Press Review
Sofia, September 3 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
The setting up Wednesday of a parliamentary ad hoc committee of inquiry into the expenses, appointments and deals conducted in the last year of the term of the government of former prime minister Sergei Stanishev is one of the most commented topics in the Thursday press. The committee was set up on a parity basis and consists of 12 MPs. It is chaired by Stoyan Mavrodiev of GERB and has a term of operation of two months.
"Klassa" notes that during the debate on the motion to establish the committee MPs of the Coalition for Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms called on Parliament not to take the functions of other state bodies, but to focus on the governance programme of GERB and measures against the crisis.
* * *
Another much comment topic in the national dailies is the recent lobbyist scandal about construction works in swapped forest lands. Earlier in the week GERB MPs said in Parliament that the future new forest bill will allow private entities described as "prudent investors" to engage in construction activities in forests. "Sega" says that Prime Minister Boyko Borissov quickly steered back on the right track GERB's policy on the matter. The Prime Minister said he is calling for explanation the MPs in question, first among whom is Parliament chair Tsetska Tsacheva. Emerging from the cabinet's Wednesday meeting, Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov was quick to explain that his party has not changed its policy and will not allow construction on
exchanged forest lands.
* * *
The first MP to quit his parliamentary group is Ventsislav Vurbanov who Wednesday left the group of the Blue Coalition, the Thursday dailies write. He becomes an independent MP, "24 Chassa" explains. Vurbanov decided to quit the Blue Coalition after the Constitutional Court was asked to issue a ruling about the elections for Parliament in Dobrich and Rousse, Northwestern Bulgaria. After the initial results were calculated for the Rousse seat, it was announced that it went to the Blue Coalition, to Mihail Mihailov. However, after the final tally and re-distribution of seats, the seat was given to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms while the Blue Coalition got a seat on Dobrich, taken by Vurbanov himself. Mihailov appealed the decision. Vurbanov accused his colleagues of breaching the coalition agreement and political disrespect, "24 Chassa" writes.
* * *
"Troud" reports on the first hearing Wednesday of State Agency for National Security (SANS) head Tsvetlin Yovchev by the parliamentary committee for control of SANS' work. Emerged from
the hearing, Chairman of the Committee Ican Kostov, said that the notorious Galeria [Gallery] investigative case - an operation involving the wiretapping of politicians and journalists which seriously undermined the prestige of SANS - was initiated by the former chief of SANS, Petko Sertov.
* * *
"Sega" writes that the prosecuting magistracy is starting checks in municipalities where the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) has poured a lot of money. The matter concerns 80 dubious agreements of the Environment and Waters Ministry about facilities concentrated in municipalities governed by MRF. There are suspicions that projects for the construction of sewerage systems and waste water treatment plants were paid twice and thrice.
Decisions for the go-ahead of another 278 projects worth 159 million leva of the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities too have been revoked, "Sega" says.
* * *
In an interview to "Dnevnik" Deputy Interior Minister Vesselin Vouchkov says that the action plan of the Interior Ministry is the European Commission report on Bulgaria released in July. Vouchkov says that the successful formula for reforming the Ministry is an informed perusal of the European models, utilization of the good practices in Bulgaria, learning from the mistakes of the predecessors, and, above all, dialogue with the civil society.
* * *
A front-page report in "Troud" informs how for just a few hours in single night the police in two towns managed to detain the perpetrators of a bomb explosion Tuesday in Razlog, Southwestern Bulgaria, and a killing near the Black Sea town of Primorsko, on Wednesday. Four suspects were detained in connection with the bomb blast and a gang of five drug pushers in connection with the killing.
* * *
A national representative opinion poll commissioned to Mediana by "Troud" shows that the new ministers begin with a flying start, the daily writes. There is no surprise that the prime minister tops the list of approval ratings, but the impressive thing is the percentage of people who approve of him, 75 per cent. The approval rating of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov increased by as much as 34 per cent, from 19 per cent to 53 per cent in just four months. The third most approved member of the government is Finance Minister Simeon Djankov with 26 per cent.
FOREIGN POLICY
"Troud" devotes its main article to the meeting in Gdansk on Tuesday between the prime ministers of Bulgaria and Russia, Boyko Borissov and Vladimir Putin. The report sums up that by November Bulgaria will prepare estimates on how much the Belene nuclear power plant will cost, that this country has no objections with regard to the South Stream gas pipeline project while in respect of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project it needs guarantees that the facility will not cause an environmental catastrophe. At the talks Putin demanded a direct answer from Borissov which energy projects Bulgaria will give up and accused this country of evading coming up with a clear stand on the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis project for seven years, "Troud" writes. After returning to Sofia Borissov blamed the delay of work on the projects to the previous cabinet led by Sergei Stanishev.
The newspaper also runs a comment about the meeting, capped "Crisis: Excellent Tome for Reload with Russia". The author notes the calm atmosphere of the talks between Borissov and Putin. He argues that the crisis has a good side too: it gives time out to politicians and experts who can think things over, study mothballed agreements, weigh up different models for market development and come up with sustained forecasts for power consumption. In the current downturn Russia is in no hurry either, says the author. The country would wait for the recession to pass before throwing money into feasibility studies or expensive pipelines. This situation is good for Bulgaria too, above all by showing clearly which part of the problems with joint projects is totally on account of Bulgaria, writes the author.
* * *
The comment in "Standard News" too is devoted to the meeting between Borissov and Putin. The author says that the most important thing now for the Bulgarian cabinet is not to rely on piecemeal solutions but to develop a comprehensive energy strategy for the next 30-40 years. Borissov demanded time to think things over until November but there is not much to think about. The potential Bulgaria has reduces the choice it has to one single thing, namely, to have its own power generation facilities and sell to neighbours, to transit gas to Europe and collect transit fees. The author argues that bearing in mind the resources and efforts input so far into the energy project, giving up on them will border on the suicidal. Thus, the best course of action will be for the cabinet to see how best to cash in the benefits.
ECONOMY
"What Gap? We Increased Reserves!" caps an interview in "Troud" with former finance minister and incumbent MP of the Bulgarian Socialist Party Plamen Oresharski who cites figures and says that in the term of office of the previous government from 2005 to 2009 the fiscal reserve was increased from 4,500 million leva to about 8,000 million leva. Oresharski stresses that this fiscal reserve guarantees security and that thanks to it Bulgaria was spared from joining the queue in front of the official creditors. According to him, the very fact that the new cabinet fails to appreciate what it means to double the fiscal reserve in the span of one term of office, is a cause of
concern.
* * *
"Monitor" interviews Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rosen Plevneliev who says that 500 million leva alone are needed annually for roads maintenance whereas the allocated annual amount is five times lower. Plevneliev says that given the current crisis, money for the badly needed road repairs will hardly be available and the situation will remain problematic. He says also that the Ministry's current debt could lead to bankruptcies of some companies.
* * *
"Troud" says that the government renews the Upper Arda hydropower project which was halted in 2003. On Wednesday the cabinet approved a letter in support of the investment. A total of 500 million euros are expected to be invested in the facility. Shareholders in the undertaking will be the National Electricity Company and EVN and Alpine Bau from Austria. The Austrian companies will receive the stake the Turkish Ceylan Holding held in the project.
* * *
Former commando and undercover counterintelligence officer Alexey Petrov, who holds a PhD in economy, urges in "Troud" Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to reduce interest rates. If he were prime minister, Petrov would reduce interest rates to the level they have elsewhere in Europe. According to him, the moment the rates are reduced, the Bulgarian economy will perk up.
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 – September 3, 2009
• Parliament voted to impose a moratorium on the removal of forests and land from the public forest stock after their acquisition by individuals or legal entities through a swap deal and even after their purpose has been changed. It means is that no new development will be possible on swapped land. The moratorium will be effective for as long as it takes to set in place new legislation in this area.
• Bulgaria, like other eastern European countries, has already been hit by the global crisis, but the finance minister says the hardest blow will come in the autumn. "Bulgaria will be worst-hit by the financial and economic turmoil in the autumn and expectations are that it will hit rock-bottom in November," Finance Minister Simeon Djankov told journalists as he took part in the EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels. Bulgaria's economy may show the first signs of recovery at the beginning of 2010 and is likely to start a rebound in the spring next year, Djankov added.
• Ambition of Stanishev Committee is not to give sentences. It work is to pass in review all suspicious deals and things in public importance, that aroused high interest. The Committee has two months for its activity. This is what chairman of Stanishev Committee Soyan Mavrodiev said for BNT. He explained that the Committee will start its work with investigation of serious things such as spending of the budgetary surplus by the end 2008, etc. Mavrodiev said that results of Stanishev Committee work will be presented to the National Assembly. The Prosecutor’s Office will receive all conclusions for offences against the law. The work of Stanishev Committee will not cover only ministers. It will have sweeping activity including deals of municipal councilors, institutions, agencies etc. the MP from Citizens or European Development of Bulgaria (CEDB) specified further.
torsdag den 3. september 2009
Bulgarian Press Review September 2, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, September 2 (BTA)
FOREIGN POLICY
World leaders wish Boyko Borissov success, "24 Chassa" says, referring to the Bulgarian prime minister's participation in the commemoration in Poland of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. "Novinar" caps its story "European Leaders Wish Borissov Success, Berlusconi to Visit Bulgaria". "Telegraph" and "Express" write that Borissov reached agreement that EU money would be unblocked. A "Monitor" headline says: "After Borissov-Putin Meeting: Sofia to Tell Moscow about Energy Projects by Year's End".
***
In "Pari", Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva says the EU should not be asked to deal only with Bulgaria. She also notes a delay in the country's entry in the Schengen area.
***
"Standart News" reports that Bulgarian surgeons in Afghanistan saved the life of an American soldier with 97 per cent burns. He is recovering in a US clinic.
HOME SCENE
"Troud" publishes a Mediana nationally representative poll which shows that 71 per cent of Bulgarians expect Borissov's cabinet to curb corruption and the misuse of public money. Also, 73 per cent expect the government to crack down on crime, 70 per cent want to see an improvement in Bulgaria's image worldwide, 52 per cent each expect the cabinet to cope with the crisis and to cut unemployment. If elections were held today, GERB would win 46 per cent of the votes, the Socialist Party 12 per cent, Ataka 5 per cent, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms 4 per cent, and the Blue Coalition and Order, Lawfulness, Justice 3.4 per cent each.
***
A story in "Troud" says that GERB has backpedalled on the total ban on changes in the use of swapped forests by setting a time limit - until the passage of a new law. The future law will allow construction on certain conditions and the ban will not apply to municipalities. An amendment to the Forestry Act has been proposed by three GERB MPs to the parliamentary Agriculture and Forestry Committee. "Troud" recalls that Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov said the swaps arranged by the former director of the State Forestry Agency, Stefan Yuroukov, would result in private "boutique" forests at the seaside and in the mountain resorts because the real offence is not the swap of state forests for private forests, but the change in the purpose of swapped areas and their exclusion from the forestry stock, which converts them into construction sites. "Sega" comments that GERB prefers investors to forests.
***
Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev suspended 163 million leva in EU financing for approved projects of 19 municipalities, "Troud" says. The projects should be financed under the Operational Programme "Regional Development", with 85 per cent of the financing coming in the form of EU grant aid. Analysis of the projects showed that they were overpriced as of late last year.
***
"24 Chassa" writes that Ahmed Dogan, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, spent 15 days at his main job in the National Assembly in four years. He was absent from 543 sittings out of a total of 558 sittings of the previous parliament, and was fined nearly 43,750 leva. He also tops the list of truant MPs in the new parliament.
Ninety staff members of Parliament's administration were made redundant in a 15 per cent cut, which leaves a staff of 495, "Novinar" and "Monitor" write, quoting Parliament leader Tsetska Tsacheva. Her office will have a staff of four instead of six, and each deputy chairperson will have one assistant instead of two as in the previous parliament.
"24 Chassa" also reports that the previous parliament spent 3.5 million leva in travel expenses.
***
"Troud" reports that mayors use black limos and SUVs, while municipalities pay tens of thousands of leva for the vehicles out of their slim budgets. Tsarevo Mayor Petko Arnaudov even took out a municipal loan to buy an office Audi car for 80,000 leva. Pazardjik Mayor Todor Popov bought a Chrysler for nearly 33,000 euro in late May.
