Press Review
Sofia, January 11
THE HOME SCENE
"Boyko Borissov: 100 Per Cent Chairman": under this front-page headline "Troud" quotes Prime Minister and GERB leader Boyko Borissov as telling the delegates of his party's National Meeting on Sunday that "GERB's only opponent is GERB itself. The Complacency and corruption in government will not be tolerated. There will be no compromise for anyone who tries to steal." Borissov was elected unanimously party Chairman by 1,227 delegates.
"24 Chassa" quotes outgoing GERB chairman and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as saying at the National Meeting that "nothing can separate" him from Borissov. "I don't know how it cropped up that there is a conflict between Borissov and Tsvetanov. Can't any of those people realize that Tsvetanov would not have been Tsvetanov without Borissov? Can't any of those people realize that the GERB project would not have existed without a unity between Borissov and Tsvetanov?" He pledged that their tandem will not be broken up.
Under the heading "GERB between Power and Temptations," sociologist Yulii Pavlov comments in "Standart News" that European People's Party (EPP) Wilfred Martens gave a very important assessment at the forum. "He made it crystal clear that GERB is their partner in Bulgaria. This is the latest EPP acknowledgement of the role of GERB and especially of Boyko Borissov for the development of this country. It shows something more: that the traditional Right has lived out its time and is pushed into the fringe of political life. Any disputes about the authenticity of Bulgaria's Right are closed, as far as Europe is concerned."
* * *
"Yane Yanev to Bring down Cabinet," "Troud" notes in a headline. Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) Party leader Yane Yanev said in Blagoevgrad on Sunday that he is launching active steps for the ouster of the Boyko Borissov Cabinet. "We are ruled by a party which is a hybrid of the BCP [Bulgarian Communist Party] and the Interior Ministry," Yanev said, calling on all Bulgarians to shed fear and resignation and to support the OLJ rally in Sofia on March 10. Later on, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told bTV: "The sudden riot of tobacco growers, the unlawful construction of something purporting to be a monument is things that test us as power holders. I think that in February-March, when the winter is severe and the crisis is at its height, they will try to destabilize and, certainly, Yane Yanev will help them."
"PM Best at Steps Back:" under this heading, "Troud" carries an interview with sociologist Zhivko Georgiev. He notes that "during the last three months of GERB's incumbency, the Prime Minister has shown growing sensitivity to criticism in the positive sense of the word. On several occasions he proved capable of listening to reasonable arguments coming from the outside: from the opposition, from social groups, from partners, from the President. The truest steps that GERB and above all the PM have taken in recent months have been the steps back. The PM's actions may seem inconsistent, but what matters more is that they correct the inadequate decisions of the more Tale ban-minded part of the GERB activists," Georgiev argues.
* * *
GERB Floor Co-leader Iskra Fidossova says in an interview for "Klassa" that her party encounters great difficulties in areas with ethnically mixed population. "People there are afraid to come and see us," Fidossova says. "They sneak in, lest some of the local leaders of the MRF [Movement for Rights and Freedoms] see them. May be they are harassed in some way. But now that we have become a ruling party, the tangible change is evident. I think those people will gather strength to overcome fear and be a little more open to us."
* * *
"Sega" notes in a comment that "Prime Minister Boyko Borissov fulfils quite a few popular wishes. All you need to do to have your wish fulfilled is meeting with Borissov. Still, little progress is being made. Parliament's efficiency is dismal, having completed its first session with 50 unfinished bills and at least as many that are urgent but have not been even started. The numerous decisions with hours-long shelf life wreak havoc and smack of incompetence. The lack of a coalition in practice liquidated the opposition, because Bulgarian experience shows that checks and balances are only possible with coalition government as partners are constantly on the watch for one another. Paradoxically, quite a few of the things for which the previous governments were detested have disappeared now, yet confidence in GERB is dwindling. One reason is that the 'public debate' invariably sticks to insignificant and populist issues, whose vacuity we discover only when they materialize."
* * *
"Djankov will be perceived as the necessary evil," sociologist Anatolii Gulubov predicts in an interview for "Sega." He does not expect the stability of the GERB government to come under serious threats during the new political year as long as it presses ahead with the reforms. "GERB's policies and conduct could most probably change in terms of accelerating the pace of reforms and the competence of the members of Parliament. This has everything to do with the relations between GERB and The Blue Coalition, insomuch as the reformist experience is concentrated precisely there. So far Bulgaria has had just a single reformist cabinet in conditions of a serious crisis, and this has been the Kostov Cabinet."
* * *
"No Handover Interface? It's a Load off Interior Ministry's Back," Deputy Interior Minister Vesselin Vouchkov says in a "Troud" interview. He notes that "the idea is that operators should identify to the Communications Regulation Commission a contact point which will be constantly accessible to prosecutors, investigating police officers and other such. It is very important to fix a maximum time limit within which the Interior Ministry should receive the traffic data, say, two hours after the court ruling. We at the Interior Ministry do not need interface. On the contrary, giving up the interface will be a load off our back because otherwise abuse will always be suspected."
* * *
In "Standart News," Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev says there are several options of addressing the issue of the under funding of medical services. One way is to seek a possible increase of the health insurance contribution. The other way is to create a health insurance model including other pillars as well. The third way is to require patients to co-pay a certain percentage of the service. But this need not be money out of their own pocket. It may be an incentive for supplementary insurance, above all voluntary, the Minister explains.
ECONOMY
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov say’s in an interview for "24 Chassa" that an agency will be managing state property worth 50,000 million leva. He attaches great importance to it because the State owns enormous assets. "We have an idea to pool minority interests in one place and transfer the proceeds from dividends directly to the Silver Fund for pensions. I expect that we will concentrate state-owned majority interests worth 30,000-40,000, even 50,000 million leva in the agency. Just imagine the Bulgarian Energy Holding! We have not yet decided whether that agency should take over the ministries' property as well. Another option is to decentralize in municipalities. In any case, the setting up of such agency is exceedingly important from a fiscal point of view because the State must be a good administrator of its property and must prudently reallocate the yield of this property to the benefit of citizens."
"The State dips deeply into our pockets. But what does it give us?" Peter Ganev of the Institute for Market Economics comments in "24 Chassa." He notes that in 2010 Bulgarians will produce an average 174 million leva per calendar day, according to the expected GDP. Therefore, generating the 26,400 million leva planned budget revenues will take nearly 152 days in 2010. Bulgarians will be working for as long as five solid months to fill the public purse. What they get in exchange is a different matter. Bad health care, problematic education, low pensions and, worst of all - an impossibility to guarantee security and justice."
The lump-sum end-of-life fee paid upon import of a car older than 10 years has been increased from 220 leva to 242 leva, the Environment Ministry warns, quoted by "Troud". The end-of-life fee for brand new cars is hiked as well, from 121 leva to 133 leva. Vehicles manufactured up to five years ago will require a fee of 182 leva, up from 165 leva before, and those aged between 5 and 10 years, 230 leva, compared to 209 leva so far.
BULGARIA - EU
"Bulgaria Closes 67 Dairy, Meat Farms for the Sake of EU,"
"Sega", reports. Despite the numerous postponements granted by the EU, they have failed to meet the hygiene requirements, the Agriculture Ministry said on Sunday. Brussels gave Bulgaria until the end of 2009 to have all its cheese producers modernize their buildings, meet hygiene requirements and introduce a product traceability system. Just months ago, Brussels extended until the end of 2011 the modernization deadline for 80,000 Bulgarian companies which supply milk processors and meat packers with milk and meat.
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, January 11, 2010
· Czech power utility company CEZ Bulgaria has announced that starting from February 1, 2010 it will now regulate and monitor electric consumption on a monthly basis. It said in a media statement that the company "has proven that it respects the Bulgarian institutions, the decisions of the energy sector, and that it operates in the best interest of its customers".
· Employees of BDZ ( the national railway transport company)-Passenger Transportation’s maneuver brigades have mounted a protest at Central Railways Station Sofia, press center of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) told FOCUS News Agency. The reason for the demonstrations is unpaid monthly salaries for last November.
mandag den 11. januar 2010
fredag den 8. januar 2010
Bulgarian press review, January 8, 2010
Press Review
Sofia, January 8
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
"Monitor" reports that the mafia has threatened to kill a magistrate."Zemya" quotes Prosecutor General Boris Velchev as saying that Sofia City Prosecutor Nikolai Kokinov has received death threats. Out of concern for his safety, Kokinov has been given security, writes "24 Chassa". When approached, Kokinov declined ANY comments. However, court officials say that they saw him accompanied by a bodyguard as early as Wednesday. Kokinov's Deputy Roman Vassilev, who is also said to have received security, declined to comment too.
***
"Standart News" writes that the Interior Ministry and the prosecuting magistracy are launching Operation "Bulgarian Octopus", which will round up gangsters with several pending cases.
***
In a "Telegraph" interview, Commissioner Valeri Yordanov, Chief of the Sofia police, says that footage from CCTV cameras near the place where radio host Boris Tsankov was killed is unclear and his killers could not be seen. Footage is yet to be analyzed by experts. The Commissioner says that the police have enough operational methods to get to Tsankov's physical killers.
***
"Troud" writes that just days before he was murdered, Boris "Bobby" Tsankov told magistrates that he was afraid of [alleged crime bosses] Stefan "Sako" Bonev, Meto Ilienski, Mityo "The Eyes", Georgi Vassilev's successors and Krassimir and Nikolai Marinovi, known as the Marguin Brothers. Tsankov said that he feared they might retaliate after he lifted the curtain on the underworld. The daily carries an interview with Lyudmil Rangelov, a defence counsel for the Marguins, who says that charges against the two are ridiculous. Given that the perpetrators are still at large, claims that Krassimir Marinov ordered the murder and Nikolai Marinov was his accomplice are beyond comprehension. According to Rangelov, the Marguins and Tsankov never crossed paths.
Tsankov ired the Marguins after he boasted he was going to make shocking revelations about some gang-style murders of recent years, "24 Chassa" reports. According to a high-ranking official of the Interior Ministry there is a grain of truth in Tsankov's disclosures, which made Krassimir and Nikolai Marinov feel threatened. According to the newspaper, there are solid leads that the brothers ordered Tsankov's murder. The modus operandi shows that the brothers had a hand in the killing. After boasting that they knew too much, mafia chronicler Georgi Stoev and Yordanka Zapryanova were also assassinated. Zapryanova, mother of shot financier Konstantin Dishliev, used to say that she knew vital information about the drug mafia and money laundering. She accused her Dishliev's brother-in-law, Brendo, of her son's death. Brendo is said to be linked to the Marguins.
Zapryanova was shot in 2007. "24 Chassa" reports that Tsankov had 12 sentences for fraud. There were 66 complaints against him by members of the public who he had swindled out of their money. There was evidence that Tsankov had made over 100,000 leva (roughly 50,000 euro) through fraud. Clouds started to thicken over his head after the arrest of the alleged drug boss Stefan "Sako" Bonev.
Tsankov was a police informer and had plans of taking up a career in politics, "168 Chassa" weekly writes.
***
According to "Ataka", the Marguins donated money to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
***
The police are looking for another horror house, where the kidnapping ring, dubbed the Impudents, held their hostages. One of the arrested men confessed to a fifth location, but would not say where it was unless he got lighter sentence.The hideouts were used for two and a half years. Being part of a criminal group carries up to 15 years in prison. The law provides for a plea bargain with the prosecuting authorities, provided the suspects agree to spend at least ten years in prison, magistrates explained. The final decision is up to the court. Ring leaders might get an additional five years in prison.
THE HOME SCENE
Another 380,000 people run the risk of falling through the cracks of the health care system, said Katya Kashumova of the National Revenue Agency, quoted by "Douma", "Dnevnik" and "Klassa." The reason is changes to the Health Insurance Act effective January 1 under which the Health Insurance Fund will not cover costs for treatment if people have failed to medical insurance contributions for more than three months over a 36-month period. "Standart News" writes that those on the black list have until January 25 to settle their debts.
***
"Pari" headlines "Big Brother in Excise Industry." "24 Chassa" also reports on a new ordinance by the Finance Ministry which introduces smart systems for fiscal controlin wineries. The systems will send real-time data to control bodies. Some 260 wineries will be overseen by the customs authorities.
***
In an interview for "168 Chassa", Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov says that his ambition is not just for Bulgaria to emerge from the crisis, but to take the country to a mid-European level, which is doable in six years.
***
In an interview for "24 Chassa". Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova says that snow cleaning equipment will be stationed overnight in the capital's downtown when a snowfall is forecast. Fandakova also says that Sofia's draft budget allocates money for rehabilitation of parks and that the Sofia City Hall has agreed with the government to receive ownership of the Boris' Garden.
A "Pari" analysis raises the question whether Sofia's record-high budget will make any impact on the lives of Sofianites.
