site.btaPress - Review
ESD 01:35:31 16-02-2022
DD0132ES.101
101 PRESS
Press
-
Review
Sofia, February 16 (BTA) -
Inflation, incomes and lower firewood prices are the focus of the print dailies, while the conclusions of a five-hour meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) with the President feature prominently in the online news media outlets.
ECONOMY
In a story headlined "Inflation Kills Wages, Pensions and Savings," Trud quotes official statistics showing that annual inflation hit 9.1 per cent in January. Although the average income per person rose by 12.8 per cent, high inflation eats up the households' savings and the pensions they will draw in the future, according to financial experts. They explain that pension fund yields are considerably lower than the current inflation rate and the contributions people pay now will depreciate by the time they retire.
Duma stresses that annual inflation hit a 14-year high in January, being the highest since November 2008. The main drivers of January inflation were food and soft drinks (11.2 per cent), transport (21.3 per cent) and utility bills (13.2 per cent). National Statistical Institute data for the last quarter of 2021 also show that meat, sausage and egg consumption increased from a year earlier, while bread, fruit and vegetable consumption dropped. No change was reported for cheese, beans and potatoes.
A headline in Monitor chooses to highlight what it calls a new trend: "Bulgarians Spend Less than They Earn".
***
24 Chasa leads on the opinion of nine social affairs ministers that the minimum pension should not rise too quickly. Labour and Social Policy Minister Georgi Gyokov sought the opinion of eight of his predecessors, who concurred that a rapid increase would be unfair to people who pay higher social security contributions. The ministers are unanimous that low pensions should be supplemented with social benefits.
***
The price of firewood will be halved when middlemen are eliminated and forestry farms start selling firewood directly to households. This statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Kornelia Ninova and Agriculture Minister Ivan Ivanov features in a front-page story in Duma. The decision, which will benefit over 1.5 million households, was made after firewood appreciated by nearly 20 per cent this winter.
ARMED FORCES
In its coverage of the CCNS meeting with the President, Mediapool.bg says the conclusion was that the Armed Forces are short of personnel, materiel and financing.
Summing up the outcome of the meeting, a headline in 24 Chasa says: "Radev Arranged for the Military to Spend More and Faster on New Weapons".
Dnevnik.bg says this was the fourth CCNS meeting on the Armed Forces' combat readiness since Rumen Radev first became President in 2017. The Council members Tuesday assigned seven tasks to the government and Parliament, most of which require additional financing for modernization. Parliament was set the task to revise legislation so as to ensure accelerated modernization. The cabinet was set the following tasks: to provide financing for maintenance of the existing equipment, the emphasis being on the defence of air and maritime space; to speed up the projects for acquisition of equipment for the Air Force and the Navy under already signed contracts; to start an investment fund for an upgrade of the Armed Forces through unused targeted funding and proceeds from the Defence Ministry's budget; to plan a programme which is to guarantee the Armed Forces' modernization until 2032; to increase defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP in 2023 instead of in 2024; and to take steps towards full membership of NATO's Innovation Fund and to fully tap Bulgaria's participation in NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).
A headline in Dnevnik.bg comments that opinions in the government coalition differ on the composition and role of a battalion-size battlegroup that could be set up in Bulgaria in case of a military conflict involving Ukraine. BSP for Bulgaria floor leader Georgi Svilenski said in a bTV interview that the Bulgarian Socialist Party is opposed to reinforcing the Bulgarian battlegroup with foreign troops and would not back the battalion's involvement in military action in Ukraine and Russia. Last week Defence Minister Stefan Yanev said the Bulgarian battalion-sized battlegroup cannot meet NATO standards without being reinforced with arms and equipment by the other NATO countries.
A story in 24 Chasa headlined "Russia Cannot Tell Us How Many Troops We Should Have" features Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's interview on the BBC's HARDtalk. He discussed the Bulgarian battalion, the need of de-escalation and sanctions against Russia, emphasizing that when NATO and the EU speak to Russia, they have to speak in one voice, wherein lies their strength. Petkov also discussed corruption and the accountability of the prosecutor general.
***
Trud has interviewed Atanas Zafirov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, who says the tension around Ukraine is being fanned by huge financial interests. The military-industrial complex is booming on a global scale. Ukraine increased its defence spending by 1.5 billion dollars to 11.3 billion in a year, and a similar process is going on in all countries of the region. There is also the surge in energy sources, from which the two global powers locked in the conflict have profited. Zafirov says the threat comes from numerous paramilitary and armed groups with unclear status as a possible source of asymmetric actions and provocations. He believes, though, that things will not escalate into a large-scale conflict, let alone a global one.