***
The hospitals of the Medical University of Sofia will pass under the jurisdiction of Alexandrovska Hospital, and the new entity will merge with the Military Medical Academy (MMA), "24 Chassa" says. The idea is to bring together the scientific and teaching units, MMA Director Stoyan Tonev says. The same will be done in Pleven, Varna and Plovdiv, which also have military hospitals and medical universities.
INTERIOR MINISTRY AND JUDICIARY
A bomb planted in Yavor Mandadjiev's garage killed his wife and older son, while his two-year son is in hospital with injuries. The man has a criminal record. "Terror! Mafia Kills Mother and Child" runs a headline in "Troud".
THE ECONOMY
The Bulgarian economy will shrink 2 per cent due to the crisis, and investments as a percentage of GDP will fall 30 per cent. Household consumption will drop 4.2 per cent by the year's end, according to the mid-term fiscal forecast for 2010-2013 quoted by "24 Chassa". All figures are based on an exchange rate of 1.40 leva to the dollar. Economic recovery will start in 2011, with export as its engine, say the experts of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov. GDP will grow 3.8 per cent in 2011, 4.8 per cent in 2012, and 5 per cent in 2013. "Monitor" writes Bulgaria will emerge from the crisis in two years.
***
"Dnevnik" reports that tourism revenues fell by 12 to 30 per cent in the summer. Industry representatives called the season "tense" and reported losses. Expectations are that next year will not be any better.
Pleven and Stara Zagora are reporting the biggest slumps in property prices, "Troud" says. Bourgas is the city with the biggest housing glut.
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 – September 2, 2009
.
• Bulgaria PM Boyko Borisov has stated that he has come to an agreement with Russia PM Vladimir Putin to be ready with the financial estimates for the Belene NPP by November. Borisov said; "By November, we will make an estimate and will go out and tell people whether it is profitable or not," regarding the Belene nuclear power plant project. "I can not say that there was pressure from Putin. He is an experienced politician. Certainly the Russians pressed and want to have a clear answer," Borisov stated Wednesday on Bulgarian National Television (BNT).
• A group of EU member states insist on imposing more serious sanctions on Bulgaria and Romania over the Verification and Cooperation Mechanism in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, despite the last report on the country covers period of former cabinet’s governing. This is what foreign minister Rumyana Zheleva said during news conference in the Council of Ministers after government’s session, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed. In her words intensive talks on imposing sanctions on Bulgaria and Romania have been held in the EU.
• Burgas-Alexandroupolis project is not at such advanced level as the society was made to think, said Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov during news conference in the Council of Ministers after government’s session, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed. “One of the most important aspects of this project is how save it is for the environment because after all our nature does not coast USD 30 mln. However, if we take those 30 mln in a safe way by observing all economic and ecological practices we will not give up,” minister said. According to him the project is still a building site. Government’s position on Belene NPP remains the same for now.
Sofia, September 2 (BTA)
FOREIGN POLICY
World leaders wish Boyko Borissov success, "24 Chassa" says, referring to the Bulgarian prime minister's participation in the commemoration in Poland of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. "Novinar" caps its story "European Leaders Wish Borissov Success, Berlusconi to Visit Bulgaria". "Telegraph" and "Express" write that Borissov reached agreement that EU money would be unblocked. A "Monitor" headline says: "After Borissov-Putin Meeting: Sofia to Tell Moscow about Energy Projects by Year's End".
***
In "Pari", Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva says the EU should not be asked to deal only with Bulgaria. She also notes a delay in the country's entry in the Schengen area.
***
"Standart News" reports that Bulgarian surgeons in Afghanistan saved the life of an American soldier with 97 per cent burns. He is recovering in a US clinic.
HOME SCENE
"Troud" publishes a Mediana nationally representative poll which shows that 71 per cent of Bulgarians expect Borissov's cabinet to curb corruption and the misuse of public money. Also, 73 per cent expect the government to crack down on crime, 70 per cent want to see an improvement in Bulgaria's image worldwide, 52 per cent each expect the cabinet to cope with the crisis and to cut unemployment. If elections were held today, GERB would win 46 per cent of the votes, the Socialist Party 12 per cent, Ataka 5 per cent, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms 4 per cent, and the Blue Coalition and Order, Lawfulness, Justice 3.4 per cent each.
***
A story in "Troud" says that GERB has backpedalled on the total ban on changes in the use of swapped forests by setting a time limit - until the passage of a new law. The future law will allow construction on certain conditions and the ban will not apply to municipalities. An amendment to the Forestry Act has been proposed by three GERB MPs to the parliamentary Agriculture and Forestry Committee. "Troud" recalls that Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov said the swaps arranged by the former director of the State Forestry Agency, Stefan Yuroukov, would result in private "boutique" forests at the seaside and in the mountain resorts because the real offence is not the swap of state forests for private forests, but the change in the purpose of swapped areas and their exclusion from the forestry stock, which converts them into construction sites. "Sega" comments that GERB prefers investors to forests.
***
Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev suspended 163 million leva in EU financing for approved projects of 19 municipalities, "Troud" says. The projects should be financed under the Operational Programme "Regional Development", with 85 per cent of the financing coming in the form of EU grant aid. Analysis of the projects showed that they were overpriced as of late last year.
***
"24 Chassa" writes that Ahmed Dogan, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, spent 15 days at his main job in the National Assembly in four years. He was absent from 543 sittings out of a total of 558 sittings of the previous parliament, and was fined nearly 43,750 leva. He also tops the list of truant MPs in the new parliament.
Ninety staff members of Parliament's administration were made redundant in a 15 per cent cut, which leaves a staff of 495, "Novinar" and "Monitor" write, quoting Parliament leader Tsetska Tsacheva. Her office will have a staff of four instead of six, and each deputy chairperson will have one assistant instead of two as in the previous parliament.
"24 Chassa" also reports that the previous parliament spent 3.5 million leva in travel expenses.
***
"Troud" reports that mayors use black limos and SUVs, while municipalities pay tens of thousands of leva for the vehicles out of their slim budgets. Tsarevo Mayor Petko Arnaudov even took out a municipal loan to buy an office Audi car for 80,000 leva. Pazardjik Mayor Todor Popov bought a Chrysler for nearly 33,000 euro in late May.
***
The hospitals of the Medical University of Sofia will pass under the jurisdiction of Alexandrovska Hospital, and the new entity will merge with the Military Medical Academy (MMA), "24 Chassa" says. The idea is to bring together the scientific and teaching units, MMA Director Stoyan Tonev says. The same will be done in Pleven, Varna and Plovdiv, which also have military hospitals and medical universities.
INTERIOR MINISTRY AND JUDICIARY
A bomb planted in Yavor Mandadjiev's garage killed his wife and older son, while his two-year son is in hospital with injuries. The man has a criminal record. "Terror! Mafia Kills Mother and Child" runs a headline in "Troud".
THE ECONOMY
The Bulgarian economy will shrink 2 per cent due to the crisis, and investments as a percentage of GDP will fall 30 per cent. Household consumption will drop 4.2 per cent by the year's end, according to the mid-term fiscal forecast for 2010-2013 quoted by "24 Chassa". All figures are based on an exchange rate of 1.40 leva to the dollar. Economic recovery will start in 2011, with export as its engine, say the experts of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov. GDP will grow 3.8 per cent in 2011, 4.8 per cent in 2012, and 5 per cent in 2013. "Monitor" writes Bulgaria will emerge from the crisis in two years.
***
"Dnevnik" reports that tourism revenues fell by 12 to 30 per cent in the summer. Industry representatives called the season "tense" and reported losses. Expectations are that next year will not be any better.
Pleven and Stara Zagora are reporting the biggest slumps in property prices, "Troud" says. Bourgas is the city with the biggest housing glut.
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 – September 2, 2009
.
• Bulgaria PM Boyko Borisov has stated that he has come to an agreement with Russia PM Vladimir Putin to be ready with the financial estimates for the Belene NPP by November. Borisov said; "By November, we will make an estimate and will go out and tell people whether it is profitable or not," regarding the Belene nuclear power plant project. "I can not say that there was pressure from Putin. He is an experienced politician. Certainly the Russians pressed and want to have a clear answer," Borisov stated Wednesday on Bulgarian National Television (BNT).
• A group of EU member states insist on imposing more serious sanctions on Bulgaria and Romania over the Verification and Cooperation Mechanism in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, despite the last report on the country covers period of former cabinet’s governing. This is what foreign minister Rumyana Zheleva said during news conference in the Council of Ministers after government’s session, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed. In her words intensive talks on imposing sanctions on Bulgaria and Romania have been held in the EU.
• Burgas-Alexandroupolis project is not at such advanced level as the society was made to think, said Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov during news conference in the Council of Ministers after government’s session, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed. “One of the most important aspects of this project is how save it is for the environment because after all our nature does not coast USD 30 mln. However, if we take those 30 mln in a safe way by observing all economic and ecological practices we will not give up,” minister said. According to him the project is still a building site. Government’s position on Belene NPP remains the same for now.
tirsdag den 1. september 2009
Bulgarian Press Review September 1, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, September 1 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
A front-page report in "Troud" informs how the Sergei Stanishev cabinet wasted 10 million leva for quasi-science in 2006. In an interview to the daily former deputy chairman of the Governing Board of the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications (SAITC) Tosho Nedyalkov says that the money was provided to the SAITC under a project to cope with earthquakes which contained a translation from an Indonesian PhD thesis taken from the Internet. He says that huge amounts of money were made available to SAITC under different programmes and it is very difficult for a non-expert check to establish whether what has been done corresponds to the objectives of the projects.
* * *
The Tuesday press reports on the demand of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) for a check into what it called "record large spending" by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev's cabinet. UDF Chairman Martin Dimitrov said Monday that the Stanishev government spent 621 million leva between July 1 and 10 alone, according to information from the Bulgarian National Bank UDF had requested. Dimitrov stressed the need to set up a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the last year of the government of the three-party coalition - an idea proposed by the coalition made up of the UDF and the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria.
* * *
"The state is totally syphoned off," Roumyana Buchvarova, head of the political office of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, says in an interview to "Troud". Buchvarova says that the gap in the budget is evidence for the spending of the previous cabinet on the last months of its term. She notes that the spending was made even though it had been clear that the country is in a crisis. Buchvarova says that each expense was increased and for example if the development of a programme cost 7,000 units, it was accounted for as 70,000 units.
* * *
In an interview to "Sega" political analyst Antonii Todorov says that when one claims that everyone has been stealing, there are no concrete culprits. He suggests that instead of daily announcements by ministers about offences perpetrated by their predecessors, a comprehensive check should be commissioned from the National Audit Office which should be followed by a document containing all proven evidence. Todorov argues that talking such as "the previous governance was a total failure and nothing but misuses were done by all ministries" is ill-advised,
incorrect and unfair.
* * *
Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev says in an interview to "24 Chassa" that the Ministry's staff has doubled but it works slower and haphazardly. He says that the first surprise when he took up office was the bureaucratic machine, the slow speed of work of the institutions, and their attitude to work. He describes the work as slow and irresponsible and gives an example of the failure to draft ordinance vis-a-vis laws that were passed long ago. "There will surely be changes," Nanev says.
* * *
"Troud" reports on the last day of work in the State Agency for National Security (SANS) of former commando and undercover counterintelligence officer Alexey Petrov. Petrov quits SANS two weeks after the new head of the Agency, Tsvetlin Yovchev, invited all members of the political office of former SANS director Petko Sertov to step down. Petrov describes his last working day at SANS as being the last day of tacit disagreement with key postulates and solutions of the incumbent prime minister and his cabinet.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that the legal instruments to do away with the rivalry between the Interior Ministry and SANS are ready.
* * *
"Borissov Tackles Mobile Operators Masts" caps a report in "24 Chassa" which says that on Monday Borissov met with the CEO of mobile phones operator MTel, Andreas Maierhoffer, to discuss public concerns over the safety of mobile operators' stations mounted on residential buildings and lamp posts across Bulgaria. The Prime Minister said that the three mobile service providers, MTel, vivatel and Globul should meet in the next ten days to discuss the issue and consider a common communication strategy on the matter.
* * *
"Troud" comments the traditional first 100 days of a new government saying that they are divided into two parts. Part One consists of inventory-taking of the state of the country while Part Two is devoted to the development of a new strategy and programme of governance. This Part Two, the author argues, will be successful if particular attention is paid to at least three things. The first is the administrative reform which is expected to result in cheaper and more effective governance. The second is the economic programme. The cabinet would achieve a huge success if it does not simply strive to shield the country from the crisis but to find a chance in it for Bulgaria. The third group of answers in the governance programme concern issues relating to Bulgaria's relations in the EU, says the author.