***
"Troud" runs an interview with Ombudsman Ginyo Ganev. Some 11,471 complaints were forwarded to the Ombudsman. Most numerous are those related to disputes over property ownership and petitions for revisions of urban development plans, followed by complaints over poor public services, social activities, labour rights, health care and education.
***
"Troud" carries an analysis on the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, founded by Ahmed Dogan and his associate on January 4 1990, which makes the point that the Movement never loses.
FOREIGN POLICY
In a leading feature "Troud" writes that as a row flared up between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his predecessor Sergei Stanishev, it emerged that Bulgaria has paid a ransom for a Bulgarian national, who was kidnapped in Somalia. Through its own sources "Troud" has confirmed that the incumbent government paid ransom money that was pledged by then Prime Minister Stanishev. Borissov and Stanishev refused to confirm the reports, saying that the information was classified. According to the daily, however, the national in question was a Bulgarian woman who was kidnapped by Somalis during Stanishev's tenure. She was working for a foreign company. After some written xchanges, Bulgaria promised to pay part of the ransom money. However, Borissov was surprised to find out that it was his cabinet that had to remit the money.
***
Foreign Ministry official Assen Makedonov, who until last year was head of the Domestic Diplomatic Properties Agency, has been charged with large-scale misuse of funds, reports "24 Chassa". The daily cites records of his overseas business travels which show a nine-day trip to Honolulu for 18,000 leva (roughly 9,000 euro), an eight-day trip to Orlando, Florida for 20,000 leva, a one-week conference in Las Vegas for 17,000 leva, business meetings in Bangkok, Dubai, Palm Beach and the French Riviera for a total of 265,561 leva. Makedonov self-approved his trips abroad and his reports. According to a source at the prosecution magistracy, the Makedonov case might as well get a European flavour, as prosecutors want to summon MEP Ivailo Kalfin, former Foreign Minister and Makedonov's superior, for questioning, writes "24 Chassa".
***
Seventh company will be authorized for committal to the NATO Mission in Kandahar, reports "Bulgarian Army" weekly.
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, January 8,2010
· Bulgaria PM Boyko Borisov has made it clear that former PM and BSP leader Sergey Stanishev ordered a ransom to be paid for the release of 16 Bulgarian sailors who were kidnapped by Somali pirates last April. Borisov hit back at Bulgarian Socialist Party MPs who yesterday slammed him for paying part of an alleged USD 2 M ransom for the release of 16 Bulgarian sailors aboard the Malaspina Castle ship in the Gulf of Aden. He strongly suggested that his GERB government had been forced to pay the ransom that Stanishev had ordered.
· Bulgaria Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has stated that the center-right GERB government is looking at the possibility of dispensing with the original interface proposal to monitor internet traffic and mobile phone calls. Tsvetanov was speaking after a meeting with the initiative committee who are against the interface proposal which will allow the Ministry of Interior access through a direct interface to the data for the calls and the mobile devices positioning of every single citizen without any legal reason.
· 18 people with criminal records have been detained in special police operations in the southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, District Polcie Directorate – Plovdiv announced. During the operations, which took place between the beginning of the year and January 8, the police arrested seven people, whom they were searching nationwide, five men with drugs and six prostituting women.
Sofia, January 8
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
"Monitor" reports that the mafia has threatened to kill a magistrate."Zemya" quotes Prosecutor General Boris Velchev as saying that Sofia City Prosecutor Nikolai Kokinov has received death threats. Out of concern for his safety, Kokinov has been given security, writes "24 Chassa". When approached, Kokinov declined ANY comments. However, court officials say that they saw him accompanied by a bodyguard as early as Wednesday. Kokinov's Deputy Roman Vassilev, who is also said to have received security, declined to comment too.
***
"Standart News" writes that the Interior Ministry and the prosecuting magistracy are launching Operation "Bulgarian Octopus", which will round up gangsters with several pending cases.
***
In a "Telegraph" interview, Commissioner Valeri Yordanov, Chief of the Sofia police, says that footage from CCTV cameras near the place where radio host Boris Tsankov was killed is unclear and his killers could not be seen. Footage is yet to be analyzed by experts. The Commissioner says that the police have enough operational methods to get to Tsankov's physical killers.
***
"Troud" writes that just days before he was murdered, Boris "Bobby" Tsankov told magistrates that he was afraid of [alleged crime bosses] Stefan "Sako" Bonev, Meto Ilienski, Mityo "The Eyes", Georgi Vassilev's successors and Krassimir and Nikolai Marinovi, known as the Marguin Brothers. Tsankov said that he feared they might retaliate after he lifted the curtain on the underworld. The daily carries an interview with Lyudmil Rangelov, a defence counsel for the Marguins, who says that charges against the two are ridiculous. Given that the perpetrators are still at large, claims that Krassimir Marinov ordered the murder and Nikolai Marinov was his accomplice are beyond comprehension. According to Rangelov, the Marguins and Tsankov never crossed paths.
Tsankov ired the Marguins after he boasted he was going to make shocking revelations about some gang-style murders of recent years, "24 Chassa" reports. According to a high-ranking official of the Interior Ministry there is a grain of truth in Tsankov's disclosures, which made Krassimir and Nikolai Marinov feel threatened. According to the newspaper, there are solid leads that the brothers ordered Tsankov's murder. The modus operandi shows that the brothers had a hand in the killing. After boasting that they knew too much, mafia chronicler Georgi Stoev and Yordanka Zapryanova were also assassinated. Zapryanova, mother of shot financier Konstantin Dishliev, used to say that she knew vital information about the drug mafia and money laundering. She accused her Dishliev's brother-in-law, Brendo, of her son's death. Brendo is said to be linked to the Marguins.
Zapryanova was shot in 2007. "24 Chassa" reports that Tsankov had 12 sentences for fraud. There were 66 complaints against him by members of the public who he had swindled out of their money. There was evidence that Tsankov had made over 100,000 leva (roughly 50,000 euro) through fraud. Clouds started to thicken over his head after the arrest of the alleged drug boss Stefan "Sako" Bonev.
Tsankov was a police informer and had plans of taking up a career in politics, "168 Chassa" weekly writes.
***
According to "Ataka", the Marguins donated money to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
***
The police are looking for another horror house, where the kidnapping ring, dubbed the Impudents, held their hostages. One of the arrested men confessed to a fifth location, but would not say where it was unless he got lighter sentence.The hideouts were used for two and a half years. Being part of a criminal group carries up to 15 years in prison. The law provides for a plea bargain with the prosecuting authorities, provided the suspects agree to spend at least ten years in prison, magistrates explained. The final decision is up to the court. Ring leaders might get an additional five years in prison.
THE HOME SCENE
Another 380,000 people run the risk of falling through the cracks of the health care system, said Katya Kashumova of the National Revenue Agency, quoted by "Douma", "Dnevnik" and "Klassa." The reason is changes to the Health Insurance Act effective January 1 under which the Health Insurance Fund will not cover costs for treatment if people have failed to medical insurance contributions for more than three months over a 36-month period. "Standart News" writes that those on the black list have until January 25 to settle their debts.
***
"Pari" headlines "Big Brother in Excise Industry." "24 Chassa" also reports on a new ordinance by the Finance Ministry which introduces smart systems for fiscal controlin wineries. The systems will send real-time data to control bodies. Some 260 wineries will be overseen by the customs authorities.
***
In an interview for "168 Chassa", Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov says that his ambition is not just for Bulgaria to emerge from the crisis, but to take the country to a mid-European level, which is doable in six years.
***
In an interview for "24 Chassa". Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova says that snow cleaning equipment will be stationed overnight in the capital's downtown when a snowfall is forecast. Fandakova also says that Sofia's draft budget allocates money for rehabilitation of parks and that the Sofia City Hall has agreed with the government to receive ownership of the Boris' Garden.
A "Pari" analysis raises the question whether Sofia's record-high budget will make any impact on the lives of Sofianites.
***
"Troud" runs an interview with Ombudsman Ginyo Ganev. Some 11,471 complaints were forwarded to the Ombudsman. Most numerous are those related to disputes over property ownership and petitions for revisions of urban development plans, followed by complaints over poor public services, social activities, labour rights, health care and education.
***
"Troud" carries an analysis on the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, founded by Ahmed Dogan and his associate on January 4 1990, which makes the point that the Movement never loses.
FOREIGN POLICY
In a leading feature "Troud" writes that as a row flared up between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his predecessor Sergei Stanishev, it emerged that Bulgaria has paid a ransom for a Bulgarian national, who was kidnapped in Somalia. Through its own sources "Troud" has confirmed that the incumbent government paid ransom money that was pledged by then Prime Minister Stanishev. Borissov and Stanishev refused to confirm the reports, saying that the information was classified. According to the daily, however, the national in question was a Bulgarian woman who was kidnapped by Somalis during Stanishev's tenure. She was working for a foreign company. After some written xchanges, Bulgaria promised to pay part of the ransom money. However, Borissov was surprised to find out that it was his cabinet that had to remit the money.
***
Foreign Ministry official Assen Makedonov, who until last year was head of the Domestic Diplomatic Properties Agency, has been charged with large-scale misuse of funds, reports "24 Chassa". The daily cites records of his overseas business travels which show a nine-day trip to Honolulu for 18,000 leva (roughly 9,000 euro), an eight-day trip to Orlando, Florida for 20,000 leva, a one-week conference in Las Vegas for 17,000 leva, business meetings in Bangkok, Dubai, Palm Beach and the French Riviera for a total of 265,561 leva. Makedonov self-approved his trips abroad and his reports. According to a source at the prosecution magistracy, the Makedonov case might as well get a European flavour, as prosecutors want to summon MEP Ivailo Kalfin, former Foreign Minister and Makedonov's superior, for questioning, writes "24 Chassa".
***
Seventh company will be authorized for committal to the NATO Mission in Kandahar, reports "Bulgarian Army" weekly.
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, January 8,2010
· Bulgaria PM Boyko Borisov has made it clear that former PM and BSP leader Sergey Stanishev ordered a ransom to be paid for the release of 16 Bulgarian sailors who were kidnapped by Somali pirates last April. Borisov hit back at Bulgarian Socialist Party MPs who yesterday slammed him for paying part of an alleged USD 2 M ransom for the release of 16 Bulgarian sailors aboard the Malaspina Castle ship in the Gulf of Aden. He strongly suggested that his GERB government had been forced to pay the ransom that Stanishev had ordered.
· Bulgaria Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has stated that the center-right GERB government is looking at the possibility of dispensing with the original interface proposal to monitor internet traffic and mobile phone calls. Tsvetanov was speaking after a meeting with the initiative committee who are against the interface proposal which will allow the Ministry of Interior access through a direct interface to the data for the calls and the mobile devices positioning of every single citizen without any legal reason.
· 18 people with criminal records have been detained in special police operations in the southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, District Polcie Directorate – Plovdiv announced. During the operations, which took place between the beginning of the year and January 8, the police arrested seven people, whom they were searching nationwide, five men with drugs and six prostituting women.
torsdag den 7. januar 2010
Bulgarian press review, January 7, 2010
Press Review
Sofia, January 7
THE HOME SCENE
In a leading headline "Sega" says that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov threatened with dismissal Minister without Portfolio Bojidar Dimitrov who is responsible for Bulgarians abroad. The report on the topic in the daily says that Dimitrov's binding Turkey's bid to join the European Union with the problem with the compensations for the refugees from Eastern Thrace in Bulgaria proved a big diplomatic gaffe. In an interview to BTV on Wednesday evening Borissov said that he has warned Dimitrov with dismissal. Borissov argued in the interview that Dimitrov's statement about the compensations wanted by Bulgarian refugees might have come form a museum curator or a historian but not from a cabinet member. Some of the newspapers' reports on the topic say that Dimitrov's statement earned him a "yellow card".
Deputy Foreign Minister Marin Raikov is quoted as saying that Bulgaria's position is that there is no direct link between unresolved Bulgaria-Turkey issues and the enlargement of the European Union.
* * *
The murder Tuesday of notorious TV and radio anchorman Boris "Boby" Tsankov (30) continues to be a headline news item. On Wednesday the prosecution authority pressed charges against Krassimir Marinov for instigating Tsankov's murder, the newspapers write. Marinov himself was arrested in the wake of Tsankov's murder. He and his younger brother, Nikolai Marinov, aka the Marguins brothers, are believed to be involved in organizing several contract killings in the past years.
"Sega" notes that the charges against Krassimir Marinov for Tsankov's killing were pressed shortly before the expiry of the 24 hours of his remand. Now that the indictment has been made Marinov will remain in custody.
"Sega" asks in a comment when the Interior Ministry will be able to react properly to what the author describes as the "impudent" provocations of criminals. The author goes on to say that in terms of domestic politics, Tsankov's killing is symptomatic and "a very impudent blink of the eye of the criminal world to the powers that be". The latest murder took place just shortly after operations of the Interior Ministry, the services and the prosecuting magistracy against kidnappers and highway robbers which were commended as having hit the highest levels of organized crime, says the author.
