Bulgarian press review, February 8, 2010

Press Review
Sofia, February 8

THE HOME SCENE

"Kostov Pushing Djankov, Borissov to Abyss," Podkrepa Confederation of Labour Konstantin Trenchev says in a "Troud" interview. He notes that the dialogue they have with the power-holders is due, on the one hand, to the Prime Minister, who is a person willing to listen and discuss things, and, on the other hand, to the Social Policy Minister, who has a trade union background. Both are clear about the benefit of mutual contacts. "If we fall out, nobody stands to gain from that. We reckon with the exceedingly delicate situation of the Prime Minister. GERB do not have a majority, they are surrounded by semi-allies whose only concern is how to unseat the present politicians. I would not stake on Kostov, not for the world," Trenchev says. "He gloats over the Government's mistakes. He cannot hide his glee when some of the ministers errs. To him, anybody's failure - and he hates everybody - is his own success," the tradeunionist says, assessing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov.

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Commenting on a statement by Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) leader Martin Dimitrov attacking the President's veto on the Defence and Armed Forces Act, "Troud" comments that "the actual issue is whom should the Chief of Defence report to: the Defence Minister or the President. There was no such clause in the law until 2000. At that time, Peter Stoyanov was president and the UDF was in power. The UDF cabinet moved the amendments to Parliament. In 2000, UDF leader Ivan Kostov was prime minister. That is why the present UDF leader asked the then UDF leader why he has inserted the requirement in question into the law which now sparks controversy in Parliament. We thus might be led to believe that 'that' president was ours while 'this' president is not and is not entitled to such a 'perk'. Another self-evident conclusion is that an MP should not have a short memory," the daily observes.

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"Nearly a month and a half after the high-profile arrests of the kidnappers' ring called 'The Impudent' by the Interior Ministry and the prosecuting magistracy, instead of the case clearing up the unknowns are increasing," "Sega" comments. "The feeling is that the loop around the fearsome gang is loosening. Prosecutors have no answers to more and more questions, while the court is getting hesitant about their evidence. That is why it is difficult to predict whether these bombastic operations will lead to convictions. All the more so that all court hearings of the case are held in camera and it is very difficult to judge objectively the cogency of the prosecution evidence."
Interior Minister Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev says in a "Standart News" interview that "we cannot possibly succeed by an office worker's approach, by simply 'going to work' from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are confronted by a strongly motivated opposition on the part of the criminal underworld. Just as they are aware that each mistake is fatal for them, we, too, must realize this. There are no minor problems, there is work done and not done, a success or a failure. The latter is unthinkable for us," a categorical Georgiev says.

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The Mediana Agency found in a nationally representative opinion poll, commissioned by "Troud", that the Jeleva case and the ensuing Cabinet changes affected approval fatings for January. Approval for Nickolay Mladenov surged by 10 percentage points because, after Rumiana Jeleva, the former defence minister was welcomed to his new workplace, the Foreign Ministry, with huge hopes. The approval rating of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov declined from 66 to 62 per cent. The big surprise was Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, whose 51 per cent approval nearly drew level with President Georgi Purvanov's 53 per cent. Purvanov is the second most approved politician after Borissov.

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Georgi Kadiev says in "24 Chassa" that he will run for leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). "The six-month GERB incumbency has been poor quality, but there is no tangible shift of moods back to the BSP. On the contrary, if the economy collapses and the BSP proves inadequate, Ivan Kostov may well prove to be the big winner. If the BSP is divided on whether there is a change or the change is faked, this can be cleared up only at a congress until the end of this year. So that a new leadership, if any, could have time to make changes before the 2011 local elections. If there is a new congress now and a chairman is elected there, I will run. And if I succeed, it won't be a palace coup, it won't be because of the apparat but in spite of it," Kadiev says.

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"Troud" reports that forty former police officers and experts in security, European and international law Saturday set up a non-governmental Alliance for Secure Bulgaria. The idea of the new association is to use the experience and contacts of former security services personnel for the elaboration of expert assessments to assist the instititutions and for proposals for legislative amendments.