* * *
"Stanishev's Masochism Reloads Borissov" caps a signed comment in "Sega" whose author says that previous prime minister Sergei Stanishev is the only person in this country who dares say anything against incumbent Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, and when he does so, Borissov retaliates with a pile of expletives, which are well-deserved. The paradox is that not only Bulgaria
but Borissov himself desperately need an opposition. Borissov needs a meaningful and sustained political debate in order to channel and anticipate the critical remarks against him. This criticism is sure to increase. In the total collapse of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the permanent crisis in the right-of-centre space, the large-scale discrediting of established politicians, Borissov's only opposition is in street talk and electronic forums. In the 21st century this becomes the most fierce and unpredictable opposition as its mobilization on election day always eludes sociology, the author says.
ECONOMY
All of the Tuesday dailies report on the idea of the cabinet announced Monday by Finance Minister Simeon Djankov to close all state agencies and transform them in executive agencies under the umbrella of the respective ministries. There are eleven state agencies and all of them are based in Sofia. Part of their services will be relocated in the country. A total of 4,429 people are employed in the eleven operating agencies, "24 Chassa" writes.
"Klassa" runs some reactions after the announcement. UDF leader Martin Dimitrov said that an analysis should be performed of the effectiveness of the agencies. Leader of the Order, Lawfulness
and Justice party Yane Yanev says the idea is theirs. Socialist MP Roumen Petkov describes the solution as populist.
* * *
The Tuesday newspapers quote another statement by Djankov that 15 per cent of the subsidiary companies of the Bulgarian Energy Holding will be offered on the stock exchange. He said that the
holding is not doing its job so that it will have to be closed while stakes of the companies under its umbrella will be offered on the stock market so that their activity become transparent.
* * *
Former finance minister in the Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha cabinet Milen Velchev comments in "24 Chassa" in what direction Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's political acumen is leading the economy. Velchev argues that the unpopular proposal to freeze wages next year is fully realistic. According to Velchev, Bulgaria this year is headed for economic downturn and probably deflation. He predicts that in nominal terms the economy may fall by 10 per cent. Then, he says, the freezing of wages is a huge gesture to the benefit of working people and pensioners. Incomes should decrease if the state is to pay them problem-free, says Velchev.
* * *
"Troud" reports that the Railway Infrastructure Company announced a temporary 30 per cent wage cut valid from September 1. CEO Anton Ginev told a news conference that such a measure is allowed by the collective agreement which the company signed with the unions earlier this year. He also explained that the 30 per cent remain due and will be paid after January 1, 2010, with the statutory interest. The temporary wage cut is the first of a package of anti-crisis measures which the company has prepared in a bid to deal with a 50 million leva deficit, said Ginev. For the three months of the wage cut the company expects to save 9.3 million leva.
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 – September 1, 2009
.
• Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov arrived in the Polish Baltic Sea port of Gdansk ahead of ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. Top officials of 20 countries would present at the 70th anniversary, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Poland President Lech Kaczyński, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Sweden Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, etc.The Bulgarian Prime Minister is scheduled to hold a meeting with Vladimir Putin. Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumyana Zheleva, Bulgarian Ambassador to Poland Ivan Naydenov, foreign-political adviser Radoslav Tochev, etc., will accompanied the Prime Minister.
• Bulgaria’s former government had spent some BGN 561 million in the last ten days of its tenure, UDF leader Martin Dimitrov said yesterday, quoting official BNB reports. The central bank data revealed a 10-day spending spree just before the general elections, culminating in the daily cost of BGN 280 million on 7 July. Martin Dimitrov said the new government was preoccupied with the petty malpractices of its predecessors, failing to dig deep into the matter and trace the millions that had vanished almost overnight.
• Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumyana Zheleva was in Brussels yesterday. There she met EPP’s leaders Wilfried Martens and Joseph Daul, as well as the President of the European Parliamen Jerzy Buzek. Jerzy Buzek made it clear Bulgaria should be ready with its nomination for EU Commissioner in October, after the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland on 2 October. Buzek added the EP would hear of the candidates in November and would move on to voting the future European Commission (EC) in December. Minister Zheleva pointed out her visit was meant as a preparation for PM Borisov’s official arrival in Brussels on 9 and 10 September. Dnevnik Daily reports.
Sofia, September 1 (BTA)
THE HOME SCENE
A front-page report in "Troud" informs how the Sergei Stanishev cabinet wasted 10 million leva for quasi-science in 2006. In an interview to the daily former deputy chairman of the Governing Board of the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications (SAITC) Tosho Nedyalkov says that the money was provided to the SAITC under a project to cope with earthquakes which contained a translation from an Indonesian PhD thesis taken from the Internet. He says that huge amounts of money were made available to SAITC under different programmes and it is very difficult for a non-expert check to establish whether what has been done corresponds to the objectives of the projects.
* * *
The Tuesday press reports on the demand of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) for a check into what it called "record large spending" by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev's cabinet. UDF Chairman Martin Dimitrov said Monday that the Stanishev government spent 621 million leva between July 1 and 10 alone, according to information from the Bulgarian National Bank UDF had requested. Dimitrov stressed the need to set up a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the last year of the government of the three-party coalition - an idea proposed by the coalition made up of the UDF and the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria.
* * *
"The state is totally syphoned off," Roumyana Buchvarova, head of the political office of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, says in an interview to "Troud". Buchvarova says that the gap in the budget is evidence for the spending of the previous cabinet on the last months of its term. She notes that the spending was made even though it had been clear that the country is in a crisis. Buchvarova says that each expense was increased and for example if the development of a programme cost 7,000 units, it was accounted for as 70,000 units.
* * *
In an interview to "Sega" political analyst Antonii Todorov says that when one claims that everyone has been stealing, there are no concrete culprits. He suggests that instead of daily announcements by ministers about offences perpetrated by their predecessors, a comprehensive check should be commissioned from the National Audit Office which should be followed by a document containing all proven evidence. Todorov argues that talking such as "the previous governance was a total failure and nothing but misuses were done by all ministries" is ill-advised,
incorrect and unfair.
* * *
Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev says in an interview to "24 Chassa" that the Ministry's staff has doubled but it works slower and haphazardly. He says that the first surprise when he took up office was the bureaucratic machine, the slow speed of work of the institutions, and their attitude to work. He describes the work as slow and irresponsible and gives an example of the failure to draft ordinance vis-a-vis laws that were passed long ago. "There will surely be changes," Nanev says.
* * *
"Troud" reports on the last day of work in the State Agency for National Security (SANS) of former commando and undercover counterintelligence officer Alexey Petrov. Petrov quits SANS two weeks after the new head of the Agency, Tsvetlin Yovchev, invited all members of the political office of former SANS director Petko Sertov to step down. Petrov describes his last working day at SANS as being the last day of tacit disagreement with key postulates and solutions of the incumbent prime minister and his cabinet.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that the legal instruments to do away with the rivalry between the Interior Ministry and SANS are ready.
* * *
"Borissov Tackles Mobile Operators Masts" caps a report in "24 Chassa" which says that on Monday Borissov met with the CEO of mobile phones operator MTel, Andreas Maierhoffer, to discuss public concerns over the safety of mobile operators' stations mounted on residential buildings and lamp posts across Bulgaria. The Prime Minister said that the three mobile service providers, MTel, vivatel and Globul should meet in the next ten days to discuss the issue and consider a common communication strategy on the matter.
* * *
"Troud" comments the traditional first 100 days of a new government saying that they are divided into two parts. Part One consists of inventory-taking of the state of the country while Part Two is devoted to the development of a new strategy and programme of governance. This Part Two, the author argues, will be successful if particular attention is paid to at least three things. The first is the administrative reform which is expected to result in cheaper and more effective governance. The second is the economic programme. The cabinet would achieve a huge success if it does not simply strive to shield the country from the crisis but to find a chance in it for Bulgaria. The third group of answers in the governance programme concern issues relating to Bulgaria's relations in the EU, says the author.
* * *
"Stanishev's Masochism Reloads Borissov" caps a signed comment in "Sega" whose author says that previous prime minister Sergei Stanishev is the only person in this country who dares say anything against incumbent Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, and when he does so, Borissov retaliates with a pile of expletives, which are well-deserved. The paradox is that not only Bulgaria
but Borissov himself desperately need an opposition. Borissov needs a meaningful and sustained political debate in order to channel and anticipate the critical remarks against him. This criticism is sure to increase. In the total collapse of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the permanent crisis in the right-of-centre space, the large-scale discrediting of established politicians, Borissov's only opposition is in street talk and electronic forums. In the 21st century this becomes the most fierce and unpredictable opposition as its mobilization on election day always eludes sociology, the author says.
ECONOMY
All of the Tuesday dailies report on the idea of the cabinet announced Monday by Finance Minister Simeon Djankov to close all state agencies and transform them in executive agencies under the umbrella of the respective ministries. There are eleven state agencies and all of them are based in Sofia. Part of their services will be relocated in the country. A total of 4,429 people are employed in the eleven operating agencies, "24 Chassa" writes.
"Klassa" runs some reactions after the announcement. UDF leader Martin Dimitrov said that an analysis should be performed of the effectiveness of the agencies. Leader of the Order, Lawfulness
and Justice party Yane Yanev says the idea is theirs. Socialist MP Roumen Petkov describes the solution as populist.
* * *
The Tuesday newspapers quote another statement by Djankov that 15 per cent of the subsidiary companies of the Bulgarian Energy Holding will be offered on the stock exchange. He said that the
holding is not doing its job so that it will have to be closed while stakes of the companies under its umbrella will be offered on the stock market so that their activity become transparent.
* * *
Former finance minister in the Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha cabinet Milen Velchev comments in "24 Chassa" in what direction Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's political acumen is leading the economy. Velchev argues that the unpopular proposal to freeze wages next year is fully realistic. According to Velchev, Bulgaria this year is headed for economic downturn and probably deflation. He predicts that in nominal terms the economy may fall by 10 per cent. Then, he says, the freezing of wages is a huge gesture to the benefit of working people and pensioners. Incomes should decrease if the state is to pay them problem-free, says Velchev.
* * *
"Troud" reports that the Railway Infrastructure Company announced a temporary 30 per cent wage cut valid from September 1. CEO Anton Ginev told a news conference that such a measure is allowed by the collective agreement which the company signed with the unions earlier this year. He also explained that the 30 per cent remain due and will be paid after January 1, 2010, with the statutory interest. The temporary wage cut is the first of a package of anti-crisis measures which the company has prepared in a bid to deal with a 50 million leva deficit, said Ginev. For the three months of the wage cut the company expects to save 9.3 million leva.
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 – September 1, 2009
.
• Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov arrived in the Polish Baltic Sea port of Gdansk ahead of ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. Top officials of 20 countries would present at the 70th anniversary, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Poland President Lech Kaczyński, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Sweden Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, etc.The Bulgarian Prime Minister is scheduled to hold a meeting with Vladimir Putin. Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumyana Zheleva, Bulgarian Ambassador to Poland Ivan Naydenov, foreign-political adviser Radoslav Tochev, etc., will accompanied the Prime Minister.
• Bulgaria’s former government had spent some BGN 561 million in the last ten days of its tenure, UDF leader Martin Dimitrov said yesterday, quoting official BNB reports. The central bank data revealed a 10-day spending spree just before the general elections, culminating in the daily cost of BGN 280 million on 7 July. Martin Dimitrov said the new government was preoccupied with the petty malpractices of its predecessors, failing to dig deep into the matter and trace the millions that had vanished almost overnight.
• Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumyana Zheleva was in Brussels yesterday. There she met EPP’s leaders Wilfried Martens and Joseph Daul, as well as the President of the European Parliamen Jerzy Buzek. Jerzy Buzek made it clear Bulgaria should be ready with its nomination for EU Commissioner in October, after the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland on 2 October. Buzek added the EP would hear of the candidates in November and would move on to voting the future European Commission (EC) in December. Minister Zheleva pointed out her visit was meant as a preparation for PM Borisov’s official arrival in Brussels on 9 and 10 September. Dnevnik Daily reports.
mandag den 31. august 2009
Bulgarian Press Review, August 31, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, August 31 (BTA)
HOME SCENE
Several former ministers will be interrogated about scandalous deals and violations at the Prosecution Office in the following days, "Standart News" writes. According to the paper, former social minister Emilia Maslarova will be first and she will be followed by at least five of her former colleagues.