"Standart News" notes that Tsankov was a thug, and not an investigative reporter as described by the Western press. The author of the comment says that Tsankov was a typical cheater of the transition to a market democracy who conned people during broadcasts. The Western media got it wrong in their reports of Tsankov's killing but there is nothing surprising in this given that the bulk of what takes place in Bulgaria is like an encounter with an UFO to the civilized world, says the author.
* * *
In an interview to "24 Chassa" Krassimir Velchev, organizational secretary of GERB and floor co-leader of the party in Parliament, voices fears that the criminals may now target GERB leader and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Velchev says that the mission of GERB and Borissov is to "get things right in Bulgaria". However, continues Velchev, Borissov has made many enemies in the past ten years, both in the criminal world and the political elite.
Velchev says also that his is equally concerned about Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. GERB's organizational secretary describes Tsvetanov as the only person in the government who undertook many decisive steps, as should do all ministries.
* * *
"Troud" quotes National Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva as saying that as a citizen she agrees to have her e-mails looked up by the Interior Ministry provided that this helps ensure her and her family's security. She commented amendments to the Electronic Communications Act and said that there will be new revisions between the first and second reading debate of the bill but that the philosophy and spirit of the law will remain the same as it was voted at the first reading discussion.
* * *
All of the Thursday newspapers report on the approval Wednesday by the cabinet of a bill on weapons, ammunition, explosive devices and pyrotechnic articles control. Under the bill, control is introduced for the first time over non-firearm weapons (gas, signal and air guns) and non-firearm ammunition. Anyone possessing such items will have to declare them in the Interior Ministry. Failure to comply with this requirement carries a fine of 2000 leva and/or pecuniary penalty of 10,000 leva.
* * *
Interviewed by "Monitor" social analyst Antonii Gulubov says that a party's political system undergoes deep transformation which does not end with the outcome of general elections. He says that a substantial portion of the political parties in Bulgaria have lost voters' trust. The whole responsibility and attention is now focused on GERB. According to Gulubov no other but GERB is the most serious warrant for the stability in Bulgaria, for accelerating reforms. GERB lifted the umbrella above organized crime, Gulubov says.
* * *
In an interview to "Troud" Blagoevgrad, Southern Bulgaria, Mayor and Member of the National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Kostadin Paskalev says that at the moment BSP is not "the motor" of a new left project. He argues that the majority of people at the moment espouse leftist ideas. Paskalev says that since there are carriers of the idea, it is apparent that there should have a structure to reflect these ideas. He says further that it is only natural and normal for people mostly involved in intellectual labor to take up the implementation of such a project, i.e. the creation of an entity espousing such ideas. BSP should be the driving force of such a creation, he says. However, whether BSP is capable of realizing this is another matter altogether, says Paskalev.
ECONOMY
Political analyst Ivan Krustev argues in "24 Chassa" that the middle class and the business in Bulgaria are in for a hard year. Krustev notes that in social terms, this is the first crisis to have hit not only the middle class of old, the one which made its fortunes in socialist times, but also the new one which emerged after the democratic reforms. Exactly people in their 40s and 50s who had somehow succeeded in finding their place in the new economic reality all of a sudden found them selves at the losing end, says Krustev. What is more, businesses which were among the best integrated in the new environment, had access to loans and worked using Western business practices too found themselves at a loss. According to Krustev, the wave of lay-offs and unemployment has not spared Bulgaria but is about to hit it. The social consequences of the economic downturn are to be strongest felt in 2010, says Krustev.
* * *
Economic analyst Georgi Angelov recommends in "Novinar" reduction of social security contributions. He says that the first signs of the end of the recession here, mostly in exports, have emerged. However, when and how quickly the economy will recover depends most of all on the cabinet policies, Angelov argues. If the government maintains financial stability and focuses on reforms which enhance the potential of the economy, the recovery will be there sooner and will be stronger.
Among the achievements he wants to see realized in 2010 the Angelov singles out improving the business climate, modernization of the institutions, reduction of social security contributions and privatization.
* * *
Interviewed by "Troud" Executive Director of the Sofia Commodity Exchange Vassil Simov says that the main sign to prove that the world is emerging out of the crisis will be sharp fluctuations in prices. Rapid appreciation of certain goods and steep deprecation of others will mean that free financial resources have come on the market and that the players have the power to buy and sell huge quantities of goods, says Simov. Regretfully, Bulgaria is far from such an occurrence. The economic situation in the country is difficult, the business has to cope with huge obstacles in order to work normally. "Money is scarce - in construction, industry and trade," says Simov.
* * *
"Cabinet Surrenders about Bonuses to Magistrates" caps a report in "Sega" which says that after two weeks of an outright war and dramatic negotiations between the judiciary and the cabinet on Wednesday it emerged that after all magistrates will get the 2009 Christmas bonuses the Supreme Judicial Council had voted at the end of the year. The outcome was unexpected as on the morning Finance Minister Simeon Djankov had notified in writing the Supreme Judicial Council that there was not a legal basis allowing him to sanction the payment of the already voted Christmas bonuses. An opposite decision was however reached later in the day following a series of long meetings involving Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Prosecutor General Boris Velchev and the ministers of justice, of the interior and of finance. The Council of Ministers is expected next week to vote a decision guaranteeing the judiciary's financial independence, Justice Minister Margarita Popova said after the meeting.
* * *
"European Prices in Healthcare" caps a leading report in "Zemya" which quotes Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev as saying that the prices of medical services in Bulgaria will reach European levels. What this means is that the state will continue to cover the respective amounts laid down in the clinical paths bit the difference for the more expensive services included in such clinical paths will be paid by patients. Nanev is quoted as saying that the established global and European standards in medicine should start to be applied in Bulgaria as well which will ensure an even higher quality of healthcare services in this country.
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, January 7, 2010
· Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has warned Bozhidar Dimitrov, the minister for Bulgarians abroad, that a repeat of the behavior that saw Dimitrov spark tensions by publicly threatening that Sofia would veto Turkey's EU accession efforts would cost him his Cabinet job.
· 380 000 Bulgarians may lose their rights to free healthcare after changes in the insurance laws. According to the new laws people who have not paid their health insurance contributions for a total of three months over the last three years will lose their rights to free health care. Health insurance payments have jumped almost 50% per month from the start of 2010.
Sofia, January 7
THE HOME SCENE
In a leading headline "Sega" says that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov threatened with dismissal Minister without Portfolio Bojidar Dimitrov who is responsible for Bulgarians abroad. The report on the topic in the daily says that Dimitrov's binding Turkey's bid to join the European Union with the problem with the compensations for the refugees from Eastern Thrace in Bulgaria proved a big diplomatic gaffe. In an interview to BTV on Wednesday evening Borissov said that he has warned Dimitrov with dismissal. Borissov argued in the interview that Dimitrov's statement about the compensations wanted by Bulgarian refugees might have come form a museum curator or a historian but not from a cabinet member. Some of the newspapers' reports on the topic say that Dimitrov's statement earned him a "yellow card".
Deputy Foreign Minister Marin Raikov is quoted as saying that Bulgaria's position is that there is no direct link between unresolved Bulgaria-Turkey issues and the enlargement of the European Union.
* * *
The murder Tuesday of notorious TV and radio anchorman Boris "Boby" Tsankov (30) continues to be a headline news item. On Wednesday the prosecution authority pressed charges against Krassimir Marinov for instigating Tsankov's murder, the newspapers write. Marinov himself was arrested in the wake of Tsankov's murder. He and his younger brother, Nikolai Marinov, aka the Marguins brothers, are believed to be involved in organizing several contract killings in the past years.
"Sega" notes that the charges against Krassimir Marinov for Tsankov's killing were pressed shortly before the expiry of the 24 hours of his remand. Now that the indictment has been made Marinov will remain in custody.
"Sega" asks in a comment when the Interior Ministry will be able to react properly to what the author describes as the "impudent" provocations of criminals. The author goes on to say that in terms of domestic politics, Tsankov's killing is symptomatic and "a very impudent blink of the eye of the criminal world to the powers that be". The latest murder took place just shortly after operations of the Interior Ministry, the services and the prosecuting magistracy against kidnappers and highway robbers which were commended as having hit the highest levels of organized crime, says the author.
"Standart News" notes that Tsankov was a thug, and not an investigative reporter as described by the Western press. The author of the comment says that Tsankov was a typical cheater of the transition to a market democracy who conned people during broadcasts. The Western media got it wrong in their reports of Tsankov's killing but there is nothing surprising in this given that the bulk of what takes place in Bulgaria is like an encounter with an UFO to the civilized world, says the author.
* * *
In an interview to "24 Chassa" Krassimir Velchev, organizational secretary of GERB and floor co-leader of the party in Parliament, voices fears that the criminals may now target GERB leader and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Velchev says that the mission of GERB and Borissov is to "get things right in Bulgaria". However, continues Velchev, Borissov has made many enemies in the past ten years, both in the criminal world and the political elite.
Velchev says also that his is equally concerned about Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. GERB's organizational secretary describes Tsvetanov as the only person in the government who undertook many decisive steps, as should do all ministries.
* * *
"Troud" quotes National Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva as saying that as a citizen she agrees to have her e-mails looked up by the Interior Ministry provided that this helps ensure her and her family's security. She commented amendments to the Electronic Communications Act and said that there will be new revisions between the first and second reading debate of the bill but that the philosophy and spirit of the law will remain the same as it was voted at the first reading discussion.
* * *
All of the Thursday newspapers report on the approval Wednesday by the cabinet of a bill on weapons, ammunition, explosive devices and pyrotechnic articles control. Under the bill, control is introduced for the first time over non-firearm weapons (gas, signal and air guns) and non-firearm ammunition. Anyone possessing such items will have to declare them in the Interior Ministry. Failure to comply with this requirement carries a fine of 2000 leva and/or pecuniary penalty of 10,000 leva.
* * *
Interviewed by "Monitor" social analyst Antonii Gulubov says that a party's political system undergoes deep transformation which does not end with the outcome of general elections. He says that a substantial portion of the political parties in Bulgaria have lost voters' trust. The whole responsibility and attention is now focused on GERB. According to Gulubov no other but GERB is the most serious warrant for the stability in Bulgaria, for accelerating reforms. GERB lifted the umbrella above organized crime, Gulubov says.
* * *
In an interview to "Troud" Blagoevgrad, Southern Bulgaria, Mayor and Member of the National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Kostadin Paskalev says that at the moment BSP is not "the motor" of a new left project. He argues that the majority of people at the moment espouse leftist ideas. Paskalev says that since there are carriers of the idea, it is apparent that there should have a structure to reflect these ideas. He says further that it is only natural and normal for people mostly involved in intellectual labor to take up the implementation of such a project, i.e. the creation of an entity espousing such ideas. BSP should be the driving force of such a creation, he says. However, whether BSP is capable of realizing this is another matter altogether, says Paskalev.
ECONOMY
Political analyst Ivan Krustev argues in "24 Chassa" that the middle class and the business in Bulgaria are in for a hard year. Krustev notes that in social terms, this is the first crisis to have hit not only the middle class of old, the one which made its fortunes in socialist times, but also the new one which emerged after the democratic reforms. Exactly people in their 40s and 50s who had somehow succeeded in finding their place in the new economic reality all of a sudden found them selves at the losing end, says Krustev. What is more, businesses which were among the best integrated in the new environment, had access to loans and worked using Western business practices too found themselves at a loss. According to Krustev, the wave of lay-offs and unemployment has not spared Bulgaria but is about to hit it. The social consequences of the economic downturn are to be strongest felt in 2010, says Krustev.
* * *
Economic analyst Georgi Angelov recommends in "Novinar" reduction of social security contributions. He says that the first signs of the end of the recession here, mostly in exports, have emerged. However, when and how quickly the economy will recover depends most of all on the cabinet policies, Angelov argues. If the government maintains financial stability and focuses on reforms which enhance the potential of the economy, the recovery will be there sooner and will be stronger.
Among the achievements he wants to see realized in 2010 the Angelov singles out improving the business climate, modernization of the institutions, reduction of social security contributions and privatization.
* * *
Interviewed by "Troud" Executive Director of the Sofia Commodity Exchange Vassil Simov says that the main sign to prove that the world is emerging out of the crisis will be sharp fluctuations in prices. Rapid appreciation of certain goods and steep deprecation of others will mean that free financial resources have come on the market and that the players have the power to buy and sell huge quantities of goods, says Simov. Regretfully, Bulgaria is far from such an occurrence. The economic situation in the country is difficult, the business has to cope with huge obstacles in order to work normally. "Money is scarce - in construction, industry and trade," says Simov.
* * *
"Cabinet Surrenders about Bonuses to Magistrates" caps a report in "Sega" which says that after two weeks of an outright war and dramatic negotiations between the judiciary and the cabinet on Wednesday it emerged that after all magistrates will get the 2009 Christmas bonuses the Supreme Judicial Council had voted at the end of the year. The outcome was unexpected as on the morning Finance Minister Simeon Djankov had notified in writing the Supreme Judicial Council that there was not a legal basis allowing him to sanction the payment of the already voted Christmas bonuses. An opposite decision was however reached later in the day following a series of long meetings involving Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Prosecutor General Boris Velchev and the ministers of justice, of the interior and of finance. The Council of Ministers is expected next week to vote a decision guaranteeing the judiciary's financial independence, Justice Minister Margarita Popova said after the meeting.
