In Brankov's view, the sales of emissions should start the soonest possible as prices are very low, about 8-9 US dollars per ton, and continue to drop. "If Brussels approves our plan, we can start selling next year," he says.

BULGARIA - EU
"Sega" writes that political games prevent Bulgaria from introducing the euro. There are political and not economic reasons that hinder Bulgaria's access to ERM2, it emerged at an international conference on economic and political challenges before the entry into the euro zone, organized Monday by the Open Society Institute. Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor Ivan Iskrov described the process as extremely complicated, "especially behind the scenes." He cited examples showing that a number of EU member states joined the Euro zone without satisfying the Maastricht criteria. "If we stay out of the Euro zone for another ten years, we may come to not wanting to enter it at all," Georgi Angelov, senior economist at the Open Society Institute, is quoted as saying.








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 – November 30, 2009


· Burgas - Alexandroupolis project

Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW) will have to decide on Burgas - Alexandroupolis project, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said before journalists. "Currently the project is given in the Ministry of Ecology for Environmental Assessment," Borisov said. On question - will the ecology be the only reason that will stop the project, Borisov said: "What more important? If MEW does not issue an environmental impact assessment (EIA) that the project is legitimate and meets our standards as a country ...".
Boyko Borisov said further: "Unfortunately, the negotiations which had been led so far, had different opinions, much more profitable for Bulgaria. So we wait the decision of MEW on these issues. The period for EIA is 18 months.

· ILLEGAL HOUSES - DEMOLITION - BOURGAS

Authorities Demolish Illegal Houses on the Coast
to Clear Area for Fishing Village.An operation started to clear an area of what should have been a fishing village but has instead turned into a quarter of squatter houses near the Black Sea city of Bourgas. Some 200 police and gendarmerie are there to take care of security.
There are a total of 247 illegal houses in the area. Four unfinished houses will be flattened out Tuesday and the rest will go over the next two months, said Milen Nenchev of the local construction supervision authoruty.
Most of these are solid houses of two, three or more floors and their owners reportedly have nothing to do with fishing. Some of the buildings stand right there on the beach which is exclusive state property and nothing is supposed to be built there.
The house owners have squatted on public land in a process that became particularly intensive in the past 15 years. It all started 30 years ago when the local authorities gave away small land plots to fishermen and these started setting up a fishing village on an area around thee canals some 10 km south of
Bourgas. Large-scale construction by squatters started after 1989.
The area that will be cleared after the demolition will turn
into a fishing village as per the new spatial development plan for Bourgas.

· New skiing season in Bulgaria

The new skiing season will be officially opened on December 12.
The big attraction will be a charity competition at the Alberto Tomba ski-run with the participation of a couple of legendary skiers, Pirin Skiing Zone Director Ivan Obreikov told BTA. Expected to participate are Marc Girardelli, Pirmin Zurbriggen, Petar Popangelov, Peter Muller, etc.
Regardless of the high prices, the Bulgarian Tourist Chamber has reported that bookings for the winter season in Bulgaria by foreign tourists are five per cent up year-on-year. Highest number of reservations have been made for Bansko, followed by Borovets and Pamporovo. The winter season is expected to be "saved" by Russian, Serbian and Macedonian tourists.