***
Healthcare is faced with collapse, "Dnevnik" writes in frontpage story. The daily quotes Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev as saying that the sector is likely to report a deficit of about 350 million leva by the year's end. Nanev was present at a meeting with Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov but concrete measures for going out of the serious situation have not been announced. Separately, the hospitals have already accumulated debts of about 300 million
leva, which are traditionally covered by the state, the dailies write. The deficit of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) totals about 130 million leva and further expenditures of 70 million leva are expected by end-2009. The deficit is mostly due to the new Positive Drug List, Nanev is quoted as saying.
"We have fallen into a trap similar to the one with the pensions. The Positive Drug List contains a higher number of medicines and a higher number of people, entitled to them. This is good but there is no money. This has been a populist act: an expenditure has been budgeted without ensuring the necessary funding for it," the Minister says cited by the press.
Minister Nanev will propose laying off of part of the NHIF senior staff, "Klassa" writes.
***
"24 Chassa" writes that the decision to extend monthly welfare benefits only in the course of one year will probably be cancelled due to an August 6 decision of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) that this would violate the European Social Charter. According to ECSR, the access to benefits may not be limited in time and the state should support everyone in need. The limitation was introduced in 2008 by ex-social minister Emilia Maslarova with a view of preventing abuses. As a result of this measure persons, entitled to such benefits, dropped from 230,000 to about 50,000. "If we do not comply, we are facing trials," Deputy Social Minister Valentina Simeonova is quoted as saying. Control over the provision of welfare benefits will be reportedly tightened. An unemployed, who refuses twice a job proposal, will no longer be entitled to such benefits.
***
Bulgaria may lose about 250 million leva under PHARE, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Rosen Plevneliev says in an interview for "Pari". Eight lots of motorways of a total value of about 900 million euro will be set into operation by the year's end. "We will try to extend the ISPA programme but we cannot hope for more than six months," says he.
***
The Interior Ministry will have to pay at least 58 million leva in compensation, if it wants to terminate the scandalous contract on the new ID documents, "Standart News" writes. Two proceedings have already been launched regarding the non-transparent way in which Siemens won the tender, the daily says.
***
The Bulgarian Energy Holding, which the Prime Minister wants to close down, has signed a big deal for the purchase of 77 luxury cars, "Sega" writes. The holding has circumvented the Public Procurement Act and negotiated directly the purchase of the vehicles on leasing.
***
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will seek assistance from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to unfreeze blocked EU funding for Bulgaria, "Standart News" writes. The two will have one-to-one talk in Gdansk.
"When we settle the technical problems with Brussels, this would have a political effect," EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva says in an interview for "Sega".
***
Interviewed by the "24 Chassa" paper, Ivan Kostov, Leader of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria and former prime minister, says that he does not share GERB's optimism that recovery will begin in the middle of 2010. "Mr. Djankov will prove right for the world crisis but there have been very serious causes of the domestic crisis," says he. Kostov cites the following reasons: first, the acute budgetary crisis; second, the serious credit crisis in this country; and third, the likely restriction of state expenditures due to the non-fulfillment of the revenue part of the budget.
***
The same paper publishes an interview with businessman and Socialist Georgi Gergov. At this stage the Bulgarian Socialist Party is not mature enough for any reform, not to speak about replacement of its leader, says he.
***
The exposing of the "witches" by the GERB ministers may be a populist move but, thus, they develop the perspective from which the society will look upon their own performance from now on, Boiko Penchev writes in "Dnevnik". In his view this is the way to form a public environment of intolerance to the attempts at non-transparent governance and, if, at a certain point, this environment becomes detrimental to GERB, so much the worse about them, the author states. In his view, however, the idea about a Day of Genocide against Bulgarians is also populist and it would not lead to anything rational. It is only a form of cultivating a sufferer's self-consciousness.
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
The National Revenue Agency (NRA) has developed a special computer system that would automatically trace companies, involved in complex financial fraud. The software will conduct searches of the NRA archives to establish possible trade relations between companies, registered under VAT, "Troud" writes. For this purpose, preliminary criteria will be set, such as obligations, VAT refund in large amounts, transfers to several owners. If a suspicious company is tracked down, the system will relay a signal for conducting an inspection. The software has been developed with PHARE funding. In 2008 auditors established undeclared obligations to the amount of 1,438,155,846 leva, "Troud" also writes. VAT-related obligations have the biggest share of some 69 per cent.
***
Within a week 2.141 million litres of base oil without excise duty entered the country via the Koulata checkpoint alone, says Gen. Vanyo Tanov, Director of the Customs Agency, in an interview for "Troud". Import of base oil dropped over 60-fold during the inspection, compared with the same time in July. Base oil import stood at slightly over 34,000 litres during the time of the inspection. In the course of 20 years it was the mafia that determined what the Customs would be: weak so as to be controlled. Asked how such a high number of customs officers were controlled, Tanov replied: "There is not any customs officer, who, as part of a smaller or bigger team, has not performed any violation. This why they are easy-to-control. They are paid to be obedient."
***
"Troud" quotes Justice Minister Margarita Popova as saying that practicing jurists insist on amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and a large part of these demands are justified. The proposals are already summarized and analyzed within a working group.
ECONOMY
Food prices are heading towards their 2006 levels, according to a survey of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Whole-sale Markets cited by "Troud". In the last months almost all foods were cheaper compared to July. Most tangible was the drop of prices of cooking oil by 41 per cent, of flour by 25 per cent and of dairy products by 15 per cent on the average.
***
Madonna may not have the best voice but proved that she is unsurpassed master of the show, "Novinar" writes commenting on the pop singer's concert Saturday evening. She performed in front of over 50,000 people at the Vassil Levski Stadium.
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 – August 31, 2009
• Bulgaria's new finance minister has announced plans to close all state agencies, to be replaced by directorates with the ministries, it emerged on Monday. "Bulgaria currently has a dozen agencies, all of which are located in the capital Sofia. We will shut down all of them, outsourcing some of the services across the country. The state officials are not expected to just sit behind their desks all day, they should go in the province and do some real work there," Minister Simeon Djankov told the morning broadcast of national bTV channel. "I have discussed this proposal with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who welcomed the idea," the minister said. He pledged that the new government will implement reforms that have been badly needed but not executed for the last twenty years.
• Bulgaria is still analyzing the possible options for the future of Belene NPP. It will announce its next steps in the project in September. Up to now Bulgaria has not held talks with potential investors, including from Arab countries, said Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov, the ministry’s press center announced. The minister’s statement comes as a reply to media reports about planned talks with officials with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to discuss opportunities for Arab investors to participate in the construction of the nuclear power plant. If Bulgaria decides to continue the project, it will look for potential investors and could address all countries that show interest.
• Crime-busters have carried out checks in the area around the southwestern village of Krandzhilitsa, municipality of Petrich, Gergana Moralieva, spokeswoman for the District Police Directorate – Blagoevgrad, told FOCUS – Pirin Radio. The police checked woodland owned by the State Forestry Fund and found a field of cut cannabis. They seized 1,540 kg of the drug. Pre-trial proceedings have been opened.
Sofia, August 31 (BTA)
HOME SCENE
Several former ministers will be interrogated about scandalous deals and violations at the Prosecution Office in the following days, "Standart News" writes. According to the paper, former social minister Emilia Maslarova will be first and she will be followed by at least five of her former colleagues.
***
Healthcare is faced with collapse, "Dnevnik" writes in frontpage story. The daily quotes Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev as saying that the sector is likely to report a deficit of about 350 million leva by the year's end. Nanev was present at a meeting with Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov but concrete measures for going out of the serious situation have not been announced. Separately, the hospitals have already accumulated debts of about 300 million
leva, which are traditionally covered by the state, the dailies write. The deficit of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) totals about 130 million leva and further expenditures of 70 million leva are expected by end-2009. The deficit is mostly due to the new Positive Drug List, Nanev is quoted as saying.
"We have fallen into a trap similar to the one with the pensions. The Positive Drug List contains a higher number of medicines and a higher number of people, entitled to them. This is good but there is no money. This has been a populist act: an expenditure has been budgeted without ensuring the necessary funding for it," the Minister says cited by the press.
Minister Nanev will propose laying off of part of the NHIF senior staff, "Klassa" writes.
***
"24 Chassa" writes that the decision to extend monthly welfare benefits only in the course of one year will probably be cancelled due to an August 6 decision of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) that this would violate the European Social Charter. According to ECSR, the access to benefits may not be limited in time and the state should support everyone in need. The limitation was introduced in 2008 by ex-social minister Emilia Maslarova with a view of preventing abuses. As a result of this measure persons, entitled to such benefits, dropped from 230,000 to about 50,000. "If we do not comply, we are facing trials," Deputy Social Minister Valentina Simeonova is quoted as saying. Control over the provision of welfare benefits will be reportedly tightened. An unemployed, who refuses twice a job proposal, will no longer be entitled to such benefits.
***
Bulgaria may lose about 250 million leva under PHARE, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Rosen Plevneliev says in an interview for "Pari". Eight lots of motorways of a total value of about 900 million euro will be set into operation by the year's end. "We will try to extend the ISPA programme but we cannot hope for more than six months," says he.
***
The Interior Ministry will have to pay at least 58 million leva in compensation, if it wants to terminate the scandalous contract on the new ID documents, "Standart News" writes. Two proceedings have already been launched regarding the non-transparent way in which Siemens won the tender, the daily says.
***
The Bulgarian Energy Holding, which the Prime Minister wants to close down, has signed a big deal for the purchase of 77 luxury cars, "Sega" writes. The holding has circumvented the Public Procurement Act and negotiated directly the purchase of the vehicles on leasing.
***
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will seek assistance from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to unfreeze blocked EU funding for Bulgaria, "Standart News" writes. The two will have one-to-one talk in Gdansk.
"When we settle the technical problems with Brussels, this would have a political effect," EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva says in an interview for "Sega".
***
Interviewed by the "24 Chassa" paper, Ivan Kostov, Leader of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria and former prime minister, says that he does not share GERB's optimism that recovery will begin in the middle of 2010. "Mr. Djankov will prove right for the world crisis but there have been very serious causes of the domestic crisis," says he. Kostov cites the following reasons: first, the acute budgetary crisis; second, the serious credit crisis in this country; and third, the likely restriction of state expenditures due to the non-fulfillment of the revenue part of the budget.
***
The same paper publishes an interview with businessman and Socialist Georgi Gergov. At this stage the Bulgarian Socialist Party is not mature enough for any reform, not to speak about replacement of its leader, says he.
***
The exposing of the "witches" by the GERB ministers may be a populist move but, thus, they develop the perspective from which the society will look upon their own performance from now on, Boiko Penchev writes in "Dnevnik". In his view this is the way to form a public environment of intolerance to the attempts at non-transparent governance and, if, at a certain point, this environment becomes detrimental to GERB, so much the worse about them, the author states. In his view, however, the idea about a Day of Genocide against Bulgarians is also populist and it would not lead to anything rational. It is only a form of cultivating a sufferer's self-consciousness.
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
The National Revenue Agency (NRA) has developed a special computer system that would automatically trace companies, involved in complex financial fraud. The software will conduct searches of the NRA archives to establish possible trade relations between companies, registered under VAT, "Troud" writes. For this purpose, preliminary criteria will be set, such as obligations, VAT refund in large amounts, transfers to several owners. If a suspicious company is tracked down, the system will relay a signal for conducting an inspection. The software has been developed with PHARE funding. In 2008 auditors established undeclared obligations to the amount of 1,438,155,846 leva, "Troud" also writes. VAT-related obligations have the biggest share of some 69 per cent.
***
Within a week 2.141 million litres of base oil without excise duty entered the country via the Koulata checkpoint alone, says Gen. Vanyo Tanov, Director of the Customs Agency, in an interview for "Troud". Import of base oil dropped over 60-fold during the inspection, compared with the same time in July. Base oil import stood at slightly over 34,000 litres during the time of the inspection. In the course of 20 years it was the mafia that determined what the Customs would be: weak so as to be controlled. Asked how such a high number of customs officers were controlled, Tanov replied: "There is not any customs officer, who, as part of a smaller or bigger team, has not performed any violation. This why they are easy-to-control. They are paid to be obedient."
***
"Troud" quotes Justice Minister Margarita Popova as saying that practicing jurists insist on amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and a large part of these demands are justified. The proposals are already summarized and analyzed within a working group.