* * *
"European Prices in Healthcare" caps a leading report in "Zemya" which quotes Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev as saying that the prices of medical services in Bulgaria will reach European levels. What this means is that the state will continue to cover the respective amounts laid down in the clinical paths bit the difference for the more expensive services included in such clinical paths will be paid by patients. Nanev is quoted as saying that the established global and European standards in medicine should start to be applied in Bulgaria as well which will ensure an even higher quality of healthcare services in this country.
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, January 7, 2010
· Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has warned Bozhidar Dimitrov, the minister for Bulgarians abroad, that a repeat of the behavior that saw Dimitrov spark tensions by publicly threatening that Sofia would veto Turkey's EU accession efforts would cost him his Cabinet job.
· 380 000 Bulgarians may lose their rights to free healthcare after changes in the insurance laws. According to the new laws people who have not paid their health insurance contributions for a total of three months over the last three years will lose their rights to free health care. Health insurance payments have jumped almost 50% per month from the start of 2010.
tirsdag den 5. januar 2010
Bulgarian press review, January 5, 2010
Press Review
Sofia, January 5
HOME SCENE
The majority is mulling cutting the number of constituencies, "Sega" reports. The topic will be discussed during the drafting of the new Electoral Code, it emerged on Monday. A group is expected to start work on it next week. The need to change the constituencies has drawn comments from electoral law expert Prof. Mihail Konstantinov several times since the present parliament was elected. It has been suggested that the existing 31 constituencies be reduced to 20.
***
"Troud" says that the nine MPs of the Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) party, led by Yane Yanev, will not attend the plenary sittings at the start of the new session from January 13 until they go into opposition. The daily quotes OLJ member Tsvetan Tsvetanov. The reason he gives is that the MPs will be touring the country to meet people. This will also help the party keep its promise to support GERB during its first six months in office ending on January 27. However, relations between the two parties were strained a lot earlier.
"Monitor" runs an analysis on how Yanev did not wait until January 27. The writer says the party's abdication from Parliament is a poorly concealed attempt to divert public attention from OLJ's disintegration. Apparently, there will not be a coup as one of the spokespersons said, but OLJ members are increasingly talking about replacing Yanev, or else some will quit and look for another party. This would hardly be a tragedy for Yanev, who is used to flitting from one party to another, the story says.
***
"Sega" reports that after the operation codenamed "The Impudent" the police have launched another one, "The Robbers". After the first operation led to the arrest of more than 30 people involved in an abduction gang, the Interior Ministry is taking on the rest of the criminals, it emerged from a statement by the Ministry's Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev. The operation codenamed "The Robbers" is targeting mostly drug pushers, car thieves and robbers.
***
"Troud" reports that GERB will hold the shortest party congress on Sunday. It is scheduled to end at 3:30 pm. Boyko Borissov and Tsvetan Tsvetanov are expected to be re-elected chairman and deputy chairman. However, the term of the executive commission is ending and an election must be held at the forum. Borissov argues that no one substitutes players when the team is successful. Still, some of the current members are likely to drop out.
***
In a "24 Chassa" interview Ivan Kostov, leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB), says people talk that he is running the country to anger Borissov. Kostov says it is only to be expected that the power-holders should listen to DSB. "For instance, when the budget was updated, the debate was basically between DSB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party. We stand up for the principles that DSB shares with GERB. On the one hand, we want to help, and on the other, GERB badly needs help. This party has not been in office. It thinks that the world starts with it," Kostov says.
THE ECONOMY
In "Standart News" Economy Minister Traicho Traikov calls on Bulgarians to look for new opportunities. He says that although things are unstable now, new partners will emerge who have not looked at Bulgaria before. New opportunities will appear in different countries. In addition, the opportunities offered by EU programmes should be followed carefully. He also says that Bulgartabac will be sold by mid-year, shares of the Bulgarian Energy Holding will be listed on the stock exchange, and Kintex's privatization still is problematic, its chief assets being people and contacts.
Interviewed by "Sega", sociologist Zhivko Georgiev says that during its first six months the cabinet tried to cope with the crisis with the wrong methods. He says it became an obsession to end the year with a balanced budget or at least with a minimal deficit - a pattern which, to some extent, was first used by the State, to be followed by widespread default of obligations to lending institutions, partners and customers which paralysed the economy. Georgiev says he is afraid that when the world starts emerging from the crisis, the Bulgarian economic players will lose what little ground they had.
Financier Andrei Prumov says in "Klassa" that 2010 will bring growth contrary to the government's forecast. His prediction is based on the optimistic end of 2009 in the world financial markets and on a rise in Bulgarian stock exchange indexes. This means that investors predominantly expect to see restored economic growth in 2010 despite the problems left behind by the financial crisis. Prumov predicts economic growth in Bulgaria in 2010, based on statistics which show green shoots both in the markets and in many industries.Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov says in "Troud" that the number one task in 2010 is to bring back to normal the operation of the Agriculture Fund, especially concerning the Rural Development Programme, so as to meet the expectations of municipalities and farmers, because it has the largest funds, but is also plagued by the worst problems. What is coming up next is the start of the registration of agricultural producers for assistance in February.
"Sega" headlines a story "Djankov Concedes He's Holding Money Back to Keep Up Bulgaria's Image in EU". The public purse had enough money to pay out to doctors, judges, farmers and disabled people at the end of 2009 but Finance Minister Simeon Djankov did not approve the payments. He wanted to keep the year-end deficit below the 500-million-lev mark, which is the best achievement in the EU. "We need this to show the Europeans, the European Commission, that we can join the euro area, as well as to attract investors," Djankov said. However, economists say in "Sega" that the Commission needs to see more than the reported deficit - it wants to see the amounts carried over to 2010 as well.
"Sega" writes that doctors will demand money from all patients from Tuesday. Doctors threatened unprecedented protests at delayed payments. Patients will have to pay for all medical services they receive in hospitals and from their general practitioners unless the National Health Insurance Fund pays the November allocation to hospitals and GPs on Monday, said Tsvetan Raichinov, President of the Medical Association.
BULGARIA, EU
"Sega" comments that the bugbear of safeguard clauses for Bulgaria is gone after the three-year trial period. Still, Brussels has options to keep Borissov's government on its toes. This year the EU has 123,000 million euro, most of which is intended to accelerate the development of the member states and bring closer their living standards. Bulgaria has a choice: to remain poor with a prosperous top crust, or to make an effort to catch up with the countries it wants to look like. The trouble is that the never-changing Establishment must decide what sacrifices to make to gain access to EU money, which, though no longer officially frozen, still is out of reach.
Nadezhda Neinski MEP says in "Troud" that the choice of a Bulgarian EU commissioner should have been discussed. It is obvious that GERB had its way by nominating Rumiana Jeleva, which is the party's right. Still, it would have been better if a debate had been held about the qualities and the portfolio of the Bulgarian commissioner, Neinski says, adding that this is her idea of a democratic election. Neinski, member of the Union of Democratic Forces, says she will support Jeleva because they both are from the European People's Party.
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, January 5.2010
· Notorious TV and radio anchorman Boby Tsankov was killed in a shootout in central Sofia in broad daylight around noon on Tuesday. Tsankov has recently finished a book on Bulgaria's underworld where he is believed to have had connections. He has recently started to become known as the country’s new mafia stories writer, not unlike Georgi Stoev who was shot in 2008. The Interior Ministry said that two other men are in hospital to be treated for wounds from the shootout.
· Heavy snow across North and Western Bulgaria has caused traffic delays and has bought much of the capital Sofia to a halt as traffic jams have built up in the city center. The Sofia Municipality has reported that most of the public transport lines in the city are being delayed by up to 1 hour and even with the ongoing winter cleaning efforts drivers reported problems across the city with uncleaned roads and ice. Huge traffic jams in the center of Sofia have brought many people to a halt. Bulgarian traffic police reported over 150 accidents in Sofia because of the icy conditions on Tuesday morning.
· Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, stated early Tuesday that Bulgaria’s criminal contingent must be bought into the public eye “which unfortunately has not yet been done.” Tsvetanov said that the arrest of the high-profile kidnappers’ gang busted recently in the special operation codenamed “The Impudent” had shown that the Interior Ministry could act within the law to deal correctly with bandits.
Sofia, January 5
HOME SCENE
The majority is mulling cutting the number of constituencies, "Sega" reports. The topic will be discussed during the drafting of the new Electoral Code, it emerged on Monday. A group is expected to start work on it next week. The need to change the constituencies has drawn comments from electoral law expert Prof. Mihail Konstantinov several times since the present parliament was elected. It has been suggested that the existing 31 constituencies be reduced to 20.
***
"Troud" says that the nine MPs of the Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) party, led by Yane Yanev, will not attend the plenary sittings at the start of the new session from January 13 until they go into opposition. The daily quotes OLJ member Tsvetan Tsvetanov. The reason he gives is that the MPs will be touring the country to meet people. This will also help the party keep its promise to support GERB during its first six months in office ending on January 27. However, relations between the two parties were strained a lot earlier.
"Monitor" runs an analysis on how Yanev did not wait until January 27. The writer says the party's abdication from Parliament is a poorly concealed attempt to divert public attention from OLJ's disintegration. Apparently, there will not be a coup as one of the spokespersons said, but OLJ members are increasingly talking about replacing Yanev, or else some will quit and look for another party. This would hardly be a tragedy for Yanev, who is used to flitting from one party to another, the story says.
***
"Sega" reports that after the operation codenamed "The Impudent" the police have launched another one, "The Robbers". After the first operation led to the arrest of more than 30 people involved in an abduction gang, the Interior Ministry is taking on the rest of the criminals, it emerged from a statement by the Ministry's Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev. The operation codenamed "The Robbers" is targeting mostly drug pushers, car thieves and robbers.
***
"Troud" reports that GERB will hold the shortest party congress on Sunday. It is scheduled to end at 3:30 pm. Boyko Borissov and Tsvetan Tsvetanov are expected to be re-elected chairman and deputy chairman. However, the term of the executive commission is ending and an election must be held at the forum. Borissov argues that no one substitutes players when the team is successful. Still, some of the current members are likely to drop out.
***
In a "24 Chassa" interview Ivan Kostov, leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB), says people talk that he is running the country to anger Borissov. Kostov says it is only to be expected that the power-holders should listen to DSB. "For instance, when the budget was updated, the debate was basically between DSB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party. We stand up for the principles that DSB shares with GERB. On the one hand, we want to help, and on the other, GERB badly needs help. This party has not been in office. It thinks that the world starts with it," Kostov says.
THE ECONOMY
In "Standart News" Economy Minister Traicho Traikov calls on Bulgarians to look for new opportunities. He says that although things are unstable now, new partners will emerge who have not looked at Bulgaria before. New opportunities will appear in different countries. In addition, the opportunities offered by EU programmes should be followed carefully. He also says that Bulgartabac will be sold by mid-year, shares of the Bulgarian Energy Holding will be listed on the stock exchange, and Kintex's privatization still is problematic, its chief assets being people and contacts.
Interviewed by "Sega", sociologist Zhivko Georgiev says that during its first six months the cabinet tried to cope with the crisis with the wrong methods. He says it became an obsession to end the year with a balanced budget or at least with a minimal deficit - a pattern which, to some extent, was first used by the State, to be followed by widespread default of obligations to lending institutions, partners and customers which paralysed the economy. Georgiev says he is afraid that when the world starts emerging from the crisis, the Bulgarian economic players will lose what little ground they had.
Financier Andrei Prumov says in "Klassa" that 2010 will bring growth contrary to the government's forecast. His prediction is based on the optimistic end of 2009 in the world financial markets and on a rise in Bulgarian stock exchange indexes. This means that investors predominantly expect to see restored economic growth in 2010 despite the problems left behind by the financial crisis. Prumov predicts economic growth in Bulgaria in 2010, based on statistics which show green shoots both in the markets and in many industries.Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov says in "Troud" that the number one task in 2010 is to bring back to normal the operation of the Agriculture Fund, especially concerning the Rural Development Programme, so as to meet the expectations of municipalities and farmers, because it has the largest funds, but is also plagued by the worst problems. What is coming up next is the start of the registration of agricultural producers for assistance in February.
"Sega" headlines a story "Djankov Concedes He's Holding Money Back to Keep Up Bulgaria's Image in EU". The public purse had enough money to pay out to doctors, judges, farmers and disabled people at the end of 2009 but Finance Minister Simeon Djankov did not approve the payments. He wanted to keep the year-end deficit below the 500-million-lev mark, which is the best achievement in the EU. "We need this to show the Europeans, the European Commission, that we can join the euro area, as well as to attract investors," Djankov said. However, economists say in "Sega" that the Commission needs to see more than the reported deficit - it wants to see the amounts carried over to 2010 as well.
