Bulgarian press review, February 19, 2010

Press Review
Sofia, February 19


THE HOME SCENE

Half of the cigarettes in Bulgaria at the moment are contraband, according to sources of the cigarette business quoted in a front-page story in "24 Chassa". Last year alone Bulgarians smoked 8 billion cigarettes for which no excise duty was paid. Real imports totalled 22.5 billion pieces but only 17.2 billion were declared and the losses for the public purse stand at over 600 million leva. According to unofficial information which is close to the figures of the Customs authorities, in March-December 2009 the decline of the amount of cigarettes for which all dues was paid, was 10 per cent, the story goes.
Analyst Tihomir Bezlov says in "24 Chassa" that with the current shape of the Customs Agency and the excessive levels of excise duties, the Exchequer will only lose some of what it used to collect. The most recent haul of contraband cigarettes in Varna only proves this forecast, he adds.

***

"GERB Soften to Smokers" is a headline in "Troud". The story tells of "an unlikely coalition" which came into being Thursday as GERB proposed softer restrictions for smokers in restaurants and bars and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) supported them. By amendments to the healthcare law, the majority is trying to reverse the total ban on smoking in public which is due to take effect from June 1 this year.
"Dnevnik" writes that the total ban on smoking "burned down". "Standard News" quotes Parliament Deputy Chair Luchezar Ivanov (GERB) as saying that with cigarettes "we can't be better Catholics than the Pope".

***

"Douma" reports that municipal and private hospitals are preparing a national protest on April 7. That was reportedly decided at two-hour talks of the CEOs of 26 hospitals across Bulgaria. Local token strikes begin on Friday, said the director of the hospital in Purvomai, Southern Bulgaria, Ivan Madzharov.

***

Asked by "Troud" whether social dialogue exists in Bulgaria, the leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, Zhelyazko Hristov, says, "It exists - good, bad or ambivalent". "Prime Minister Boyko Borissov gets much of the credit for this: when you try to contact him, he immediately comes up with an answer and a response. Social Minister Totyu Mladenov is like that, too, even though he is between the hammer and the anvil," says Hristov. He goes on to say that the unions want to know how the healthcare reforms will continue after starting without concord. "Maybe it is better to stop for a second, look around and listen because there is the sound of the train of discontent coming."

***

In a "24 Chassa", former Labour Minister Emilia Maslarova says she can write a book about how a person can be disgraced with media stories alone. Maslarova faces charges for wrongdoings during her tenure as Labour Minister in the government of socialist Sergei Stanishev. She says in "24 Chassa" that she hopes for charges to be pressed against her soon because she knows she had done nothing wrong.
Speaking about the retirement reform, Maslarova says it should start after 2014. Also, all social payments should be removed from the fund for old age pensions.

***

"Troud" carries an interview with American journalist Claire Berlinski where she says that Bulgaria "is west but with a Marxist problem".

***

In a "Troud" interview, the chairwoman of the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, Rayna Mandzhoukova, describes as "non-sensical" the calls for bringing to Bulgaria another 60,000 of expat Bulgarians. "They don't necessarity want to settle in Bulgaria. There are various reasons for applying for citizenship: some just want to die with a Bulgarian passport in hand," she says.

DEFENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

"Bulgarska Armiya" reports that the condition of three Bulgarian servicemen wounded during in Afghanistan, has improved significantly.
This paper also carries an interview with Deputy Defence Minister Valentin Radev who says that the army should shed any redundant properties.
A front-page story in "Dnevnik" quotes Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov as saying that job cuts in oversees missions will be put on hold. Instead, the Ministry will examine its structure and the structure of the diplomatic service, as well as the proposals for dismissing diplomats, made by Mladenov's predecessor Rumiana Jeleva.

***

"Sega" reports in its website that the Russian Foreign Ministry has told the Bulgarian Ambassador in Moscow, Plamen Grozdanov that it intends to ask Bulgaria officially about the goals and essence of its talks with the US on the deployment of elements of its missle shield in Bulgaria. The paper recalls the Bulgarian and the US position that no negotiations have been held on the matter, and quotes Prime Minister Borissov as saying a couple of days ago that he "pretends he didn't hear" the exchange between US and Russia.

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

All Friday papers report the latest development in the case of former State Agency for National Security (SANS) expert Alexei Petrov on Thursday when the court decided that he stays in remand. "Petrov: Do I Get a People's Court to Try Me?" ("Troud") and "A. Petrov: Stalin-style Repressions" ("Zemya") give an idea of the headlines.
In "Novinar", former Interior Minister Emanouil Yordanov calls "socialist cynicism" the allegations that he was the person to hire Alexei Petrov for the Interior Ministry.
In a "Troud" interview, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov says that several days from now several Interior Ministry officers will have their clearance revoked for communicating with some representatives of Alexei Petrov's criminal group.
In "24 Chassa", journalist and socialist party member Velislava Dureva dismisses the arrest of Petrov and six other suspected members of his crime group as "a show" meant ony to show the world that Bulgaria is fighting crime. In her words, Petrov is only one of the characters in the deceitful show of the transition (to democracy). "What news is that Bulgaria is run by the fifth power composed of money, politics, crime and 'justice'! This news has been no secret in the past 20 years but nobody is willing to do away with the status quo [Е] just the opposite: they cherish it and use it for their own interests - or for another's after embracing them as own.

ECONOMY

All papers - a front-page story in "Klassa" - report that Bulgaria faces a 20 million euro fine for wrongful payments to farmers in 2008 under the Single Area Payment Scheme.

***

"Standard News" writes that casinos have started acting like loan sharks: they offer loans to hooked gamblers and then get their money and homes. The story is based on accounts from checks about which the paper learnt from Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.

***

The papers report the sale of bTV to the CME television group in a 400 million dollar deal. The reports quote an announcement by News Corporation which owned bTV.



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 – Sofia, February 19, 2010

· Official talks on anti-missile defense shield to be disposed in Bulgaria have not been held yet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press office announced as a rely of the note of the Russian Federation, received on February 19. Meanwhile, Bulgaria noted acquisition of nuclear and rocket potential, which violates the agreements on their non-proliferation by countries and terrorist networks, is one of the most serious threats for the common security. Being NATO member state Bulgaria will continue observing strictly the common approach of NATO on taking decision in the security field, including anti-missile defense shield.

· The three people who were detained in a special police operation in Sofia during the night have criminal records. They are known to the police in relation with drugs distribution, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said. During the night the police carried out an operation targeting drugs distribution in the capital city. They seized some 4.5 kg of marihuana, 2 kg of amphetamine, small doses of cocaine and heroin packaged and ready for distribution. “This is the Interior Ministry’s systematic approach to drugs distribution,” said Tsvetanov.

· The Sofia Court of Appeals has ordered that alleged crime boss and former undercover agent Alexei Petrov must remain in custody. In a sitting lasting several hours on February 18 2010, the court ruled that Petrov should remain under arrest, together with Marcelo Djotolov, who was arrested alongside Petrov and five others on February 9 2010 as part of a police operation dubbed Octopus, aimed against an organised crime group. This group, according to Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, had been involved in racketeering, extortion, prostitution, gambling, trafficking of people, money laundering, tax evasion, influence peddling and economic offences, all in the past 10 years. After the arrest it became clear that Petrov had been working as Bulgarian secret services undercover agent since 2000.