ECONOMY
Food prices are heading towards their 2006 levels, according to a survey of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Whole-sale Markets cited by "Troud". In the last months almost all foods were cheaper compared to July. Most tangible was the drop of prices of cooking oil by 41 per cent, of flour by 25 per cent and of dairy products by 15 per cent on the average.
***
Madonna may not have the best voice but proved that she is unsurpassed master of the show, "Novinar" writes commenting on the pop singer's concert Saturday evening. She performed in front of over 50,000 people at the Vassil Levski Stadium.
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 – August 31, 2009
• Bulgaria's new finance minister has announced plans to close all state agencies, to be replaced by directorates with the ministries, it emerged on Monday. "Bulgaria currently has a dozen agencies, all of which are located in the capital Sofia. We will shut down all of them, outsourcing some of the services across the country. The state officials are not expected to just sit behind their desks all day, they should go in the province and do some real work there," Minister Simeon Djankov told the morning broadcast of national bTV channel. "I have discussed this proposal with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who welcomed the idea," the minister said. He pledged that the new government will implement reforms that have been badly needed but not executed for the last twenty years.
• Bulgaria is still analyzing the possible options for the future of Belene NPP. It will announce its next steps in the project in September. Up to now Bulgaria has not held talks with potential investors, including from Arab countries, said Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traycho Traykov, the ministry’s press center announced. The minister’s statement comes as a reply to media reports about planned talks with officials with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to discuss opportunities for Arab investors to participate in the construction of the nuclear power plant. If Bulgaria decides to continue the project, it will look for potential investors and could address all countries that show interest.
• Crime-busters have carried out checks in the area around the southwestern village of Krandzhilitsa, municipality of Petrich, Gergana Moralieva, spokeswoman for the District Police Directorate – Blagoevgrad, told FOCUS – Pirin Radio. The police checked woodland owned by the State Forestry Fund and found a field of cut cannabis. They seized 1,540 kg of the drug. Pre-trial proceedings have been opened.
fredag den 28. august 2009
Bulgarian Press Review, August 28, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, August 28 (BTA)
FOREIGN POLICY
"Borissov, Putin Arrange Meeting by Phone," reads a front-page headline in "Troud". "24 Chassa" headlines its item "Borissov Invites Putin to Negotiations in Sofia." "Insiders say that the initiative came from the Bulgarian Prime Minister, and the idea was to dispel doubts that the strategic energy projects, subjected to scrutiny by the new Government, will be shelved," the paper adds.
* * *
Ariana Hoxha-Zherka has been appointed the new Ambassador of Kosovo to Bulgaria, writes "24 Chassa", quoting "New Kosova Report". She was singled out among 20 candidates and after passing a test of Kosovo's Foreign Ministry. She is a lawyer and has been working with UNMIK for more than five years.
THE HOME SCENE
The top story of "Telegraf" is headlined "Comprehensive Audit of Stanishev." "Monitor" leads on a story entitled "Two Commissions to Probe Stanishev Cabinet". "Novinar" quotes Blue Coalition Co-Chairman and National Assembly Economic Committee Chairman Martin Dimitrov as saying that during its last week in office, the Stanishev Cabinet spent between 500 and 650 million leva. "We must check how this money was spent and on what," he argues.
"It is dangerous that GERB should limit istelf to bringing out the dirty linen," Zhivko Georgiev of BBSS Gallup International told "Novinar." He also fears attempts of making Bulgaria a police state.
* * *
"Troud" reports on its front page that the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute has approved a draft amendment to the Social Insurance Code scrapping the requirement
to quit work and stop paying social insurance in order to retire on pension. From now on, people of retirement age will have no problem retiring and continuing to work, receiving both their pension and wage.
Homework will be recognized as full-time work at the office, according to draft revisions of the Labour Code, "Standart News" reports on its front page. The idea is to enable people on employment contracts to telework, Labour and Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov told the daily.
* * *
"Bulgarska Armiya" reproduces the list of positions opened to competition for 848 vacancies in the Land Forces.
* * *
Education Minister Yordanka Fandakova says in an interview for "Sega" that "this year education will be spared changes." Career development in the teaching profession will be introduced in October, she also says.
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
More than 79 owners and managers of companies which have systematically evaded taxation have been barred from leaving the country, "Novinar" writes in a front-page item. They have been sanctioned because of a build-up of liabilities amounting to 72.2 million leva, the National Revenue Agency (NRA) said.
The smuggling of goods has slumped after the information systems of the NRA and the customs were linked up, NRA Executive Director Krassimir Stefanov says in a "Monitor" interview.
* * *
"Troud", "Sega" and "24 Chassa" frontpage the news that in July Diana Tsenkova, an assistant notary at the office of National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee Chair Iskra Fidossova, certified a power of attorney by which fraudsters attempted to sell a property worth millions in central Sofia. The assistant notary was misled by the fraudster who presented a false identity card bearing his photograph and the particulars of the real owner of the property. "Notaries have no way of checking whether the identity document is false," Fidossova said.
* * *
Companies which were not admitted to the sale of Turgovishte Airport (Northeastern Bulgaria) are challenging the transaction in court, "24 Chassa" reports. They argue that the actual value of the airport is ten times the price at which it was sold. The Transport Ministry is delaying the signature of the final contract with the buyer until the legality of the procedure has been checked, Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev explained. The airport was purchased for 480,000 leva by a company incorporated on July 29, 2009 under the name "Turgovishte Airport 2009" by 20-year-old Ivo Petrov. The money is for the two-story passenger terminal, a restaurant of a floor area of 845 sq m and a 216 sq m technical service building. The facility occupies 943,388 sq m near the Village of Bouhovtsi. The new owner is planning to build an aviation centre for light aircraft. "The transaction was concluded under Stanishev but is not politically motivated," says Petrov's father, a building contractor who was fifth on the Dobrich candidates list of Coalition for Bulgaria.
* * *
"24 Chassa" reports that each owner of a luxury car, who is fined for illegal parking in front of Sofia's poshest night clubs, will be referred to the competent tax service for a check of his income. If these rich persons are suspected of having committed a crime or breaking the law, they will be handed over to the economic police as well, the Interior Ministry explained. More than 110 affluent owners of SUVs and other expensive vehicles misparked in downtown Sofia have been fined over the last two weeks, the paper writes. There are at least 2,000 parking spaces around Sofia's discos where visitors can leave their cars without interfering with traffic, "24 Chassa" found.
* * *
"We have forgotten conventional crime, and it is stifling people," Justice Minister Margarita Popova says in a "24 Chassa" interview. "There are elaborate procedures which we will simplify. In certain hypotheticals, investigators must write a heap of pages just to initiate a criminal proceeding. Nothing revolutionary will be done, the guild will not be subjected to yet another professional stress," she notes.
"How long changes in justice will be having a zero effect and will even change things for the worse," Petya Vladimirova asks in "Dnevnik."
"Troud" has interviewed Velin Hadjolov, who recently resigned as director of the Special Actions Department at the State Agency for National Security.
ECONOMY
Sofianites are the worst paid Europeans, according to a study conducted by Swiss bank UBS, quoted by "Troud." "Bulgarians earn 17 times less than Germans," "Zemya" writes in its report. The study covers 73 capitals and large cities worldwide. Top of the list is Zurich, followed by Geneva. The net pay per hour there is 22.6 and 20.4 US dollars. For Sofia, the hourly pay is 2.6
dollars, and for Bucharest, 2.9 dollars.
* * *
Lending and deposit rates started gradually to slide down, "Klassa" reports on its front page. The interest on new consumer credits in leva has eased by 0.07 points to 14.15 per cent, the daily adds.
"The deposit war is subsiding," "Dnevnik" comments. According to central bank figures, household deposits have decreased in July for a second month running. Some experts see this as an
indication that banks are starting to rely less on raising financial resources from depositors. Others, though, argue it is still too early to speak of a sustained tendency. The effective annual interest on household lev deposits has decreased by 16 basis points to 7.99 per cent. The interest rate on deposits in euro has dropped by 18 basis points to 6.34 per cent. The interest on company deposits in leva has declined to 6.36 per cent, whereas the interest on company deposits in euro has edged up to 4.4 per cent.
In July, over 250,000 Bulgarians travelled abroad on business, "Klassa" reports. This accounts for more than half of the trips abroad reported last month. Just 25 per cent left the country for a holiday, official statistics show. On the whole, trips abroad increased by 14.2 per cent, year on year. A large part of the business trips were to neighbouring countries.
"Bulgarians' holidays in Greece show record high," writes "Dnevnik". In July trips to Greece topped 205,000, and 51,000 of them were for the purpose of tourism. In July 2008, 126,000 visits to Greece were made, including 31,000 for tourism and holidays. Trips to Macedonia increased as well, by 30 per cent, year on year, to 6,000. Trips to Tirkey showed a 7.5 per cent rise to 14,500 in July.
Sixty per cent of Bulgaria's canned foods exports go to Russia, writes "Pari" on its front page. At present, the export has contracted by 70 per cent, and sales in Bulgaria have dropped by a third because of the high retail markups, the paper notes.
* * *
"168 Chassa" writes on its front page that negotiations are allegedly under way between the Holy Synod and the breakaway Synod of Inokentii about the replacement of Patriarch Maxim by
Metropolitan Galaktion of Stara Zagora. According to the weekly, this was the price at which the breakaways were prepared to give up part of the 672 million euro damages awarded to them by the European Court of Human Rights. The item does not mention the sources of its information.
Under the heading "Can Christians Watch Madonna," Valeri Naidenov reasons in "24 Chassa": "Communists have no problem, but believers should cross themselves more often."
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 – August 28, 2009
• Parliament voted on first reading amendments and supplements to the Road Traffic Act, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed. The MPs would consider the draft bill on second reading after a couple of weeks. According to former deputy Prime Minister for EU funds Adoption Meglena Plugchieva the Act does not envisage defense of expert staff of the agency, which would be provided financial resort at the amount of BGN 1.2 bln. According to her these amendments should have passed through the Council of Ministers and that it had to table the Act in the Parliament.
• Bulgaria's recently elected prime minister has announced plans to close the mega-structure Bulgarian Energy Holding that groups all big state-owned energy firms. "The Bulgarian Energy Holding will be shut down as this is a structure that nobody needs," Boyko Borisov told the morning broadcast of Nova TV channel on Friday morning. In his words the mega structure, which was set up in September last year by the previous Socialist-led government, will cease to exist "in a week or two". The holding is a sole owner joint-stock company with a 100% Bulgarian state ownership.
• Bulgaria's business sentiment index dropped 1,3 percentage points in August on a monthly basis, hitting a record-low since the beginning of the economic crisis, data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI) showed on Friday. Except for the industry sector, whose sub-index marked a slight increase over the previous month, managers from all other sectors described the business climate as bad or at least said their expectations are moderate or not optimistic. This is the first time since the financial crisis of the 90s that pessimistic expectations are so firmly entrenched in Bulgarian business, experts commented.
Sofia, August 28 (BTA)
FOREIGN POLICY
"Borissov, Putin Arrange Meeting by Phone," reads a front-page headline in "Troud". "24 Chassa" headlines its item "Borissov Invites Putin to Negotiations in Sofia." "Insiders say that the initiative came from the Bulgarian Prime Minister, and the idea was to dispel doubts that the strategic energy projects, subjected to scrutiny by the new Government, will be shelved," the paper adds.
* * *
Ariana Hoxha-Zherka has been appointed the new Ambassador of Kosovo to Bulgaria, writes "24 Chassa", quoting "New Kosova Report". She was singled out among 20 candidates and after passing a test of Kosovo's Foreign Ministry. She is a lawyer and has been working with UNMIK for more than five years.
THE HOME SCENE
The top story of "Telegraf" is headlined "Comprehensive Audit of Stanishev." "Monitor" leads on a story entitled "Two Commissions to Probe Stanishev Cabinet". "Novinar" quotes Blue Coalition Co-Chairman and National Assembly Economic Committee Chairman Martin Dimitrov as saying that during its last week in office, the Stanishev Cabinet spent between 500 and 650 million leva. "We must check how this money was spent and on what," he argues.
"It is dangerous that GERB should limit istelf to bringing out the dirty linen," Zhivko Georgiev of BBSS Gallup International told "Novinar." He also fears attempts of making Bulgaria a police state.