"Sega" writes that doctors will demand money from all patients from Tuesday. Doctors threatened unprecedented protests at delayed payments. Patients will have to pay for all medical services they receive in hospitals and from their general practitioners unless the National Health Insurance Fund pays the November allocation to hospitals and GPs on Monday, said Tsvetan Raichinov, President of the Medical Association.
BULGARIA, EU
"Sega" comments that the bugbear of safeguard clauses for Bulgaria is gone after the three-year trial period. Still, Brussels has options to keep Borissov's government on its toes. This year the EU has 123,000 million euro, most of which is intended to accelerate the development of the member states and bring closer their living standards. Bulgaria has a choice: to remain poor with a prosperous top crust, or to make an effort to catch up with the countries it wants to look like. The trouble is that the never-changing Establishment must decide what sacrifices to make to gain access to EU money, which, though no longer officially frozen, still is out of reach.
Nadezhda Neinski MEP says in "Troud" that the choice of a Bulgarian EU commissioner should have been discussed. It is obvious that GERB had its way by nominating Rumiana Jeleva, which is the party's right. Still, it would have been better if a debate had been held about the qualities and the portfolio of the Bulgarian commissioner, Neinski says, adding that this is her idea of a democratic election. Neinski, member of the Union of Democratic Forces, says she will support Jeleva because they both are from the European People's Party.
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, January 5.2010
· Notorious TV and radio anchorman Boby Tsankov was killed in a shootout in central Sofia in broad daylight around noon on Tuesday. Tsankov has recently finished a book on Bulgaria's underworld where he is believed to have had connections. He has recently started to become known as the country’s new mafia stories writer, not unlike Georgi Stoev who was shot in 2008. The Interior Ministry said that two other men are in hospital to be treated for wounds from the shootout.
· Heavy snow across North and Western Bulgaria has caused traffic delays and has bought much of the capital Sofia to a halt as traffic jams have built up in the city center. The Sofia Municipality has reported that most of the public transport lines in the city are being delayed by up to 1 hour and even with the ongoing winter cleaning efforts drivers reported problems across the city with uncleaned roads and ice. Huge traffic jams in the center of Sofia have brought many people to a halt. Bulgarian traffic police reported over 150 accidents in Sofia because of the icy conditions on Tuesday morning.
· Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, stated early Tuesday that Bulgaria’s criminal contingent must be bought into the public eye “which unfortunately has not yet been done.” Tsvetanov said that the arrest of the high-profile kidnappers’ gang busted recently in the special operation codenamed “The Impudent” had shown that the Interior Ministry could act within the law to deal correctly with bandits.
mandag den 4. januar 2010
Bulgarian press review, January 4, 2010
Press Review
Sofia, January 4
ECONOMY
"Standard News" leads with an interview with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov entitled "Private Business Will Get Us Out of the Mire", He says that he stands behind each and every step of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and that Djankov did the impossible in the situation he was placed in. "We saved Bulgaria from bankruptcy," says the Prime Minister.
He also says that the Interior Ministry is launching a large-scale operation against what he calls "neighborhood bandits".
***
In "Dnevnik", business representatives are quoted as saying that the New Year will be difficult for some of the most important sectors of the Bulgarian economy and an improvement should not be expected before the second half of 2010. Economic analysts are unanimous that the worst problems will be the shortage of cash, lack of foreign investment and unemployment which will continue to grow to some 11 per cent. Two key sectors, construction and tourism, should be prepared for a tough year, says "Dnevnik". "The forecast is gloomy: there is no construction and the order books are thin," says Ivan Boykov, Executive Director of the Chamber of Construction. He says further that the big hopes are in government procurement but the infrastructure projects cannot offset completely the loss of investment by the private sector. The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria expects some recovery in agriculture and in the green energy industry. Their forecasts are also optimistic for the pharmaceutical and the food industry, and pessimistic for machine building.
The paper also observes that the banking sector is much more optimistic than the rest. United Bulgarian Bank CEO Stilian Vutev expects a growth in lending of 7-8 per cent. He believes that towards the middle of the year the level of interest on credits will start to be affected favorably by the measures that the government is expected to take. Postbank CEO Assen Yagodin comments that there is no economic logic in having the price of deposits go further up, which is certain to keep from rising further or even push down the interest on credits.
Agricultural producers and the food industry disagree with the grim forecasts, "Dnevnik" writes further. The farming sector and the processing industry connected with it were the only ones to see a modest growth in 2009, and people in this business have a reason to expect a stronger growth in 2010. Last year had relatively good weather conditions and grain producers saw good financial results.
***
Close to 86 million leva in state receivables were collected as at the end of November 2009 which is half the previous year's amount, the ex-Executive Director of the defunct State Receivables Agency, Dimana Miteva, tells "Klassa". As of January 1, 2010, the Agency is part of the structure of the National Revenue Agency. Miteva says that the downward trend in the collection of receivables has persisted for two years now. In 2008 the Agency reported revenue of just over 185 million leva, down from 281 million in 2007. The reason for the decline in revenue is that businesses set aside less resource for acquisition of immoveable and moveable assets which the Agency auctions, Miteva say.
***
In the best-case scenario, it will take one more painful year for the crisis to aggravate further, before a recovery is anywhere in sight, financial analyst Krassimir Angarski tells "Troud". He says that the State is stifled by an oversize administration.
***
Bulgaria's recovery from the economic downturn will be L-shaped, Lyubomir Hristov of the Managing Board of the Institute of Certified Financial Consultants, says in a "Dnevnik" interview. The paper recalls that Hristov was recently named by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as one of his three economic advisors, along with Kristalina Georgieva of the World Bank and Ilian Mihov of the INSEAD graduate business school.
Hristov expects poverty among the elderly to become a national problem in Bulgaria - financial and social - in 2020-25.
***
The crisis held up the upward movement of local taxes and charges, "Sega" writes in a front-page story. Disproving the expectations of the National Association of Municipalities, the vast majority of municipalities are keeping unchanged their taxes or only slightly adjusting them this year. Even at places where the mayors said before the New Year that they would have to increase taxes to be able to pay the debts, taxes have stayed unchanged. At most places the local authorities are looking for additional sources of funding.
THE HOME SCENE
Under the headline "Borissov Picks the Papandreou Model for Himself", "Troud" writes that Prime Minister Borissov is very much likely to borrow the Greek model where the government leader is also the nation's top diplomat. The story quotes the Prime Minister as saying in a "Troud" interview that he would name on January 13-14 "the handsome and smart man" who would take over from Rumiana Jeleva as Foreign Minister. ["Handsome and smart man" was first used by Foreign Minister Jeleva when reporters asked her who would inherit her office when she becomes Bulgaria's representative in the European Commission]."But with this definition she gave, I see nobody other than myself! How could I tell you who are more handsome and smarter than me," said the Prime Minister.
"Troud" observes that it is no secret that Boyko Borissov likes much his Greek counterpart George Papandreou.
***
"Douma" leads with a story entitled "Crisis Affects Birth Rates". The paper quotes knowledgeable sources as saying that the baby boom will peak around Easter after which the majority of Bulgarian families will be unlikely to plan having more children. This will be an immediate effect of the economic crisis and the insecurity of jobs and incomes, the paper says.
***
"Douma" also reports that as of this year family doctors will be paid 7.70 leva for each checkup of a child, up from 5.30 leva in 2009. Like before, no fee will be charged for a child's visit to the doctor. Also from January 1, two vaccines have been added to the national children's vaccination calendar and parents will not be charged for these: a pneumococcal vaccine and the 5-component combination vaccine (against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and Haemophilus influenza type B).
***
There is an idea for a building in central Sofia that currently seats the party HQ of the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS), to be taken for government use, unidentified sources of the ruling majority told "Klassa". The reason is that Sofia doesn't have enough buildings for the state administration and NMSS is no longer represented in Parliament and has no reason to enjoy the luxury of such a big building, the paper writes.
***
A good alternation of Left and Right government produces the best result for a country, Spanish Ambassador to Bulgaria Jorge Fuentes Monzonis-Vilallonga says in a "Douma" interview. A democratic country which is a member of the EU should have no areas of insecurity, the diplomat says.
***
"President Georgi Purvanov awards an order a week," "Sega" says in a front-page story. Over his one-and-a-half presidential mandate, he has presented a total of 592 state orders and at least 40 have received the Presidential Badge of Honour - an award he introduced in 2002 and presents at his discretion. Only in his first two years as President, he presented as many Balkan Range Orders (142) - the highest state award - as his predecessors Peter Stoyanov and Zhelyu Zhelev did together. By the end of Purvanov's second term as president in 2011, another 200 recipients or more will get state honors, "Sega" says.
***
"Monitor" and "Telegraf" quote unidentified police sources as saying that one more member of the group of kidnappers known by the name law-enforcers gave them - The Impudent - which police recently broke up, has agreed to cooperate with the law-enforcers. This is no other than the suspected ring leader, Ivaylo "Yozhi" Evtimov. He reportedly told prosecutors that he was not the gang's master, was only put in command for some of the kidnappings and three other persons were the true masterminds but they were not among the men arrested by police.
***
"Novinar" leads with the new hijacking of a vessel with Bulgarian seamen in the Gulf of Aden. It quotes Prodan Radanov of the Bulgarian company that hires seamen for international crews (Zodiac), as saying that all 25 crew of Asian Glory are safe and sound. Zodiac has spoken to the Bulgarian crew members but have no information about the kidnappers. The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that no contact has been established with the pirates and no talks on a ransom have started, the paper says.
***
The government has stepped up its efforts to collect 20 billion US dollars that Turkey owes for the property of what has come to be known as "Thracian Bulgarians", Minister without Portfolio Bozhidar Dimitrov tells "Ataka". Dimitrov is quoted in a front-page story.
"Thracian Bulgarians" are Bulgarians who migrated from Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor to Bulgaria in the wake of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. They left behind property for billions of dollars for which no compensation has been paid despite an agreement signed in 1929 and repeated declarations by the two countries to deal with the issue.
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, January 4, 2009
· ”I expect that some sectors of the economy will do better this year than they did before the crisis,” Bulgaria’s Finance Minister and Deputy PM Simeon Djankov said in an interview with the national television. Being a small but financially-stable country, Bulgaria stands all chances to become an investment center in SE Europe, he went on.
· Bulgaria PM Boyko Borissov has stated that the coming days will be “black” for neighborhood bandits as he announced the start of the ‘Operation Apashite’ by the Interior ministry.
Borisov said that the number one goal for the Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov was to target the robbers who the whole country complains about. He added that the government would “chase the bandits to their holes”.
Sofia, January 4
ECONOMY
"Standard News" leads with an interview with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov entitled "Private Business Will Get Us Out of the Mire", He says that he stands behind each and every step of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and that Djankov did the impossible in the situation he was placed in. "We saved Bulgaria from bankruptcy," says the Prime Minister.
He also says that the Interior Ministry is launching a large-scale operation against what he calls "neighborhood bandits".
***
In "Dnevnik", business representatives are quoted as saying that the New Year will be difficult for some of the most important sectors of the Bulgarian economy and an improvement should not be expected before the second half of 2010. Economic analysts are unanimous that the worst problems will be the shortage of cash, lack of foreign investment and unemployment which will continue to grow to some 11 per cent. Two key sectors, construction and tourism, should be prepared for a tough year, says "Dnevnik". "The forecast is gloomy: there is no construction and the order books are thin," says Ivan Boykov, Executive Director of the Chamber of Construction. He says further that the big hopes are in government procurement but the infrastructure projects cannot offset completely the loss of investment by the private sector. The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria expects some recovery in agriculture and in the green energy industry. Their forecasts are also optimistic for the pharmaceutical and the food industry, and pessimistic for machine building.
The paper also observes that the banking sector is much more optimistic than the rest. United Bulgarian Bank CEO Stilian Vutev expects a growth in lending of 7-8 per cent. He believes that towards the middle of the year the level of interest on credits will start to be affected favorably by the measures that the government is expected to take. Postbank CEO Assen Yagodin comments that there is no economic logic in having the price of deposits go further up, which is certain to keep from rising further or even push down the interest on credits.
Agricultural producers and the food industry disagree with the grim forecasts, "Dnevnik" writes further. The farming sector and the processing industry connected with it were the only ones to see a modest growth in 2009, and people in this business have a reason to expect a stronger growth in 2010. Last year had relatively good weather conditions and grain producers saw good financial results.
***
Close to 86 million leva in state receivables were collected as at the end of November 2009 which is half the previous year's amount, the ex-Executive Director of the defunct State Receivables Agency, Dimana Miteva, tells "Klassa". As of January 1, 2010, the Agency is part of the structure of the National Revenue Agency. Miteva says that the downward trend in the collection of receivables has persisted for two years now. In 2008 the Agency reported revenue of just over 185 million leva, down from 281 million in 2007. The reason for the decline in revenue is that businesses set aside less resource for acquisition of immoveable and moveable assets which the Agency auctions, Miteva say.
