Bulgarian press review, February 5, 2010

Press Review
Sofia, February 5

FOREIGN POLICY AND DEFENCE

"Troud" leads with a story saying that the whole Lufthansa crew has filed complaints against Volen Sidenov, the leader of the Bulgarian parliamentary party Ataka, after Siderov was arrested at Frankfurt Airport on Wednesday for misbehaving during a flight from Sofia. The paper quotes Frankfurt police spokesman Jurgen Linker. Obviously under the influence of alcohol, during the flight Siderov threw food on the floor and insulted the crew, Linker said. Ten federal police officers participated in his arrest. Approached for comment, Siderov dismissed the whole case as a slander and threatened to sue the air company and all newspapers that wrote about the incident.
"Ataka" newspaper quotes Siderov as saying that he would sue Lufthansa because their crew "did not behaved in the civilized manner expected of a European company" and showed a disparraging attitude to Bulgaria.
"24 Chassa" quotes Ataka deputy floor leader Dessislav Choukolov as saying that Foreign Ministry spokesman Dragovest Goranov will be held accountable for distributing what Choukolov called "false information" that Siderov was arrested in Germany.
In Choukolov's words, Siderov and the Lufthansa crew "only exchanged remarks" during the flight.

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"24 Chassa" carries an interview with Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian Commissioner-designate for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response entitled "The Way We Are Seen from the outside Affects Our Pocket". Georgieva says that what Finance Minister Simeon Djankov is doing for fiscal discipline is very important for having the door to the euro zone open up for Bulgaria and for having Bulgaria's partners treat it in a positive and serious manner.
The paper also runs an interview with Georgieva's mother, Minka Georgieva, where she says that the childhood dream of the future EU commissioner was to be an actress.
"Standard News", too, has an interview with Kristalina Georgieva ("I Have Been Lucky. I Will Be Helping People Again").
"Monitor" quotes MEPs as saying that the opportunities are being explored for sending Rumiana Jeleva, the former Bulgarian Foreign Minister and failed EU Commissioner-designate, to Vienna or Bern as ambassador. Jeleva stays Vice President of the European People's Party.

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In "Standard News", Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov says that the blockade of the Bulgarian-Greek border "will teach us to stand up for our rights".
A front-page story in "Troud" says that "a strike wave is overcoming Greece like a tsunami" and the euro "swallowed water" because of Athens on Thursday, sinking to seven-month lows against the dollar (1 euro to 1.39 dollars). The Bulgarian central bank set an exchange rate of 1.41 leva to the dollar against 1.39 leva a day earlier. Farmers have warned that the blockades are tightening, the story says.

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"168 Chassa" has a story on the double murder of Slavka Naidenova, the sister of the late Bulgarian tycoon Ilia Pavlov, and her 8-year-old son Paul Wilson, in the US. Investigators are reportedly looking into the possibility that the two were killed for old debts of Ilia Pavlov to the Russian mafia.

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"Standard News" reports in a banner headline that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has been invited by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to a Chelsea - Arsenal match on Sunday. Prime Minister Borissov opens a visit to the UK the next day.

HEALTH CARE

"Klassa" and "Douma" have in front-page stories quotes of Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev who told Reuters that the Bulgarian government "is likely to begin a privatization programme of its state hospitals this year, once an overhaul of the indebted and inefficient sector is complete". The Health Minister believes that investor interest would rise once Bulgaria "had put in place a better funding structure for hospitals". The majority of Bulgaria's 350 hospitals are state-owned and 71 of these were on a list of assets banned for privatization, Reuters says quoted by the two papers.

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MPs of GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Ataka are willing to pool efforts and push through milder smoking restrictions for public places, "24 Chassa" reports. A total ban on smoking indoors becomes effective from June 1. Smoking will no longer be allowed in restaurants, bars, night clubs, public and administrative buildings and at the workplace. The ban was enshrined in legislation adopted in 2009 but MPs and restaurant owners agree that it will bring the demise of many businesses.
Emil Dimitrov MP (GERB) was the first to say he was moving revisions, arguing that the ban would be a further blow on tourism. He suggests that Bulgaria should adopt the Spanish model where restaurants and bars have the freedom to choose whether to allow smoking or not. He plans to table the revisions in April. Socialist Kornelia Ninova agrees with him and believes that the current situation should remain where restaurants are allowed to have smoking and non-smoking sections. Another advocate of milder restrictions is said to be Ventsislav Lakov of Ataka.