* * *
"Troud" reports on its front page that the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute has approved a draft amendment to the Social Insurance Code scrapping the requirement
to quit work and stop paying social insurance in order to retire on pension. From now on, people of retirement age will have no problem retiring and continuing to work, receiving both their pension and wage.
Homework will be recognized as full-time work at the office, according to draft revisions of the Labour Code, "Standart News" reports on its front page. The idea is to enable people on employment contracts to telework, Labour and Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov told the daily.
* * *
"Bulgarska Armiya" reproduces the list of positions opened to competition for 848 vacancies in the Land Forces.
* * *
Education Minister Yordanka Fandakova says in an interview for "Sega" that "this year education will be spared changes." Career development in the teaching profession will be introduced in October, she also says.
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
More than 79 owners and managers of companies which have systematically evaded taxation have been barred from leaving the country, "Novinar" writes in a front-page item. They have been sanctioned because of a build-up of liabilities amounting to 72.2 million leva, the National Revenue Agency (NRA) said.
The smuggling of goods has slumped after the information systems of the NRA and the customs were linked up, NRA Executive Director Krassimir Stefanov says in a "Monitor" interview.
* * *
"Troud", "Sega" and "24 Chassa" frontpage the news that in July Diana Tsenkova, an assistant notary at the office of National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee Chair Iskra Fidossova, certified a power of attorney by which fraudsters attempted to sell a property worth millions in central Sofia. The assistant notary was misled by the fraudster who presented a false identity card bearing his photograph and the particulars of the real owner of the property. "Notaries have no way of checking whether the identity document is false," Fidossova said.
* * *
Companies which were not admitted to the sale of Turgovishte Airport (Northeastern Bulgaria) are challenging the transaction in court, "24 Chassa" reports. They argue that the actual value of the airport is ten times the price at which it was sold. The Transport Ministry is delaying the signature of the final contract with the buyer until the legality of the procedure has been checked, Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev explained. The airport was purchased for 480,000 leva by a company incorporated on July 29, 2009 under the name "Turgovishte Airport 2009" by 20-year-old Ivo Petrov. The money is for the two-story passenger terminal, a restaurant of a floor area of 845 sq m and a 216 sq m technical service building. The facility occupies 943,388 sq m near the Village of Bouhovtsi. The new owner is planning to build an aviation centre for light aircraft. "The transaction was concluded under Stanishev but is not politically motivated," says Petrov's father, a building contractor who was fifth on the Dobrich candidates list of Coalition for Bulgaria.
* * *
"24 Chassa" reports that each owner of a luxury car, who is fined for illegal parking in front of Sofia's poshest night clubs, will be referred to the competent tax service for a check of his income. If these rich persons are suspected of having committed a crime or breaking the law, they will be handed over to the economic police as well, the Interior Ministry explained. More than 110 affluent owners of SUVs and other expensive vehicles misparked in downtown Sofia have been fined over the last two weeks, the paper writes. There are at least 2,000 parking spaces around Sofia's discos where visitors can leave their cars without interfering with traffic, "24 Chassa" found.
* * *
"We have forgotten conventional crime, and it is stifling people," Justice Minister Margarita Popova says in a "24 Chassa" interview. "There are elaborate procedures which we will simplify. In certain hypotheticals, investigators must write a heap of pages just to initiate a criminal proceeding. Nothing revolutionary will be done, the guild will not be subjected to yet another professional stress," she notes.
"How long changes in justice will be having a zero effect and will even change things for the worse," Petya Vladimirova asks in "Dnevnik."
"Troud" has interviewed Velin Hadjolov, who recently resigned as director of the Special Actions Department at the State Agency for National Security.
ECONOMY
Sofianites are the worst paid Europeans, according to a study conducted by Swiss bank UBS, quoted by "Troud." "Bulgarians earn 17 times less than Germans," "Zemya" writes in its report. The study covers 73 capitals and large cities worldwide. Top of the list is Zurich, followed by Geneva. The net pay per hour there is 22.6 and 20.4 US dollars. For Sofia, the hourly pay is 2.6
dollars, and for Bucharest, 2.9 dollars.
* * *
Lending and deposit rates started gradually to slide down, "Klassa" reports on its front page. The interest on new consumer credits in leva has eased by 0.07 points to 14.15 per cent, the daily adds.
"The deposit war is subsiding," "Dnevnik" comments. According to central bank figures, household deposits have decreased in July for a second month running. Some experts see this as an
indication that banks are starting to rely less on raising financial resources from depositors. Others, though, argue it is still too early to speak of a sustained tendency. The effective annual interest on household lev deposits has decreased by 16 basis points to 7.99 per cent. The interest rate on deposits in euro has dropped by 18 basis points to 6.34 per cent. The interest on company deposits in leva has declined to 6.36 per cent, whereas the interest on company deposits in euro has edged up to 4.4 per cent.
In July, over 250,000 Bulgarians travelled abroad on business, "Klassa" reports. This accounts for more than half of the trips abroad reported last month. Just 25 per cent left the country for a holiday, official statistics show. On the whole, trips abroad increased by 14.2 per cent, year on year. A large part of the business trips were to neighbouring countries.
"Bulgarians' holidays in Greece show record high," writes "Dnevnik". In July trips to Greece topped 205,000, and 51,000 of them were for the purpose of tourism. In July 2008, 126,000 visits to Greece were made, including 31,000 for tourism and holidays. Trips to Macedonia increased as well, by 30 per cent, year on year, to 6,000. Trips to Tirkey showed a 7.5 per cent rise to 14,500 in July.
Sixty per cent of Bulgaria's canned foods exports go to Russia, writes "Pari" on its front page. At present, the export has contracted by 70 per cent, and sales in Bulgaria have dropped by a third because of the high retail markups, the paper notes.
* * *
"168 Chassa" writes on its front page that negotiations are allegedly under way between the Holy Synod and the breakaway Synod of Inokentii about the replacement of Patriarch Maxim by
Metropolitan Galaktion of Stara Zagora. According to the weekly, this was the price at which the breakaways were prepared to give up part of the 672 million euro damages awarded to them by the European Court of Human Rights. The item does not mention the sources of its information.
Under the heading "Can Christians Watch Madonna," Valeri Naidenov reasons in "24 Chassa": "Communists have no problem, but believers should cross themselves more often."
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 – August 28, 2009
• Parliament voted on first reading amendments and supplements to the Road Traffic Act, FOCUS News Agency reporter informed. The MPs would consider the draft bill on second reading after a couple of weeks. According to former deputy Prime Minister for EU funds Adoption Meglena Plugchieva the Act does not envisage defense of expert staff of the agency, which would be provided financial resort at the amount of BGN 1.2 bln. According to her these amendments should have passed through the Council of Ministers and that it had to table the Act in the Parliament.
• Bulgaria's recently elected prime minister has announced plans to close the mega-structure Bulgarian Energy Holding that groups all big state-owned energy firms. "The Bulgarian Energy Holding will be shut down as this is a structure that nobody needs," Boyko Borisov told the morning broadcast of Nova TV channel on Friday morning. In his words the mega structure, which was set up in September last year by the previous Socialist-led government, will cease to exist "in a week or two". The holding is a sole owner joint-stock company with a 100% Bulgarian state ownership.
• Bulgaria's business sentiment index dropped 1,3 percentage points in August on a monthly basis, hitting a record-low since the beginning of the economic crisis, data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI) showed on Friday. Except for the industry sector, whose sub-index marked a slight increase over the previous month, managers from all other sectors described the business climate as bad or at least said their expectations are moderate or not optimistic. This is the first time since the financial crisis of the 90s that pessimistic expectations are so firmly entrenched in Bulgarian business, experts commented.
torsdag den 27. august 2009
Bulgarian Press Review August 27, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, August 27 (BTA)
BULGARIA-EU
Bulgaria may be brought to court in Luxembourg in October over continuing violations of EU environmental protection law, EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said on Wednesday. "Troud" quotes her as saying that Sofia has no EU-compliant standards for waste storage and processing. The commissioners are holding a regular meeting on infringement procedures against member states on September 30. The European Commission is expected to announce its decisions about Bulgaria in early October, Kuneva said. A case may last up to two years. If things come to this, it would be the first case against Bulgaria in nearly three years since it joined the EU.
The dailies report that Finance Minister Simeon Djankov has dismissed Raika Ontsova, Executive Director of the Audit of EU Funds Executive Agency, as ordered by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Letters dated August 12 and 13 by which the European Commission rejected compliance assessment reports on the operational programmes "Technical Assistance", "Transport" and "Competitiveness" were not submitted to Borissov for nearly two weeks, "Klassa" says on its front page. The rejection became known in Bulgaria only when EC Spokesman for Regional Policy Dennis Abbott made a statement on August 24.
In a "Klassa" interview Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva says there are plans for the prime minister to make his first foreign visit to Brussels and to meet representatives of all EU institutions there. He will be accompanied by eight ministers.
Yuliana Nikolova, who will become secretary of the Council of EU Funds Management in September, says in "Klassa" that the rejection of the compliance assessment reports will delay the absorption of EU funds, which is a major problem. An evaluation scheduled to start in mid 2010 will check which country has used how much and will be followed by a redistribution of funding, she says.
Evgeni Angelov, Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, says in "Troud" he has received numerous complaints about EU-financed projects. Talking about the Kremikovtzi iron and steel mill, he says it should not be allowed to run new debts to state-owned companies. It should be seen first if a new rehabilitation plan would work there.
Former Bavarian Prime Minister Guenther Beckstein says in a "24 Chassa" interview that motorway construction should make progress. To this end EU money should be unblocked, he says, adding that what he heard made him believe that Bulgaria was striding in this direction and the necessary reforms had begun.
***
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Justice Minister Margarita Popova, the State Agency for National Security's Chairman Tsvetlin Yovchev, Stanimir Florov, head of the Organized Crime Directorate, and Prosecutor General Boris Velchev will visit the United States in late September, "Standart News" reports. The daily describes this as "Washington's invitation to Boyko Borissov's anti-Mafia team".
***
Three Bulgarians were arrested in Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy, on charges of credit card cloning, "24 Chassa" writes. The three men, who do not live in Italy, were caught while installing an ATM skimming device. More such devices, 3,000 euro, a laptop and satellite navigation devices were found in their Bulgarian-registered BMW. The police in Abruzzo reportedly said that Bulgarians were increasingly becoming the perpetrators this type of fraud, previously committed mostly by Romanians.
***
Bojidar Dimitrov, the minister responsible for Bulgarians abroad, says in a "24 Chassa" interview that a rapprochement between Bulgaria and Macedonia depends solely on the government in Skopje.
ECONOMY
The dailies report that when passed, amendments to the Commercial Code approved by the government on Wednesday would lower the minimum capital for establishing a limited liability
company from 5,000 leva to 2 leva (about one euro) as GERB promised during its election campaign. The first reduction in the minimum capital needed for registering the most widespread type of company was from 50,000 leva to 5,000 leva. International studies show that there is no minimum requirement for company registration in 75 countries including Britain, "Troud" says.
Social insurance contributions will fall by 2 percentage points in 2010 after the cabinet approved a medium-term fiscal programme for 2010-2013, "Pari" says. A cut by a further 1 percentage point is planned for 2011-2013. VAT may be reduced by a total of 5 per cent in the course of 2010. This will be discussed on June 15, 2010, and the decisions will depend on the state of the economy. The finance minister says the fiscal framework is based on a 2 per cent drop in GDP in 2010.
Quoting the prime minister, who presented the macroeconomic framework of the budget, "Monitor" reports that 500 million leva will be allocated for pensions and a further 220 million leva for survivor pensions in 2010. "Zemya" quotes Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov as saying that wages, pensions and welfare benefits will increase only after mid-June 2010.
HOME SCENE
"24 Chassa" publishes a Gallup International poll showing that Boyko Borissov started his term in office with 64 per cent approval, higher even than the rating of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha at the start of his term as prime minister. President Georgi Purvanov is second with 52 per cent, followed by Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov with 47 per cent and EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva with 46 per cent. Ex-premier Sergei Stanishev is 13th with 20 per cent approval. The Bulgarian Socialist Party is going through one of its worst crises, the proportion of sympathizers being 13.8 per cent of Bulgarians in August. GERB's sympathizers are 46.3 per cent.
***
"Troud" reports that 20 auditors will check the previous government's accounts. The Audit Office started two audits ordered by Parliament at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. They will check the financial management of the budget and the implementation of the Council of Ministers' budget in 2009 until the time GERB took office.