***
In the best-case scenario, it will take one more painful year for the crisis to aggravate further, before a recovery is anywhere in sight, financial analyst Krassimir Angarski tells "Troud". He says that the State is stifled by an oversize administration.
***
Bulgaria's recovery from the economic downturn will be L-shaped, Lyubomir Hristov of the Managing Board of the Institute of Certified Financial Consultants, says in a "Dnevnik" interview. The paper recalls that Hristov was recently named by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as one of his three economic advisors, along with Kristalina Georgieva of the World Bank and Ilian Mihov of the INSEAD graduate business school.
Hristov expects poverty among the elderly to become a national problem in Bulgaria - financial and social - in 2020-25.
***
The crisis held up the upward movement of local taxes and charges, "Sega" writes in a front-page story. Disproving the expectations of the National Association of Municipalities, the vast majority of municipalities are keeping unchanged their taxes or only slightly adjusting them this year. Even at places where the mayors said before the New Year that they would have to increase taxes to be able to pay the debts, taxes have stayed unchanged. At most places the local authorities are looking for additional sources of funding.
THE HOME SCENE
Under the headline "Borissov Picks the Papandreou Model for Himself", "Troud" writes that Prime Minister Borissov is very much likely to borrow the Greek model where the government leader is also the nation's top diplomat. The story quotes the Prime Minister as saying in a "Troud" interview that he would name on January 13-14 "the handsome and smart man" who would take over from Rumiana Jeleva as Foreign Minister. ["Handsome and smart man" was first used by Foreign Minister Jeleva when reporters asked her who would inherit her office when she becomes Bulgaria's representative in the European Commission]."But with this definition she gave, I see nobody other than myself! How could I tell you who are more handsome and smarter than me," said the Prime Minister.
"Troud" observes that it is no secret that Boyko Borissov likes much his Greek counterpart George Papandreou.
***
"Douma" leads with a story entitled "Crisis Affects Birth Rates". The paper quotes knowledgeable sources as saying that the baby boom will peak around Easter after which the majority of Bulgarian families will be unlikely to plan having more children. This will be an immediate effect of the economic crisis and the insecurity of jobs and incomes, the paper says.
***
"Douma" also reports that as of this year family doctors will be paid 7.70 leva for each checkup of a child, up from 5.30 leva in 2009. Like before, no fee will be charged for a child's visit to the doctor. Also from January 1, two vaccines have been added to the national children's vaccination calendar and parents will not be charged for these: a pneumococcal vaccine and the 5-component combination vaccine (against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and Haemophilus influenza type B).
***
There is an idea for a building in central Sofia that currently seats the party HQ of the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS), to be taken for government use, unidentified sources of the ruling majority told "Klassa". The reason is that Sofia doesn't have enough buildings for the state administration and NMSS is no longer represented in Parliament and has no reason to enjoy the luxury of such a big building, the paper writes.
***
A good alternation of Left and Right government produces the best result for a country, Spanish Ambassador to Bulgaria Jorge Fuentes Monzonis-Vilallonga says in a "Douma" interview. A democratic country which is a member of the EU should have no areas of insecurity, the diplomat says.
***
"President Georgi Purvanov awards an order a week," "Sega" says in a front-page story. Over his one-and-a-half presidential mandate, he has presented a total of 592 state orders and at least 40 have received the Presidential Badge of Honour - an award he introduced in 2002 and presents at his discretion. Only in his first two years as President, he presented as many Balkan Range Orders (142) - the highest state award - as his predecessors Peter Stoyanov and Zhelyu Zhelev did together. By the end of Purvanov's second term as president in 2011, another 200 recipients or more will get state honors, "Sega" says.
***
"Monitor" and "Telegraf" quote unidentified police sources as saying that one more member of the group of kidnappers known by the name law-enforcers gave them - The Impudent - which police recently broke up, has agreed to cooperate with the law-enforcers. This is no other than the suspected ring leader, Ivaylo "Yozhi" Evtimov. He reportedly told prosecutors that he was not the gang's master, was only put in command for some of the kidnappings and three other persons were the true masterminds but they were not among the men arrested by police.
***
"Novinar" leads with the new hijacking of a vessel with Bulgarian seamen in the Gulf of Aden. It quotes Prodan Radanov of the Bulgarian company that hires seamen for international crews (Zodiac), as saying that all 25 crew of Asian Glory are safe and sound. Zodiac has spoken to the Bulgarian crew members but have no information about the kidnappers. The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that no contact has been established with the pirates and no talks on a ransom have started, the paper says.
***
The government has stepped up its efforts to collect 20 billion US dollars that Turkey owes for the property of what has come to be known as "Thracian Bulgarians", Minister without Portfolio Bozhidar Dimitrov tells "Ataka". Dimitrov is quoted in a front-page story.
"Thracian Bulgarians" are Bulgarians who migrated from Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor to Bulgaria in the wake of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. They left behind property for billions of dollars for which no compensation has been paid despite an agreement signed in 1929 and repeated declarations by the two countries to deal with the issue.
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, January 4, 2009
· ”I expect that some sectors of the economy will do better this year than they did before the crisis,” Bulgaria’s Finance Minister and Deputy PM Simeon Djankov said in an interview with the national television. Being a small but financially-stable country, Bulgaria stands all chances to become an investment center in SE Europe, he went on.
· Bulgaria PM Boyko Borissov has stated that the coming days will be “black” for neighborhood bandits as he announced the start of the ‘Operation Apashite’ by the Interior ministry.
Borisov said that the number one goal for the Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov was to target the robbers who the whole country complains about. He added that the government would “chase the bandits to their holes”.
fredag den 18. december 2009
Bulgarian press review, December 18, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, December 18 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
The Friday papers give front-page prominence to the Thursday arrest of 25 suspects in a large-scale police operation against a kidnapping ring. "Troud" ("Interior Ministry Catches Uncatchable Abductors") quotes Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as saying that the operation was codenamed "The Impudent" "because this is the word that best describes people who have been harassing the Bulgarian society for two years now". "Not 'The Uncatchable' what everybody used to call them. They were caught," the Minister said. The story quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as saying, "We have nailed them with blood, DNA, houses they have used and witnesses, all of which indicates and explains exactly how they worked". He described the ring as "a very strong alloy" of all kinds of people, including car thieves and credit card forgers.
In a "24 Chassa" interview, Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev says that the kidnappers had a second room prepared "to accommodate" a kidnapped person, this indicates that the ring was preparing multiple abductions. "What we have established so far is that these people have managed their resources in a very sensible manner. They have invested in properties registered to figure-heads. They have invested in trading businesses and have lended money. They have travelled abroad but nothing that would strike as unusual. We got the main group. The organization was beheaded. This is what we have hoped to achieve. But I cannot say there will never be more kidnappings. Some of their aides could still be at large and try to abduct somebody tomorrow," Georgiev says. He also says that all former and present Interior Ministry employees will be checked for possible connection with the kidnappers.
Says Deputy Prosecutor Generak Boyko Naydenov in "24 Chassa", "We managed entirely on our own. It proves that there is State and that the State is stronger than any individual criminal group." He says the broken ring is believed to be responsible for three or more kidnappings.
"Sega" writes in a commentary that the important thing is what comes after the arrests. "With 25 men busted en bloc, the natural question is how many of them will stay behind bars and whether they will be sentenced for the kidnappings one day. Many times before, policemen and prosecutors have told us there is solid evidence that would hold in court, but then everything fails. We hope they have learned their lesson and have real solid evidence this time."
***
In "Novinar", the chairman of the National Union of Safety and Security, Roumen Ralchev, warns that Bulgarians are yet to see a crime boom because the worst of the crisis is not yet over. He says that security is an abstract notion which has many aspects, one of them being the contribution of the civil society. And in Bulgaria civil associations are kept at bay by the Interior Ministry. What is more, the law-enforcing system has been faltering for years now and the Interior Ministry has a flawed recruitment system, says Ralchev.
***
"Troud" runs a commentary on the idea for holding a referendum on the Turkish-language newscasts on Bulgarian National Television. "A possible parliamentary resolution for a referendum would seal with a red seal the tacit coalition between GERB and Ataka, bringing certain inconviniences for Borissov, including some affecting his international contacts. Unlike GERB, Ataka is in a win-win situation and only stands to gain from the referendum and especially the campaign ahead of it. Boyko Borissov has readily reconsidered a wrong step more than once and has not been known for bothering to save faces. This time he could take only one of the referendum opponents' arguments: we have a crisis and a tough winter is in store for us. It seems very likely for the referendum to be put off for 'some other time'," the story goes.
"24 Chassa" reports a telephone conversation between Boyko Borissov and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan where the two discussed the referendum idea and the Bulgarian Prime Minister said that the government would make sure to take the best decision. The paper observes that the phone call came several hours after the Turkish Foreign Ministry circulated a declaration to say that Turkey is following closely the matter. MP Lyutvi Mestan (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) is quoted saying in Parliament's debating chamber that the referendum idea is "dangerous and harmful for Bulgaria".
"Standard News" comments that Parliament "has gone crazy" and made the Turkish-language newscasts a top item on its agenda. "For 20 years now the population was put through all kinds of experiments without being asked once whether it agreed or not, and now all of a sudden they decide to ask its opinion about a 10-minute newscast on BNT as a proof that direct democracy rules in Bulgaria. It is not hard to imagine the preparatory campaign that awaits us: maps with minarets and crescents, videos showing bearded Islamists. Bulgarians and [ethnic] Turks will be set to vote against one another - as if the people of the two ethnic groups don't have the same problems!"
***
In a "Troud" interview, Vesselin Metodiev MP (Blue Coalition) observes that MRF is trying to pull itself away from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). He says that the MRF leadership is known for its capacity to change allegiance to survive. "MRF has proven to erode any government in the name of its own ambitions and survival. [MRF leader] Ahmed Dogan called "stupid" the aspirations to make Bulgaria an energy hub in the Balkans, and "a patriotic adventure" the Belene N-plant project, and that shows an attempt for separation with BSP and the very same people it shared the power until recently," says Metodiev. He says Bulgarians have a problem with MRF and often mix up their attitude to MRF [as the party that is seen to represent ethnic Turks in Bulgaria] with their attitude to the Turkish-language newscasts. "I believe that very few will vote against the rights of Bulgarian Turks but this is not the issue," he says.
***
A front-page story in "Sega" says that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) "rewarded itself" with the equivalent of 2 monthly wages, or 5,300 leva, in a year-end bonus. The author notes that the outgoing year for the Supreme Judicial Council was dominated by an influence trading scandal, outrageous recruitment decisions and progressively diminishing public confidence in the judiciary. The decision comes as a surprise since two weeks ago the SJC said everybody in the judiciary was going to get a bonus, but not the SJC members, the story goes.
***
"Troud" reports an unsightly exchange between Ataka leader Volen Siderov and Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) leader Yane Yanev in Parliament Thursday: Siderov urged Yanev to admit his homosexuality and Yanev declated being heterosexual and suggested that Siderov sent to him his wife to verify that. The exchange took place before the eyes of EU diplomats who were there for a meeting with the OLJ deputies. Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva called an emergency meeting of Parliament's leadership over the incident and they decided to refer the case to the parliamentary ethics committee.
ECONOMY
The government could use money from the reserve to pay up to companies for work they have done under public procurement contracts, "Dnevnik" writes. The story quotes Finance Minister Simeon Djankov as saying that money from the fiscal reserve could be used early next year to pay a portion of the government's outstanding liabilities to businesses. Djankov reportedly discussed this option Wednesday with Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev and construction associations.
The exact amount of the government's debt to businesses remains unclear and various sources put it somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion leva.
BULGARIA - EU
"Pari" reports that Brussels is giving Bulgaria 37 million euro in subsidies for projects in the area of renewable energy sources, water management and the dairy sector. The funding was approved on Bulgaria's request, with no objection. The 37 million is part of a 200 billion euro package that the EU set aside late last year as an anti-crisis measure.
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
· It is snowing in almost all parts of the country. There is already big thick snow-cover in many places. The traffic is hard and slow almost everywhere. Sofia was again faced with the traditional problems when snowing - heavy and slow traffic, including public transport, as well as uncleaned streets, which hampers the traffic further.
The Bulgaria Minister for Regional Development and Public Works, Rosen Plevneliev, has stated that the situation over winter road cleaning is critical in 9 regions of Bulgaria.
· Bulgaria's Parliament resolved on a suspension of the disposition of land tracts and corporeal immovables restituted or given as compensation to the heirs to the former kings Ferdinand I and Boris III. The vote was 106 in favour (GERB, Ataka, The Blue Coalition and the independents), two against (Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and 13 abstentions (the rest of the MRF and Coalition for Bulgaria (CfB).
