Bulgarian press review, February 9, 2010

Press Review
Sofia, February 9

FOREIGN POLICY


Bulgaria should be invited immediately to join the Eurozone because of its low budget deficit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at his meeting with visiting Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov, "Klassa" writes. Brown promised to lobby the European Council on February 11 for making the Nabucco gas pipeline project a priority of the entire EU. "Monitor" quotes the British PM as saying that he will do his best for lifting all restrictions for Bulgarians willing to work in Britain. Britons will invest 100 million leva in a Bulgarian electric car plant, "Standart News" says in a subtitle. The investment project is of the US fund Quorus Ventures, and the money will be provided by British companies. This is what PM Borissov said after a meeting with Quorus Ventures officials.

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"24 Chassa" tells about the arrest of Bulgarian medical workers of the children's hospital in Benghazi, Libya, on February 9, 1999 on suspicion of involvement in the infection of 363 Libyan children with HIV.

HOME SCENE

Two sectors of key importance for Bulgaria's security - healthcare workers and policemen, on Monday warned they would rebel, "Sega" says. Medical workers are discontented with cutting the money for healthcare and the closure of hospitals, and policemen will stage protests if they are not provided with decent pay and normal working conditions. "Doctors Issue Ultimatum, "Douma" writes commenting on the issue. Medical workers insist on increasing the budget for healthcare so that it reaches the 2009 level; if their demands are not met by 17:00 hrs local time on February 15, their steering committee will fix a date for a nation-wide protest. "The situation of the Interior Ministry employees is worsening. We want to talk with the prime minister and tell him our discontent is not politically motivated," Policemen's Trade Union leader Ivan Savov said as quoted by "24 Chassa." Police employees insist on increasing the allowances they are given for clothes and food, as well as on raising their base remuneration. They are also dissatisfied with having been deprived of the specific working conditions supplement they were paid before. The Health Ministry responded by massive checks at hospitals; the Interior Ministry blamed the worsening situation on the crisis, "Sega" notes.

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The State should be refunded the difference between the higher market value and the lower prices of woodlands that passed into private hands through swaps, otherwise the European Commission may open an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over providing unauthorized state aid, "Sega" writes referring to sources in the European Court in Luxembourg. Practically, this means that the government should ask the new owners of the woodlands acquired through swaps to pay that difference. If the money is not refunded, Brussels may claim it in the form of a fine plus penalty interest. The way out is not in cancelling the swaps but making them at market prices, Emil Dimitrov MP of GERB says in an interview for "24 Chassa." He has waived his immunity as MP over a scandal with such swaps. "Troud" also carries an interview Dimitrov headlining it "Woodlands Are Expensive If their Status Is Changed."

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The Super Borovets project is deblocked, the Bulgarian partners are surprised, "Troud" says. It quotes a Reuters release which refers to an anonymous representative of the State Fund of the Sultanate of Oman who said that the Super Borovets project would be completed in 2012 and that 800 million euro would be invested in it. The Fund is the major investor in the mega-project for the Borovets mountain resort (Samokov Municipality). However, Samokov Mayor Angel Nikolov and one of the minor investors, Glavbulgarstroy, have been surprised by the statement that came from Muscat. No work is done on the project, the first sod for which was turned in October 2007, they said.

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Voters like PM Borissov's spontaneous reactions but cause the cabinet ministers to feel uncertain, Genoveva Petrova, Executive Director of the Alpha Research Agency, says in an interview for "Dnevnik." In her words, Borissov's is an almost authoritarian mechanism of government, untypical for the government of a democracy.

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

"24 Chassa" carries an item that tells about one of the wealthiest men in Bulgaria, Veliko Zhelev, who was advisor to two former ministers of regional development and public works, Valentin Tserovski and Asen Gagaouzov. Varna-based companies linked to Zhelev won public procurement contracts for 143.6 million leva before VAT. At the time (2004-2008) he held a senior position at the National Road Infrastructure Agency and was advisor to the said ministers. Zhelev ex-wife and an ex-partner of his held interests in the companies which got the contracts. Zhelev's brother was a member of the Management Board and executive director of one of these companies. The prosecuting authorities have initiated proceedings against an unknown perpetrator; the State Agency for National security (SANS) is investigating the case.