***
Bozhidar Danev, President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, says in "Troud" that harmful emissions should be sold for 1,000 million euro to fill the budget shortfall. He also calls for stronger pressure on shady businesses.
***
A gang tried to sell a building in central Sofia owned by Agrohold using a counterfeit power of attorney, "24 Chassa". Agrohold is owned by Vassil Zlatev, father of businessman Valentin Zlatev. No one at the Interior Ministry or the prosecution office was available for comment on this particular attempted fraud after it was officially announced on Wednesday that a real estate fraud gang had been caught while closing another transaction in a notary's office.
***
Interviewed by "Troud", humanitarian worker Danka Panchova, who was kidnapped in Somalia last November and returned home on August 19, says that life in captivity is fraught with fear, hunger and helplessness. She declined to give details about the abduction so as not to harm other people. SN/DD
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 – August 27, 2009
• Minimum wage in most West European countries has increased despite the economic crisis. About 20 European countries have legally defined minimum wage as in most of them their level has increased since the beginning of 2009. Thus minimum wage in Luxemburg tops the list of highest salaries-EUR 9.73 per hour, followed by France-EUR 8.92, Ireland-EUR 8.65, Netherlands- EUR 8.65 and Belgium-EUR 8.41. Despite minimum wage in the UK is the lowest in West Europe, EUR 6.41 per hour, it is much higher than minimum wages in Bulgaria and Romania, respectively EUR 0.71 and EUR 0.83.
• A 43-year-old Bulgarian was shot dead in front of a Greek coffee house in the Aspropyrgos area in the Western part of Attica region. This accident happened around 5.30 pm local time on Wednesday. The man was immediately taken to the hospital in Elefsina, where he died of his wounds. According to the police, the perpetrator, who ran away from the crime scene by a motorcycle, knew the victim, and had a bone to pick with the Bulgarian man.
• A total of seventy members of parliament from the ruling GERB party and their right-wing allies have proposed that a commission be set up to probe deals, expenses and appointments made during the last year of the ousted Socialist government term. The news comes a week after Bulgaria's MPs approached the National Audit Office to make an audit of how the previous cabinet of Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev handled its finances and property over the last year and seven months.
Sofia, August 27 (BTA)
BULGARIA-EU
Bulgaria may be brought to court in Luxembourg in October over continuing violations of EU environmental protection law, EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said on Wednesday. "Troud" quotes her as saying that Sofia has no EU-compliant standards for waste storage and processing. The commissioners are holding a regular meeting on infringement procedures against member states on September 30. The European Commission is expected to announce its decisions about Bulgaria in early October, Kuneva said. A case may last up to two years. If things come to this, it would be the first case against Bulgaria in nearly three years since it joined the EU.
The dailies report that Finance Minister Simeon Djankov has dismissed Raika Ontsova, Executive Director of the Audit of EU Funds Executive Agency, as ordered by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Letters dated August 12 and 13 by which the European Commission rejected compliance assessment reports on the operational programmes "Technical Assistance", "Transport" and "Competitiveness" were not submitted to Borissov for nearly two weeks, "Klassa" says on its front page. The rejection became known in Bulgaria only when EC Spokesman for Regional Policy Dennis Abbott made a statement on August 24.
In a "Klassa" interview Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva says there are plans for the prime minister to make his first foreign visit to Brussels and to meet representatives of all EU institutions there. He will be accompanied by eight ministers.
Yuliana Nikolova, who will become secretary of the Council of EU Funds Management in September, says in "Klassa" that the rejection of the compliance assessment reports will delay the absorption of EU funds, which is a major problem. An evaluation scheduled to start in mid 2010 will check which country has used how much and will be followed by a redistribution of funding, she says.
Evgeni Angelov, Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, says in "Troud" he has received numerous complaints about EU-financed projects. Talking about the Kremikovtzi iron and steel mill, he says it should not be allowed to run new debts to state-owned companies. It should be seen first if a new rehabilitation plan would work there.
Former Bavarian Prime Minister Guenther Beckstein says in a "24 Chassa" interview that motorway construction should make progress. To this end EU money should be unblocked, he says, adding that what he heard made him believe that Bulgaria was striding in this direction and the necessary reforms had begun.
***
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Justice Minister Margarita Popova, the State Agency for National Security's Chairman Tsvetlin Yovchev, Stanimir Florov, head of the Organized Crime Directorate, and Prosecutor General Boris Velchev will visit the United States in late September, "Standart News" reports. The daily describes this as "Washington's invitation to Boyko Borissov's anti-Mafia team".
***
Three Bulgarians were arrested in Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy, on charges of credit card cloning, "24 Chassa" writes. The three men, who do not live in Italy, were caught while installing an ATM skimming device. More such devices, 3,000 euro, a laptop and satellite navigation devices were found in their Bulgarian-registered BMW. The police in Abruzzo reportedly said that Bulgarians were increasingly becoming the perpetrators this type of fraud, previously committed mostly by Romanians.
***
Bojidar Dimitrov, the minister responsible for Bulgarians abroad, says in a "24 Chassa" interview that a rapprochement between Bulgaria and Macedonia depends solely on the government in Skopje.
ECONOMY
The dailies report that when passed, amendments to the Commercial Code approved by the government on Wednesday would lower the minimum capital for establishing a limited liability
company from 5,000 leva to 2 leva (about one euro) as GERB promised during its election campaign. The first reduction in the minimum capital needed for registering the most widespread type of company was from 50,000 leva to 5,000 leva. International studies show that there is no minimum requirement for company registration in 75 countries including Britain, "Troud" says.
Social insurance contributions will fall by 2 percentage points in 2010 after the cabinet approved a medium-term fiscal programme for 2010-2013, "Pari" says. A cut by a further 1 percentage point is planned for 2011-2013. VAT may be reduced by a total of 5 per cent in the course of 2010. This will be discussed on June 15, 2010, and the decisions will depend on the state of the economy. The finance minister says the fiscal framework is based on a 2 per cent drop in GDP in 2010.
Quoting the prime minister, who presented the macroeconomic framework of the budget, "Monitor" reports that 500 million leva will be allocated for pensions and a further 220 million leva for survivor pensions in 2010. "Zemya" quotes Social Policy Minister Totyu Mladenov as saying that wages, pensions and welfare benefits will increase only after mid-June 2010.
HOME SCENE
"24 Chassa" publishes a Gallup International poll showing that Boyko Borissov started his term in office with 64 per cent approval, higher even than the rating of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha at the start of his term as prime minister. President Georgi Purvanov is second with 52 per cent, followed by Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov with 47 per cent and EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva with 46 per cent. Ex-premier Sergei Stanishev is 13th with 20 per cent approval. The Bulgarian Socialist Party is going through one of its worst crises, the proportion of sympathizers being 13.8 per cent of Bulgarians in August. GERB's sympathizers are 46.3 per cent.
***
"Troud" reports that 20 auditors will check the previous government's accounts. The Audit Office started two audits ordered by Parliament at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. They will check the financial management of the budget and the implementation of the Council of Ministers' budget in 2009 until the time GERB took office.
***
Bozhidar Danev, President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, says in "Troud" that harmful emissions should be sold for 1,000 million euro to fill the budget shortfall. He also calls for stronger pressure on shady businesses.
***
A gang tried to sell a building in central Sofia owned by Agrohold using a counterfeit power of attorney, "24 Chassa". Agrohold is owned by Vassil Zlatev, father of businessman Valentin Zlatev. No one at the Interior Ministry or the prosecution office was available for comment on this particular attempted fraud after it was officially announced on Wednesday that a real estate fraud gang had been caught while closing another transaction in a notary's office.
***
Interviewed by "Troud", humanitarian worker Danka Panchova, who was kidnapped in Somalia last November and returned home on August 19, says that life in captivity is fraught with fear, hunger and helplessness. She declined to give details about the abduction so as not to harm other people. SN/DD
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 – August 27, 2009
• Minimum wage in most West European countries has increased despite the economic crisis. About 20 European countries have legally defined minimum wage as in most of them their level has increased since the beginning of 2009. Thus minimum wage in Luxemburg tops the list of highest salaries-EUR 9.73 per hour, followed by France-EUR 8.92, Ireland-EUR 8.65, Netherlands- EUR 8.65 and Belgium-EUR 8.41. Despite minimum wage in the UK is the lowest in West Europe, EUR 6.41 per hour, it is much higher than minimum wages in Bulgaria and Romania, respectively EUR 0.71 and EUR 0.83.
• A 43-year-old Bulgarian was shot dead in front of a Greek coffee house in the Aspropyrgos area in the Western part of Attica region. This accident happened around 5.30 pm local time on Wednesday. The man was immediately taken to the hospital in Elefsina, where he died of his wounds. According to the police, the perpetrator, who ran away from the crime scene by a motorcycle, knew the victim, and had a bone to pick with the Bulgarian man.
• A total of seventy members of parliament from the ruling GERB party and their right-wing allies have proposed that a commission be set up to probe deals, expenses and appointments made during the last year of the ousted Socialist government term. The news comes a week after Bulgaria's MPs approached the National Audit Office to make an audit of how the previous cabinet of Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev handled its finances and property over the last year and seven months.
onsdag den 26. august 2009
Bulgarian Press Review August 26, 2009
Press Review
Sofia, August 26 (BTA)
HOME SCENE
"Troud" reports that the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry has suspended the transfer of money for construction projects to 43 municipalities. "Douma" reports that the Ministry has suspended the implementation of 60 big projects. "We are applying crisis management," Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rosen Plevneliev told "Troud." By July 31, the Ministry had spent 87 per cent of the money budgeted for capital expenditures, which is 87 million
leva for 2009. Each one of the projects will be analyzed and the ones which are vital for the lives and health of the population will be completed.
* * *
The promotion of Bulgaria and Bulgarian-made goods round the world will cost about 50 million leva, "Dnevnik" writes referring to Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov. The money comes from Operative Programme Competitiveness of the European Fund for Regional Development. Traikov has signed contracts with the Executive Agency for Promotion of SMEs and the Bulgarian Investment Agency which applied for funding submitting projects under Priority Axis 4 УStrengthening the international market positions of Bulgarian economy.Ф The budget for this axis totals 55 million leva, including 26 million for popularizing the investment climate in Bulgaria and 25 million for the successful presentation of Bulgarian enterprises on the international markets; the rest is designed for improvement of the standardization system.
* * *
The results of a poll on the first month in office of the incumbent government show that 43 per cent of respondents trust it and 31 per cent do not. The poll, conducted by Gallup International, was commissioned by "Klassa."
Prime MInister Boyko Borissov has delivered on his promise to work in full transparence and as of Tuesday deciphered shorthand transcripts of the cabinet's meetings are available from the Council of Ministers' information system in the Internet - something which no one of the previous governments dared to do," 24 Chassa" notes.
* * *
"We have absorbed only 1.5 per cent of [the funds from] Operative Programme Transport," Transport, IT and Communications Minister Aleksandar Tsvetkov says in "Klassa." "It is our ambitious task to eliminate the black market in driving licences," he says.
According to incomplete data about the situation of the National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIA), as at July 30 it had a deficit of 60 million leva, NRIA Executive Director Dimiter Ivanov says in "Dnevnik." In his words, the previous management of the agency had stipulated discriminating conditions in the tender documents for the Trakiya motorway.
* * *
Politicians should better not intervene in the State Fund Agriculture, the new executive director of the Fund, Kalina Ilieva, warns in an interview for "Troud."
* * *
"We are drafting an effective strategy for tourism until 2025," Economy, Energy and Tourism Deputy Minister Ivo Marinov says in "Monitor."
* * *
As many as 99 per cent of cultural landmarks in Bulgaria do not have title deeds for property, Deputy Culture Minister Todor Chobanov says in "Sega."
* * *
The Podkrepa Labour Confederation proposes that everybody receiving a monthly income in excess of 5,000 leva be levied an additional tax, "Standart News" writes in its leading story. Podkrepa also demands the imposition of a one-time tax on yachts, aircraft and other expensive acquisitions of the rich.
* * *
The statutory requirements for issuing licences and permits and coordination of economic activities should be drastically reduced, Prof. Borislav Borissov, Rector of the University of National and World Economics, says in "24 Chassa." There are 500-600 such requirements in Bulgaria, while they are only 50-60 on the average in the other EU member states. In his opinion, all statutory acts should specify timeframes for the performance of all activities they regulate, envisaging sanctions for not observing the deadlines.