Sofia, December 18 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
The Friday papers give front-page prominence to the Thursday arrest of 25 suspects in a large-scale police operation against a kidnapping ring. "Troud" ("Interior Ministry Catches Uncatchable Abductors") quotes Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as saying that the operation was codenamed "The Impudent" "because this is the word that best describes people who have been harassing the Bulgarian society for two years now". "Not 'The Uncatchable' what everybody used to call them. They were caught," the Minister said. The story quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as saying, "We have nailed them with blood, DNA, houses they have used and witnesses, all of which indicates and explains exactly how they worked". He described the ring as "a very strong alloy" of all kinds of people, including car thieves and credit card forgers.
In a "24 Chassa" interview, Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev says that the kidnappers had a second room prepared "to accommodate" a kidnapped person, this indicates that the ring was preparing multiple abductions. "What we have established so far is that these people have managed their resources in a very sensible manner. They have invested in properties registered to figure-heads. They have invested in trading businesses and have lended money. They have travelled abroad but nothing that would strike as unusual. We got the main group. The organization was beheaded. This is what we have hoped to achieve. But I cannot say there will never be more kidnappings. Some of their aides could still be at large and try to abduct somebody tomorrow," Georgiev says. He also says that all former and present Interior Ministry employees will be checked for possible connection with the kidnappers.
Says Deputy Prosecutor Generak Boyko Naydenov in "24 Chassa", "We managed entirely on our own. It proves that there is State and that the State is stronger than any individual criminal group." He says the broken ring is believed to be responsible for three or more kidnappings.
"Sega" writes in a commentary that the important thing is what comes after the arrests. "With 25 men busted en bloc, the natural question is how many of them will stay behind bars and whether they will be sentenced for the kidnappings one day. Many times before, policemen and prosecutors have told us there is solid evidence that would hold in court, but then everything fails. We hope they have learned their lesson and have real solid evidence this time."
***
In "Novinar", the chairman of the National Union of Safety and Security, Roumen Ralchev, warns that Bulgarians are yet to see a crime boom because the worst of the crisis is not yet over. He says that security is an abstract notion which has many aspects, one of them being the contribution of the civil society. And in Bulgaria civil associations are kept at bay by the Interior Ministry. What is more, the law-enforcing system has been faltering for years now and the Interior Ministry has a flawed recruitment system, says Ralchev.
***
"Troud" runs a commentary on the idea for holding a referendum on the Turkish-language newscasts on Bulgarian National Television. "A possible parliamentary resolution for a referendum would seal with a red seal the tacit coalition between GERB and Ataka, bringing certain inconviniences for Borissov, including some affecting his international contacts. Unlike GERB, Ataka is in a win-win situation and only stands to gain from the referendum and especially the campaign ahead of it. Boyko Borissov has readily reconsidered a wrong step more than once and has not been known for bothering to save faces. This time he could take only one of the referendum opponents' arguments: we have a crisis and a tough winter is in store for us. It seems very likely for the referendum to be put off for 'some other time'," the story goes.
"24 Chassa" reports a telephone conversation between Boyko Borissov and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan where the two discussed the referendum idea and the Bulgarian Prime Minister said that the government would make sure to take the best decision. The paper observes that the phone call came several hours after the Turkish Foreign Ministry circulated a declaration to say that Turkey is following closely the matter. MP Lyutvi Mestan (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) is quoted saying in Parliament's debating chamber that the referendum idea is "dangerous and harmful for Bulgaria".
"Standard News" comments that Parliament "has gone crazy" and made the Turkish-language newscasts a top item on its agenda. "For 20 years now the population was put through all kinds of experiments without being asked once whether it agreed or not, and now all of a sudden they decide to ask its opinion about a 10-minute newscast on BNT as a proof that direct democracy rules in Bulgaria. It is not hard to imagine the preparatory campaign that awaits us: maps with minarets and crescents, videos showing bearded Islamists. Bulgarians and [ethnic] Turks will be set to vote against one another - as if the people of the two ethnic groups don't have the same problems!"
***
In a "Troud" interview, Vesselin Metodiev MP (Blue Coalition) observes that MRF is trying to pull itself away from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). He says that the MRF leadership is known for its capacity to change allegiance to survive. "MRF has proven to erode any government in the name of its own ambitions and survival. [MRF leader] Ahmed Dogan called "stupid" the aspirations to make Bulgaria an energy hub in the Balkans, and "a patriotic adventure" the Belene N-plant project, and that shows an attempt for separation with BSP and the very same people it shared the power until recently," says Metodiev. He says Bulgarians have a problem with MRF and often mix up their attitude to MRF [as the party that is seen to represent ethnic Turks in Bulgaria] with their attitude to the Turkish-language newscasts. "I believe that very few will vote against the rights of Bulgarian Turks but this is not the issue," he says.
***
A front-page story in "Sega" says that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) "rewarded itself" with the equivalent of 2 monthly wages, or 5,300 leva, in a year-end bonus. The author notes that the outgoing year for the Supreme Judicial Council was dominated by an influence trading scandal, outrageous recruitment decisions and progressively diminishing public confidence in the judiciary. The decision comes as a surprise since two weeks ago the SJC said everybody in the judiciary was going to get a bonus, but not the SJC members, the story goes.
***
"Troud" reports an unsightly exchange between Ataka leader Volen Siderov and Order, Lawfulness, Justice (OLJ) leader Yane Yanev in Parliament Thursday: Siderov urged Yanev to admit his homosexuality and Yanev declated being heterosexual and suggested that Siderov sent to him his wife to verify that. The exchange took place before the eyes of EU diplomats who were there for a meeting with the OLJ deputies. Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva called an emergency meeting of Parliament's leadership over the incident and they decided to refer the case to the parliamentary ethics committee.
ECONOMY
The government could use money from the reserve to pay up to companies for work they have done under public procurement contracts, "Dnevnik" writes. The story quotes Finance Minister Simeon Djankov as saying that money from the fiscal reserve could be used early next year to pay a portion of the government's outstanding liabilities to businesses. Djankov reportedly discussed this option Wednesday with Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev and construction associations.
The exact amount of the government's debt to businesses remains unclear and various sources put it somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion leva.
BULGARIA - EU
"Pari" reports that Brussels is giving Bulgaria 37 million euro in subsidies for projects in the area of renewable energy sources, water management and the dairy sector. The funding was approved on Bulgaria's request, with no objection. The 37 million is part of a 200 billion euro package that the EU set aside late last year as an anti-crisis measure.
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
· It is snowing in almost all parts of the country. There is already big thick snow-cover in many places. The traffic is hard and slow almost everywhere. Sofia was again faced with the traditional problems when snowing - heavy and slow traffic, including public transport, as well as uncleaned streets, which hampers the traffic further.
The Bulgaria Minister for Regional Development and Public Works, Rosen Plevneliev, has stated that the situation over winter road cleaning is critical in 9 regions of Bulgaria.
· Bulgaria's Parliament resolved on a suspension of the disposition of land tracts and corporeal immovables restituted or given as compensation to the heirs to the former kings Ferdinand I and Boris III. The vote was 106 in favour (GERB, Ataka, The Blue Coalition and the independents), two against (Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and 13 abstentions (the rest of the MRF and Coalition for Bulgaria (CfB).
torsdag den 17. december 2009
Bulgarian Press Review December 17, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, December 17 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
All papers quote President Georgi Purvanov as saying that he suspected that the proposal for a referendum on the newscasts in Turkish aired on Bulgarian National Television was intended as a big trap for Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
According to the top story in "Ataka", Council for Electronic Media members Maya Vaptsarova and Margarita Pesheva noted at a meeting with the Ataka Parliamentary Group that "the national televisions in Europe do not broadcast Turkish-language news on their first channels." The paper quotes Ataka leader Volen Siderov as saying that the holding of the referendum is a victory for Bulgarian democracy.
In "24 Chassa", Valeri Naydenov dismisses the idea of a referendum on the newscasts in Turkish as "brazen mockery of the people." He argues that the State was bound to organize a referendum on the Constitution, on the electoral system, on the accession to the EU and NATO, on the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project. "Any person of average intelligence must realize that Bulgarian news in English unites rather than divides the nation," he noted. "Quite a few people in this country have a very poor command of Bulgarian. What's wrong with them being able to learn what's going on from our national television for 15 minutes daily? This is the only thing that makes them part of our national affairs," the author reasons. "I believe that this country is embarking on a very bad road," Kolyo Kolev of the Mediana polling agency commented to "Standart News." "The idea is movingly moronic, which is probably why it enjoys broad parliamentary support," Ivo Siromahov comments in "24 Chassa."
"The crux of the matter is elsewhere: in the deliberate, pernicious and even explosive scenario for the political resuscitation of the communicating vessels MRF [Movement for Rights and Freedoms] and Ataka," Lyuboslava Rousseva writes in "Dnevnik" under the heading "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with a Time Bomb".
* * *
Expatriate Bulgarians resident outside the EU may be unable to vote in the next parliamentary elections in 2012. This is one of the ideas about a revision of electoral legislation contemplated in GERB, "Troud" learnt. "My personal opinion is that the right to vote for national parliament should be exercised within the EU," National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee Chair Iskra Fidossova reportedly said. Other proposals included an increase of the electoral threshold from 4 to 6 per cent.
According to "Dnevnik," Fidossova suggested that a unit of three to seven senior magistrates should be set up to monitor the entire electoral process, from the scheduling of Election Day to the final declaration of the results and the delivery of the stationery. The idea will be presented on Saturday at a discussion of revisions of the electoral laws, to which GERB has invited the rest of the parliamentary parties, the non-governmental sector and experts.
* * *
"Jail for Using an Absent Colleague's Voting Card:" under this identical headline, "Douma" and "Novinar" report that 84 MPs voted on first reading an amendment to the Penal Code, moved by Order, Lawfulness, Justice leader Yane Yanev, according to which MPs and municipal councillors who use another's voting card will be imprisoned for three years and, for a repeat offence, for up to six years. Later on, GERB said they will not second the provision on second reading. They nevertheless voted in favour on first reading because they "accept the philosophy of the bill on more severe penal sanctions for a number of offences." Kidnapping will be punished by life imprisonment, 92 MPs resolved by amending the Penal Code.
According to an analysis of the Institute of Modern Politics, quoted in "Troud", the incumbent National Assembly suffers from a deficiency of competence, from making major changes without discussion, as well as from seeing changes of opinion within hours. Its positive side is "more transparency."
* * *
The medicines reimbursed by the National Health Insurance Fund may be reduced by 15 per cent, according to amendments to Health Ministry Ordinance No. 34, "Telegraf" reports. The revisions were initiated by the commission which determines which medicines should be reimbursed and have not been considered by the Health Ministry. The reason is a shortfall of 7 million leva.
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
"Standart News" reports that a wanted gangster known as "Ugly Sasho" has been arrested as aidor to the Crocodiles Gang. Sasho's Opel Vectra with a police blue rooftop light was used to rob Turkish national Mustafa Gumus on Trakia Motroway a couple of days ago. All papers report the arrest of a border policeman, who recorded a simulated exit from the country and this provided an alibi to Evgeni "Geyzo" Milev, wanted on suspicion of serious crimes.
"The European Commission is asking about the murders of Ivan 'the Doctor' Todorov, Yambol-based lawyer Nadezhda Georgieva, senior prosecutor Nikolai Kolev, businessman Emil Kyulev, the attempted murder of Manol Velev, the assault on journalist Ognyan Stefanov. It is also asking about the progress of the trials of Mario Nikolov, Krassimir and Nikolay Marinov (the 'Margin' Brothers), Sofia prosecutors Peter Chalumov and Slavcho Kurzhev," Plamen Stoilov, who heads a commission of the Supreme Judicial Council checking the high-profile investigations and criminal cases, says in a "24 Chassa" interview.
"Catch the drug traffickers' money, not just the cocaine," Rodolfo Peikov, an expert at the International Institute for Security and Cooperation, who worked for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in various posts around the world, told "Troud" in an interview. "Infiltrate agents in the criminal world," he adds.
* * *
"24 Chassa" and "Zemya" note that as from January 1, 2010 unpaid fines for traffic violatons will become part of tax files and such motorists will not be issued a certificate that they do not incur public liabilities. Such a document is required by banks from loan applicants. As from next year, the State Receivables Collection Agency will merge with the National Revenue Agency (NRA), which will collect overdue fines. The NRA issues an average 1,000,000 certificates on tax liabilities annually, "24 Chassa" specifies.
GERB is contemplating a measure to improve compliance with written statements and tickets: Traffic Police will give offending drivers an up to 50 per cent discount on the fine imposed for a traffic violation if the amount is paid within a week. "Monitor" reports that GERB MPs are planning to introduce this revision in the Road Traffic Act before the amendments come up for a second reading.
According to an amendment to the law, drafted by GERB MP Teodora Georgieva, heavy duty tricks will be barred from the road for several hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. "GERB has the will to solve the problem with the killer trucks on the road," Georgieva says in a "24 Chassa" interview. She will table the motion after a broad public discussion with all parties concerned.