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In the past year, many of the special services in the world have not worked with their Bulgarian counterparts. They were directly told: "We will not work with you but I would not tell why because there are foreign media here," PM Borissov said hours before his meeting with the British MI6 in London on Monday, "24 Chassa" writes.

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The National Centre for Safe Internet will work for the establishment of a public register of persons convicted of sexual abuse of children, "Novinar" says. The idea is to publish the names and pictures of sexual abusers. Thus parents could check if there are such persons in the neighbourhood they and their children live. If this is unacceptable, then the Centre proposes that the register be made available to schools and other institutions working with children.

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Policeman Yordan Kostov who, according to the Interior Ministry, is involved with a gang of kidnappers that now is widely known as "The Impudents," has helped resolve a number of killings, including the murder of the Belneyski sisters, "24 Chassa" says. Kostov has been arrested for taking bribes from inmates willing to be allowed a home leave or get more lenient treatment. However, he was conferred a lot of awards and was punished only twice. He was transferred from the Dobrich police to Sofia in 2000 after he was checked for unauthorized contacts with local business circles. Reportedly, even now Kostov has connections with businessmen and politicians of all parties. According to the author of the item, in his relations with prison inmates Kostov most probably was just doing his work, trying to get information and it was just natural to offer them something in return. As to the home leaves, he arranged them thanks to his connections in the prison administrations and the prosecuting magistracy.

ECONOMY

Having polled economists, "Dnevnik" writes that more forecasts are for about a 5 per cent drop in Bulgarian economy. One of the reasons is the shrinkage of domestic demand which proved to be so serious that even the Christmas and New Year season consumption failed to stimulate the economy as expected. Delayed payments to the private sector by the government and the local authorities also had an adverse effect on the economic growth. The daily recalls that in the autumn of 2009 the government forecast a drop of 6.3 per cent in the economy but later adopted a more optimistic view predicting a contraction of 4.9 per cent. As a result of the rising number of companies in trouble and the active rescheduling and renegotiation of debts in the past year, the banks are increasingly often seeking the services of consulting companies in relation to acquisitions, "Dnevnik" writes referring to a survey of its own. The purpose is finding investors ready to put money in otherwise viable companies which have temporary troubles or establishing a company specially for the purpose of buying out companies in trouble or shares therein, financing the deals with bank loans.

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The press writes about traffic problems arising in connection with the latest heavy snowfalls.


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 9, 2010

· The Koulata-Promachonas border checkpoint (between Bulgaria and Greece) was opened at 10.30 am on Tuesday to let 100 trucks in each direction, Commissioner Todor Georgiev, head of the Border Police in Smolyan, told BTA. Some 170 trucks were waiting to pass into Greece. The border authorities on the Bulgarian side are facilitating a speedy passage. The checkpoint, blocked by protesting Greek farmers, was last open to trucks on Sunday afternoon. Since then only cars and buses have been allowed through. The Bulgarian border authorities have no available information of protesting farmers' plans or how long this schedule will be kept.Traffic through the three remaining checkpoint along the Bulgarian-Greek border is normal, said Commissioner Georgiev.

· A police officer was killed and another one was injured in a domestic incident in Enina, Sough-Central Bulgaria, Monday night, the Interior Ministry said. The two policemen responded to an alert for a row in a local home, and were attacked by the home owner. The pepetrator was arrested.

· The energy regulator has instructed the three power distribution companies in Bulgaria, CEZ, EVN and E.ON, to use any internal reserves that may be available, to preclude an increase of electricity prices from the middle of the year, regulator chief Angel Semerdjiev said Tuesday. He suggested that such reserves could come from cost cutting by the companies.