THE HOME SCENE

In a "Telegraf" interview, Prosecutor General Boris Velchev says that ways should be sought to undo detrimental forest swaps. He is quoted by "24 Chassa" as saying that the forest swaps for which Bulgaria faces a EU sanction of up to 1.5 billion leva, were a crime and not state aids (as the European Commission suspects they may have been).
"Monitor" reports a resolution adopted by Parliament on Thursday, to suspend the change of the assigned purpose of agricultural land located within Protection Zones A and B of the Black Sea coast. In this way Parliament effectively banned construction on such land until July 1, 2010 (by that time the MPs will have to adopt legal revisions). With this ban in effect, close to 3,400 ha of state-owned land on the coast will be saved from development and the owners will only be allowed to engage in farming on their newly acquired property, the paper writes. Kavarna on the northern Bulgarian coast is mentioned as the champion of forest swaps.

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"Dnevnik" - frontpages the sentencing of two men for the 2000 murder of Bulgarian law student Martin Borilski in Paris. Georgi Zhelyazkov will serve 19 years and Stoyan Stoichkov 17 years. The paper observes that after nine years and four court instances working on this case, the Veliko Turnovo Appellate Court is the first to sentence Zhelyazkov and Stoichkov.

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The Bulgarian government is not enthusiastic about investigating Bulgarians who are concealing incomes abroad, "Sega" writes. This reportedly emerged after a meeting of Finance Minister Djankov with his German counterpart Wolfgang Scheuble where Scheuble told him about the measures Germany is contemplating based on information about the bank accounts of EU citizens in tax havens. Djankov is quoted as saying to that that it is an interesting idea and he would think about it.

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Once a national security strategy is adopted, a bill on national security will be drafted as well as a new military strategy and a reservists bill, Defence Minister Anyu Angelov says in a "168 Chassa" interview.
Angelov's deputy Valentin Radev tells "Monitor" that the Air Force needs new fighter aircraft.

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BSP leader Sergei Stanishev tells "Douma" that his party "is the bearer of the Left idea and can't be crushed". He says that Prime Minister Borissov presents Bulgaria as EU's ghetto.

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The Friday papers write about an idea of President Georgi Purvanov to designate a Reconciliation Day in the Bulgarian calendar. The President suggested that during a discussion dedicated to February 4, 1997.
Thirteen years ago, Purvanov as the BSP leader and Nikolai Dobrev as PM-designate, returned a mandate to form a government.
The President suggested that "we should have a place to bring together the Heros, the icons of Left and Right and overcome the narrow partisan and ideological thinking".

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Staff turnover is no longer the problem it used to be for Bulgarian companies in all sectors in the past 2-3 years, HR experts tell "Klassa". The meltdown and growing unemployment have reduced the number of those who quit their job. This has helped many managers involved in HR development, prepare working programmes for motivation and staff retention.

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 5, 2010

· Situation on Greek border is abnormal, Commissary Konstantin Tityanov, head of Ministry of Interior Regional Police Directorate-Blagoevgrad. In his words if representatives of the Bulgarian business block the border the police will immediately inform the Prosecutor’s Office and the police will observe the law.
Commissary Tityanov said further representatives of the Bulgarian business has the right to block the border because, after all, the losses over the blockage are big. He added the police presence will be stepped up in the area.
“The communication between the protesting representatives of the Bulgarian Business Association and the police in the town of Blagoevgrad has been excellent. However, this is a matter of the future, we will see how things will develop,” Tityanov said.
He noted the Ministry of Interior Regional Police Directorate- Blagoevgrad will not allow fights to occur between Greek and Bulgarian protestors at Kulata checkpoint.

· Three light earthquakes have been registered in Bulgaria on Friday morning, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center says on its website. A 2-magnitute quake was recorded 56 km southeastern from Stara Zagora, 27 km southeastern from Radnevo and 23 km northwestern from Topolovgrad at 4km depth. A 2-magnitute tremor was recorded at 8.29am 22 km from Elhovo, 4km northwestern from Topolovgrad and 52km northwestern from Edirne, Turkey. The third 2.7-magnitute jolt was recorded at 8.33 am 19 km northwestern from Svilengrad, 18 km south from Topolovgrad and 34km from Edirne, Turkey.


· The number of cancer patients in Bulgaria has increased by two per cent in a year, according to statistics released in Sofia on February 4 2010, the World Day against Cancer. Doctor Zdravka Valerianova, director of the National Specialist Oncology Hospital, said that in 2008, there had been 34 000 new cancer patients, and that year, 17 000 people in Bulgaria died of cancer. Currently, 223 000 people in the country had malignant cancers. When you know what the risk factors for cancer are, you can help yourself and reduce the risk considerably, Professor Stefka Petrova, director of the National Public Health Protection Centre said.