ECONOMY
Bulgarians have the lowest purchasing power in the EU, according to 2008 data of Eurostat, quoted by "Dnevnik". Purchasing power is calculated for the entire Union, the average base being 100 per cent, showing the possibility to buy the same quantity of goods and services in the various countries. For Bulgaria, the value is 41 per cent of the EU average.
"The moratorium on construction of power plants running on renewable energy sources will cost this country the loss of 1,000 million euro in foreign direct investments over the next five years," writes "Klassa", quoting Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association President Nikola Gazdov. Bulgaria will also lose another 300-400 million euro from the non-manufacture of additional goods and services related to the projects, Gazdov warned. In his opinion, the announcement of the intention to freeze the construction of recently launched or new water and solar parks alone induced the banks to cease financing projects under implementation. The idea was unveiled last week by Environment and Water Minister Nona Karadjova and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov. Karadjova argued that by suspending the projects the country will not risk another infringement procedure over the environment. In this way, the chaotic construction of RES capacities will be halted as well, the Government argued.
Contrary to sinister projections, the coastal resorts listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange-Sofia did not experience a slump in sales and a complete withdrawal of tourists, "Pari" found. The increased profit of the largest tourist industry companies, however, was generated by the sale of assets, the daily notes.
"The crisis does not stop Chinese companies from investing in Bulgaria," China's Ambassador in Sofia Zhang Wanxue told "Monitor." He notes that Beijing is actively working for coping with climate problems.
* * *
At least 3 million SIM cards will go silent on New Year, "Troud" found after a check with the mobile phone opeators. All customers with prepaid GSM numbers have until December 31, 2009 to register their SIM cards, submitting their name and Standard Public Registry Personal Number. According to the daily, the deadline will not be met and many telephones will be suspended. Now one in two SIM cards is prepaid. Some 11 million GSM numbers have been sold by mobile operators, of which over 5.5 million have unidentified holders, the paper found. A little under 1.5 million prepaid users have reported their personal data to the mobile operators. Not more than 100,000 are expected to do so in the seven working days remaining until the end of the year.
* * *
"Troud" has interviewed Josip Broz, the grandson of Yugoslav leader Tito, who is member of the newly formed Communist Party there. The item appears under the heading "Tito Would Have Scrapped the Yugodebts by a Phone Call." Broz says that in his political activity he relies above all on the ideas of brotherhood and unity.
* * *
"We are planning a chess city in Sofia, too," World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov says in an interview for "Standart News."
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 – December 17, 2009
• Twenty-five individuals were arrested last night in a police action in Sofia, Montana, Veliko Turnovo, Vratsa and elsewhere. They are suspected of being involved in a series of front-page kidnappings over the past few years.
Last night's action, codenamed "Impudent", corralled in individuals well-known to the police, including some who have served sentences and have been set free.
The Interior Ministry has unquestionable evidence, such as DNA samples and evidence of witnesses, against the group of kidnappers, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told journalists after attending the Policeman of the Year award ceremony.
• Volen Siderov and Yane Yanev, one-time political bedfellows, got entangled in a bitter public slanging match on a staircase in Bulgaria's National Assembly on December 17 2009.
Siderov, leader of ultra-nationalist Ataka party, called Yanev "a puppet" and a man "dependent on his homosexuality". Yanev, leader of the centre-right Order, Law and Justice (OLJ) party, shot back that Siderov was suffering from "political importence" and called Ataka as a xenophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic party.
The row happened after OLJ MPs met in Parliament with political officers at the embassies of European Union states, Norway, Israel and the US. According to OLJ, Ataka MPs tried to invade the meeting.
Sofia, December 17 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
All papers quote President Georgi Purvanov as saying that he suspected that the proposal for a referendum on the newscasts in Turkish aired on Bulgarian National Television was intended as a big trap for Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
According to the top story in "Ataka", Council for Electronic Media members Maya Vaptsarova and Margarita Pesheva noted at a meeting with the Ataka Parliamentary Group that "the national televisions in Europe do not broadcast Turkish-language news on their first channels." The paper quotes Ataka leader Volen Siderov as saying that the holding of the referendum is a victory for Bulgarian democracy.
In "24 Chassa", Valeri Naydenov dismisses the idea of a referendum on the newscasts in Turkish as "brazen mockery of the people." He argues that the State was bound to organize a referendum on the Constitution, on the electoral system, on the accession to the EU and NATO, on the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project. "Any person of average intelligence must realize that Bulgarian news in English unites rather than divides the nation," he noted. "Quite a few people in this country have a very poor command of Bulgarian. What's wrong with them being able to learn what's going on from our national television for 15 minutes daily? This is the only thing that makes them part of our national affairs," the author reasons. "I believe that this country is embarking on a very bad road," Kolyo Kolev of the Mediana polling agency commented to "Standart News." "The idea is movingly moronic, which is probably why it enjoys broad parliamentary support," Ivo Siromahov comments in "24 Chassa."
"The crux of the matter is elsewhere: in the deliberate, pernicious and even explosive scenario for the political resuscitation of the communicating vessels MRF [Movement for Rights and Freedoms] and Ataka," Lyuboslava Rousseva writes in "Dnevnik" under the heading "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with a Time Bomb".
* * *
Expatriate Bulgarians resident outside the EU may be unable to vote in the next parliamentary elections in 2012. This is one of the ideas about a revision of electoral legislation contemplated in GERB, "Troud" learnt. "My personal opinion is that the right to vote for national parliament should be exercised within the EU," National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee Chair Iskra Fidossova reportedly said. Other proposals included an increase of the electoral threshold from 4 to 6 per cent.
According to "Dnevnik," Fidossova suggested that a unit of three to seven senior magistrates should be set up to monitor the entire electoral process, from the scheduling of Election Day to the final declaration of the results and the delivery of the stationery. The idea will be presented on Saturday at a discussion of revisions of the electoral laws, to which GERB has invited the rest of the parliamentary parties, the non-governmental sector and experts.
* * *
"Jail for Using an Absent Colleague's Voting Card:" under this identical headline, "Douma" and "Novinar" report that 84 MPs voted on first reading an amendment to the Penal Code, moved by Order, Lawfulness, Justice leader Yane Yanev, according to which MPs and municipal councillors who use another's voting card will be imprisoned for three years and, for a repeat offence, for up to six years. Later on, GERB said they will not second the provision on second reading. They nevertheless voted in favour on first reading because they "accept the philosophy of the bill on more severe penal sanctions for a number of offences." Kidnapping will be punished by life imprisonment, 92 MPs resolved by amending the Penal Code.
According to an analysis of the Institute of Modern Politics, quoted in "Troud", the incumbent National Assembly suffers from a deficiency of competence, from making major changes without discussion, as well as from seeing changes of opinion within hours. Its positive side is "more transparency."
* * *
The medicines reimbursed by the National Health Insurance Fund may be reduced by 15 per cent, according to amendments to Health Ministry Ordinance No. 34, "Telegraf" reports. The revisions were initiated by the commission which determines which medicines should be reimbursed and have not been considered by the Health Ministry. The reason is a shortfall of 7 million leva.
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
"Standart News" reports that a wanted gangster known as "Ugly Sasho" has been arrested as aidor to the Crocodiles Gang. Sasho's Opel Vectra with a police blue rooftop light was used to rob Turkish national Mustafa Gumus on Trakia Motroway a couple of days ago. All papers report the arrest of a border policeman, who recorded a simulated exit from the country and this provided an alibi to Evgeni "Geyzo" Milev, wanted on suspicion of serious crimes.
"The European Commission is asking about the murders of Ivan 'the Doctor' Todorov, Yambol-based lawyer Nadezhda Georgieva, senior prosecutor Nikolai Kolev, businessman Emil Kyulev, the attempted murder of Manol Velev, the assault on journalist Ognyan Stefanov. It is also asking about the progress of the trials of Mario Nikolov, Krassimir and Nikolay Marinov (the 'Margin' Brothers), Sofia prosecutors Peter Chalumov and Slavcho Kurzhev," Plamen Stoilov, who heads a commission of the Supreme Judicial Council checking the high-profile investigations and criminal cases, says in a "24 Chassa" interview.
"Catch the drug traffickers' money, not just the cocaine," Rodolfo Peikov, an expert at the International Institute for Security and Cooperation, who worked for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in various posts around the world, told "Troud" in an interview. "Infiltrate agents in the criminal world," he adds.
* * *
"24 Chassa" and "Zemya" note that as from January 1, 2010 unpaid fines for traffic violatons will become part of tax files and such motorists will not be issued a certificate that they do not incur public liabilities. Such a document is required by banks from loan applicants. As from next year, the State Receivables Collection Agency will merge with the National Revenue Agency (NRA), which will collect overdue fines. The NRA issues an average 1,000,000 certificates on tax liabilities annually, "24 Chassa" specifies.
GERB is contemplating a measure to improve compliance with written statements and tickets: Traffic Police will give offending drivers an up to 50 per cent discount on the fine imposed for a traffic violation if the amount is paid within a week. "Monitor" reports that GERB MPs are planning to introduce this revision in the Road Traffic Act before the amendments come up for a second reading.
According to an amendment to the law, drafted by GERB MP Teodora Georgieva, heavy duty tricks will be barred from the road for several hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. "GERB has the will to solve the problem with the killer trucks on the road," Georgieva says in a "24 Chassa" interview. She will table the motion after a broad public discussion with all parties concerned.
ECONOMY
Bulgarians have the lowest purchasing power in the EU, according to 2008 data of Eurostat, quoted by "Dnevnik". Purchasing power is calculated for the entire Union, the average base being 100 per cent, showing the possibility to buy the same quantity of goods and services in the various countries. For Bulgaria, the value is 41 per cent of the EU average.
"The moratorium on construction of power plants running on renewable energy sources will cost this country the loss of 1,000 million euro in foreign direct investments over the next five years," writes "Klassa", quoting Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association President Nikola Gazdov. Bulgaria will also lose another 300-400 million euro from the non-manufacture of additional goods and services related to the projects, Gazdov warned. In his opinion, the announcement of the intention to freeze the construction of recently launched or new water and solar parks alone induced the banks to cease financing projects under implementation. The idea was unveiled last week by Environment and Water Minister Nona Karadjova and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov. Karadjova argued that by suspending the projects the country will not risk another infringement procedure over the environment. In this way, the chaotic construction of RES capacities will be halted as well, the Government argued.
Contrary to sinister projections, the coastal resorts listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange-Sofia did not experience a slump in sales and a complete withdrawal of tourists, "Pari" found. The increased profit of the largest tourist industry companies, however, was generated by the sale of assets, the daily notes.
"The crisis does not stop Chinese companies from investing in Bulgaria," China's Ambassador in Sofia Zhang Wanxue told "Monitor." He notes that Beijing is actively working for coping with climate problems.
* * *
At least 3 million SIM cards will go silent on New Year, "Troud" found after a check with the mobile phone opeators. All customers with prepaid GSM numbers have until December 31, 2009 to register their SIM cards, submitting their name and Standard Public Registry Personal Number. According to the daily, the deadline will not be met and many telephones will be suspended. Now one in two SIM cards is prepaid. Some 11 million GSM numbers have been sold by mobile operators, of which over 5.5 million have unidentified holders, the paper found. A little under 1.5 million prepaid users have reported their personal data to the mobile operators. Not more than 100,000 are expected to do so in the seven working days remaining until the end of the year.
* * *
"Troud" has interviewed Josip Broz, the grandson of Yugoslav leader Tito, who is member of the newly formed Communist Party there. The item appears under the heading "Tito Would Have Scrapped the Yugodebts by a Phone Call." Broz says that in his political activity he relies above all on the ideas of brotherhood and unity.
* * *
"We are planning a chess city in Sofia, too," World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov says in an interview for "Standart News."
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 – December 17, 2009
• Twenty-five individuals were arrested last night in a police action in Sofia, Montana, Veliko Turnovo, Vratsa and elsewhere. They are suspected of being involved in a series of front-page kidnappings over the past few years.
Last night's action, codenamed "Impudent", corralled in individuals well-known to the police, including some who have served sentences and have been set free.
The Interior Ministry has unquestionable evidence, such as DNA samples and evidence of witnesses, against the group of kidnappers, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told journalists after attending the Policeman of the Year award ceremony.
• Volen Siderov and Yane Yanev, one-time political bedfellows, got entangled in a bitter public slanging match on a staircase in Bulgaria's National Assembly on December 17 2009.
Siderov, leader of ultra-nationalist Ataka party, called Yanev "a puppet" and a man "dependent on his homosexuality". Yanev, leader of the centre-right Order, Law and Justice (OLJ) party, shot back that Siderov was suffering from "political importence" and called Ataka as a xenophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic party.
The row happened after OLJ MPs met in Parliament with political officers at the embassies of European Union states, Norway, Israel and the US. According to OLJ, Ataka MPs tried to invade the meeting.
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