* * *
The findings of the prosecution magistracy show that the most serious and frequent offences during the July 5 parliamentary elections were committed by the district electoral commissions in Turkey, "Dnevnik" reports. Last week a massive investigation was launched reacting on an alert by the Foreign Ministry. Prosecutors will conduct a second investigation into possible double voting - once in Turkey and then in Bulgaria.
* * *
Enyo Petrov, deputy manager of the municipal enterprises Gradini i Parkove (Gardens and Parks) in Plovdiv, drives an Audi Q7 which costs 150,000 leva, "24 Chassa" says. Until recently
local leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and municipal councillor, Petrov gets a monthly salary a little over 600 leva, as the manager of the enterprise, Stanka Stamatova said. The Audi jeep has been registered in the name of Shtastliva Zvezda EOOD, a company owned by Petrov's wife. In 2005 the company bought at an auction a municipal pavilion of 176 sq m for 12,100 leva.
ECONOMY
Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov proposes that the 250 million euro loan received from BNP Paribas for the construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant Project be repaid from the fiscal reserve, "Pari" says in an item headlined "The Lamia Belene." "Klassa" also gives prominence to the issue.
* * *
"Now that I know Dimiter Angelov is going to be the new executive director, I do not worry about the future of the [Kozloduy nuclear] power plant," Ivan Genov, until recently holder of this position, says in an interview for "Troud." "We sold the electricity at the best prices," he says.
* * *
The price of heating and cogenerated electricity will not be changed as of October 1 if the request of Bulgargaz for a 4.4 per cent increase of the price of natural gas is preserved, "Monitor" says referring to State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission Chairman Konstantin Shoushoulov.
* * *
The airport of Turgovishte has been sold for 480,000 leva to a 20-year-old man as third-grade farming land, "Telegraf" and "Troud write. The new owner of the airport is Ivo Petrov from Dobrich, manager and single owner of the company Airport Turgovishte 2009 registered on August 7, 2009. The tender for the land was held only two weeks later, on August 20.
* * *
A plot of 315 sq m opposite the National Opera House in Sofia has been sold for 3,255,000 euro, "Troud" reports. Such prices are rare even in world centres such as London and Paris, the daily observes. The price of 10,333 euro per square metre has broken the record for most expensive plot in Sofia. The previous one was 8,355 euro per square metre for a plot in Todor Alexandrov Blvd. sold to a Greek company.
* * *
Referring to the Real Estate Bulgaria agency, "Express" writes that the prices of real estates in Bulgaria's coastal areas have fallen by 30 per cent for those near the beach to 70 per cent for property that is farther from the beach. "Troud" says that a studio of 25 sq m in Sunny Beach can be purchased for 9,750 euro, or 390 euro per sq m, as a check in the Internet showed.
* * *
There was a drop of 35 per cent in wine sales on the domestic market, Branimir Botev, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Rozova Dolina Winery, says in "Pari."
* * *
A super computer will show where and what structure should be built so that it is not damaged by quakes, "24 Chassa" reports. The IBM Blue Gene/P hardware was purchased by the government late last year; the software is nearly ready. It is at the State Agency for Information technologies. Thanks to a detailed undersoil map, the system will show where to construct power plants, dams and gas storages and how to refurbish old buildings so as to sustain quakes.
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 – August 26, 2009
• The National Assembly Wednesday re-elected Ivan Iskrov Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) for a six-year term of office, effective October 10, 2009. The motion was carried, 195 voting in favour, 1 Blue Coalition MP voting against, and another 12 Blue Coalition MPs, 1 Coalition for Bulgaria MPs and 1 Movement for Rights and Freedoms MP abstaining.
• Next year, there will be BGN 720 million more money for pensions. This is our will, this is what I have ordered to the minister of finance and this is the request of the minister of social policy”, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said after today’s sitting of the Council of Ministers, FOCUS News Agency reporter informs. Boyko Borisov declared that in the first month after the new government came into power there is 9% increase in the pension, which is some BGN 48 million, and will reach BGN 288 million by the end of the year.
• 11.4% unemployment rate is expected for next year, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Totyu Mladenov announced, FOCUS News Agency reporter informs.The minister explained there will be increase in the minimum working salaries, pensions and social payments after June 15, 2010. Minister Mladenov added no cuts in the unemployment compensations are envisaged in the fiscal framework of Budget 2010-2013.
• The pine wood of the St. Vlas seaside holiday resort is on fire, the Interior Ministry press office announced. According to initial information, around 300 decares of coniferous trees are on fire. The firefighters managed to master the flames and stop fire’s spreading to the villa area. The signal over the incident was filed at around 10.45 a.m. The Varna-Burgas road in the section near the St. Vlas resort is closed over the smoke.
Sofia, August 26 (BTA)
HOME SCENE
"Troud" reports that the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry has suspended the transfer of money for construction projects to 43 municipalities. "Douma" reports that the Ministry has suspended the implementation of 60 big projects. "We are applying crisis management," Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rosen Plevneliev told "Troud." By July 31, the Ministry had spent 87 per cent of the money budgeted for capital expenditures, which is 87 million
leva for 2009. Each one of the projects will be analyzed and the ones which are vital for the lives and health of the population will be completed.
* * *
The promotion of Bulgaria and Bulgarian-made goods round the world will cost about 50 million leva, "Dnevnik" writes referring to Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov. The money comes from Operative Programme Competitiveness of the European Fund for Regional Development. Traikov has signed contracts with the Executive Agency for Promotion of SMEs and the Bulgarian Investment Agency which applied for funding submitting projects under Priority Axis 4 УStrengthening the international market positions of Bulgarian economy.Ф The budget for this axis totals 55 million leva, including 26 million for popularizing the investment climate in Bulgaria and 25 million for the successful presentation of Bulgarian enterprises on the international markets; the rest is designed for improvement of the standardization system.
* * *
The results of a poll on the first month in office of the incumbent government show that 43 per cent of respondents trust it and 31 per cent do not. The poll, conducted by Gallup International, was commissioned by "Klassa."
Prime MInister Boyko Borissov has delivered on his promise to work in full transparence and as of Tuesday deciphered shorthand transcripts of the cabinet's meetings are available from the Council of Ministers' information system in the Internet - something which no one of the previous governments dared to do," 24 Chassa" notes.
* * *
"We have absorbed only 1.5 per cent of [the funds from] Operative Programme Transport," Transport, IT and Communications Minister Aleksandar Tsvetkov says in "Klassa." "It is our ambitious task to eliminate the black market in driving licences," he says.
According to incomplete data about the situation of the National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIA), as at July 30 it had a deficit of 60 million leva, NRIA Executive Director Dimiter Ivanov says in "Dnevnik." In his words, the previous management of the agency had stipulated discriminating conditions in the tender documents for the Trakiya motorway.
* * *
Politicians should better not intervene in the State Fund Agriculture, the new executive director of the Fund, Kalina Ilieva, warns in an interview for "Troud."
* * *
"We are drafting an effective strategy for tourism until 2025," Economy, Energy and Tourism Deputy Minister Ivo Marinov says in "Monitor."
* * *
As many as 99 per cent of cultural landmarks in Bulgaria do not have title deeds for property, Deputy Culture Minister Todor Chobanov says in "Sega."
* * *
The Podkrepa Labour Confederation proposes that everybody receiving a monthly income in excess of 5,000 leva be levied an additional tax, "Standart News" writes in its leading story. Podkrepa also demands the imposition of a one-time tax on yachts, aircraft and other expensive acquisitions of the rich.
* * *
The statutory requirements for issuing licences and permits and coordination of economic activities should be drastically reduced, Prof. Borislav Borissov, Rector of the University of National and World Economics, says in "24 Chassa." There are 500-600 such requirements in Bulgaria, while they are only 50-60 on the average in the other EU member states. In his opinion, all statutory acts should specify timeframes for the performance of all activities they regulate, envisaging sanctions for not observing the deadlines.
* * *
The findings of the prosecution magistracy show that the most serious and frequent offences during the July 5 parliamentary elections were committed by the district electoral commissions in Turkey, "Dnevnik" reports. Last week a massive investigation was launched reacting on an alert by the Foreign Ministry. Prosecutors will conduct a second investigation into possible double voting - once in Turkey and then in Bulgaria.
* * *
Enyo Petrov, deputy manager of the municipal enterprises Gradini i Parkove (Gardens and Parks) in Plovdiv, drives an Audi Q7 which costs 150,000 leva, "24 Chassa" says. Until recently
local leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and municipal councillor, Petrov gets a monthly salary a little over 600 leva, as the manager of the enterprise, Stanka Stamatova said. The Audi jeep has been registered in the name of Shtastliva Zvezda EOOD, a company owned by Petrov's wife. In 2005 the company bought at an auction a municipal pavilion of 176 sq m for 12,100 leva.
ECONOMY
Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov proposes that the 250 million euro loan received from BNP Paribas for the construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant Project be repaid from the fiscal reserve, "Pari" says in an item headlined "The Lamia Belene." "Klassa" also gives prominence to the issue.
* * *
"Now that I know Dimiter Angelov is going to be the new executive director, I do not worry about the future of the [Kozloduy nuclear] power plant," Ivan Genov, until recently holder of this position, says in an interview for "Troud." "We sold the electricity at the best prices," he says.
* * *
The price of heating and cogenerated electricity will not be changed as of October 1 if the request of Bulgargaz for a 4.4 per cent increase of the price of natural gas is preserved, "Monitor" says referring to State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission Chairman Konstantin Shoushoulov.
* * *
The airport of Turgovishte has been sold for 480,000 leva to a 20-year-old man as third-grade farming land, "Telegraf" and "Troud write. The new owner of the airport is Ivo Petrov from Dobrich, manager and single owner of the company Airport Turgovishte 2009 registered on August 7, 2009. The tender for the land was held only two weeks later, on August 20.
* * *
A plot of 315 sq m opposite the National Opera House in Sofia has been sold for 3,255,000 euro, "Troud" reports. Such prices are rare even in world centres such as London and Paris, the daily observes. The price of 10,333 euro per square metre has broken the record for most expensive plot in Sofia. The previous one was 8,355 euro per square metre for a plot in Todor Alexandrov Blvd. sold to a Greek company.
* * *
Referring to the Real Estate Bulgaria agency, "Express" writes that the prices of real estates in Bulgaria's coastal areas have fallen by 30 per cent for those near the beach to 70 per cent for property that is farther from the beach. "Troud" says that a studio of 25 sq m in Sunny Beach can be purchased for 9,750 euro, or 390 euro per sq m, as a check in the Internet showed.
* * *
There was a drop of 35 per cent in wine sales on the domestic market, Branimir Botev, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Rozova Dolina Winery, says in "Pari."
* * *
A super computer will show where and what structure should be built so that it is not damaged by quakes, "24 Chassa" reports. The IBM Blue Gene/P hardware was purchased by the government late last year; the software is nearly ready. It is at the State Agency for Information technologies. Thanks to a detailed undersoil map, the system will show where to construct power plants, dams and gas storages and how to refurbish old buildings so as to sustain quakes.
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 – August 26, 2009
• The National Assembly Wednesday re-elected Ivan Iskrov Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) for a six-year term of office, effective October 10, 2009. The motion was carried, 195 voting in favour, 1 Blue Coalition MP voting against, and another 12 Blue Coalition MPs, 1 Coalition for Bulgaria MPs and 1 Movement for Rights and Freedoms MP abstaining.
• Next year, there will be BGN 720 million more money for pensions. This is our will, this is what I have ordered to the minister of finance and this is the request of the minister of social policy”, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said after today’s sitting of the Council of Ministers, FOCUS News Agency reporter informs. Boyko Borisov declared that in the first month after the new government came into power there is 9% increase in the pension, which is some BGN 48 million, and will reach BGN 288 million by the end of the year.
• 11.4% unemployment rate is expected for next year, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Totyu Mladenov announced, FOCUS News Agency reporter informs.The minister explained there will be increase in the minimum working salaries, pensions and social payments after June 15, 2010. Minister Mladenov added no cuts in the unemployment compensations are envisaged in the fiscal framework of Budget 2010-2013.
• The pine wood of the St. Vlas seaside holiday resort is on fire, the Interior Ministry press office announced. According to initial information, around 300 decares of coniferous trees are on fire. The firefighters managed to master the flames and stop fire’s spreading to the villa area. The signal over the incident was filed at around 10.45 a.m. The Varna-Burgas road in the section near the St. Vlas resort is closed over the smoke.
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