ECONOMY

"A new, less acute crisis is likelier than insignificant growth," Democrats for Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov predicts in a "Dnevnik" interview. He sees as "normal" the fact that the finance and economic ministers forecast economic growth. "That's how all power-holders talk. But observers, economists, macroeconomists are much estranged from corporate economics," Kostov argues. He expects 2010 budget revenues to be less than last year's. "Economic activity probably continues to contract. It is acceptable to have a deficit in the first quarter only if it is offset in the coming months. Otherwise, the deficit may get out of control," Kostov warns.
Interviewed for "Telegraf", Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydeov explains that "[forest land] swaps are a crime rather than a State aid." "We have rallied behind the standpoint that we will argue that this is a crime and that the officials who committed it will be held criminally liable. On the whole, however, this is not a policy of the State intended to benefit somebody because unauthorized State aid implies that the State has purposefully created conditions to benefit particular entitites, and moreover selectively. A step intended to assist, say, a particular branch, would qualify as State aid. I donТt think that those who took advantage represent a branch," Naydenov reasons.
"The former government withheld letters on the forest land swaps," "Troud" reports. "The scandal surrounding the likelihood of Bulgaria being fined over 55 million euro because of the forest land swaps is two years old, and now it is entering a new phase. Letters between the European Commission, the Ministry of Finanance and the State Forestry Agency were withheld while the three-party coalition government was in office," Deputy Agriculture Minister Georgi Kostov told the daily on Sunday. Sixteen non-governmental organizations have sent the European Commission two alerts about the swaps under the Stanishev Cabinet.
"Either GERB will cancel the swaps, or the swaps will cancel GERB," "24 Chassa" writes in an analysis. "Forest and land swaps cannot be ignored," the author writes. "GERB will have to do better than a moratorium. Otherwise, it will make an untimely exit from the stage, and Boyko Borissov will have to bid an unglorious good bye to his promising political career. Undoubtedly, this is the most painful political issue now and cannot be evaded for three fundamentally new reasons. First, the latest elections gave rise to specific expectations that the State will recover the stolen land tracts. Secondly, the bottom-up pressure was recently augmented by a top-down and external pressure. The European Union has already threatened to fine us. Thirdly, authentic non-governmental organizations have emerged over the last couple of years. They are firm in their convictions and are gaining strength."

BULGARIA - EU

The absorption of 203 million euro under Operational Programme Transport, as well as of money under Operational Programme Environment, is in jeopardy, "Troud" writes, quoting from the 2009 report on the absorption of EU funding of the National Assembly European Affairs and EU Funds Oversight Committee. The document found that the most tangible delay in the Transport Programme is in the road sector, for which nearly 1,000 million euro has been allocated. There is a credible risk of an automatic release of resources under the budget in 2011 due to non-absorption. Under Operational Programme Environment, none of the 23 regional landfills have gone under construction.
"Bulgaria has abosrbed 1.3 per cent of the funding under the EU operational programmes," "Sega" says in its coverage of the report.


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 8, 2010

· On Monday morning Russian-flagged ship IRTYSH 1 broke its anchor chain and the high wind carried it away to the shallow waters in Burgas Bay, opposite the village of Kraymorie. Before the incident the ship was at a roadstead in the city of Burgas where it was waiting to receive information about the next port, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications announced.The captain of the vessel issued a distress signal and two tugboats were sent to help the ship. A third one is on standby.The crew of the ship is out of danger and there is no information about environmental pollution.


· Bulgaria emerged completely snowbound on February 8 2010, as excessive snowfall is reported across the country, with the exception of the southwest where it is currently raining, Bulgarian media reported.Traffic in Sofia is impeded in most areas, with heavy congestion observed on Tsar Boris 3 Boulevard, as well as Tsarigradsko Chaussee, Cherni Vruh Boulevard, Bratia Buxton Boulevard, and the southern boroughs of Boyana, Kniazhevo and Dragalevtsi on Vitosha Mountain. According to the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) there were 42 snow-clearing machines active on Sofia's main arteries on the morning of February 8.


· Several municipalities in Northern and Northeastern Bulgaria have declared a state of emergency due to the snowdrifts, heavy snowfall and low temperatures. They are Dulovo, Samuil, Isperih, Tutrakan and Sitovo.In the municipality of Dulovo only the road between the cities of Silistra and Shumen is open. The schools will be closed on Tuesday as well.The municipality of Samuil will be in a state of emergency until February 10.