***
24 Chasa quotes Martin Dimitrov MP of Democratic Bulgaria who argues that the 2022 budget should not allocate 126 million leva for MiG-29 maintenance in Russia. He says Bulgaria's old fighter jets should undergo maintenance in NATO countries; it would be less costly to do this in Poland and Ukraine, which have a developed airspace industry.
BARCELONAGATE
The dailies cover the latest developments in a Bulgarian investigation into possible money laundering in Spain involving business owners and politicians and potentially linked to GERB leader and former prime minister Boyko Borissov.
The Specialized Prosecution Office (SPO) announced on Tuesday that it had sent two European Investigation Orders to Spain and that it received a 219-page report, which is yet to be translated from the Spanish, in reply to one of the orders. The information came in reply to questions put by the supervising prosecutor in Bulgaria about lifting of bank secrecy, cash flows and questioning of witnesses. The dailies quote SPO Spokesperson Hristo Krustev as saying that 90 per cent of the investigation has been completed. The information from Spain will be analysed since the money laundering allegedly took place there, meaning that the bank secrecy must be lifted by its authorities.
At the same time, the SPO Tuesday received a 26-page Spanish report in English which was first sent to the State Agency for National Security (SANS). SPO President Valentina Madjarova said this was the first time she had seen such a document - with an unspecified author or issuing department, with no signature or seal. Those 26 pages feature, among other things, photos and stories from Spanish and Bulgarian media. The SPO has asked SANS who requested the information, on what grounds, and who received it in Bulgaria.
Trud reports that the SPO received two 26-page documents in English (which may or may not be identical) from the Interior Ministry and SANS. The daily says that what the Interior Ministry and SANS termed a "Spanish police report" is just an anonymous malicious report made up of press clippings, which, according to the daily, "burst the Barcelonagate bubble". Trud devotes two inside pages to the investigation, to statements by Borissov and by Alexander Chaushev, the owner of an upscale property in Barcelona which is central to the allegations against Borissov. Chaushev says that the origin of his money was probed back in 2013 when he bought the house.
A headline in 24 Chasa affirms that "Spain Sent Bulgaria 219 Pages, Not 21, about the House in Barcelona".
SOCIETY
Telegraf and Monitor report that Sofia will have a law clinic for victims of domestic violence. City Hall is planning to allocate 68,000 leva for protection, psychological support and legal aid if the project is approved by the Municipal Council.
The start in March of US visa interviews for students who want to participate in the Summer Work and Travel Program fronts Monitor. The average hourly rate is 14-15 dollars but some employers pay 19-20 dollars per hour. DD
//
DD0132ES.101
101 PRESS
Press
-
Review
Sofia, February 16 (BTA) -
Inflation, incomes and lower firewood prices are the focus of the print dailies, while the conclusions of a five-hour meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) with the President feature prominently in the online news media outlets.
ECONOMY
In a story headlined "Inflation Kills Wages, Pensions and Savings," Trud quotes official statistics showing that annual inflation hit 9.1 per cent in January. Although the average income per person rose by 12.8 per cent, high inflation eats up the households' savings and the pensions they will draw in the future, according to financial experts. They explain that pension fund yields are considerably lower than the current inflation rate and the contributions people pay now will depreciate by the time they retire.
Duma stresses that annual inflation hit a 14-year high in January, being the highest since November 2008. The main drivers of January inflation were food and soft drinks (11.2 per cent), transport (21.3 per cent) and utility bills (13.2 per cent). National Statistical Institute data for the last quarter of 2021 also show that meat, sausage and egg consumption increased from a year earlier, while bread, fruit and vegetable consumption dropped. No change was reported for cheese, beans and potatoes.
A headline in Monitor chooses to highlight what it calls a new trend: "Bulgarians Spend Less than They Earn".
***
24 Chasa leads on the opinion of nine social affairs ministers that the minimum pension should not rise too quickly. Labour and Social Policy Minister Georgi Gyokov sought the opinion of eight of his predecessors, who concurred that a rapid increase would be unfair to people who pay higher social security contributions. The ministers are unanimous that low pensions should be supplemented with social benefits.
***
The price of firewood will be halved when middlemen are eliminated and forestry farms start selling firewood directly to households. This statement by Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Kornelia Ninova and Agriculture Minister Ivan Ivanov features in a front-page story in Duma. The decision, which will benefit over 1.5 million households, was made after firewood appreciated by nearly 20 per cent this winter.
ARMED FORCES
In its coverage of the CCNS meeting with the President, Mediapool.bg says the conclusion was that the Armed Forces are short of personnel, materiel and financing.
Summing up the outcome of the meeting, a headline in 24 Chasa says: "Radev Arranged for the Military to Spend More and Faster on New Weapons".
Dnevnik.bg says this was the fourth CCNS meeting on the Armed Forces' combat readiness since Rumen Radev first became President in 2017. The Council members Tuesday assigned seven tasks to the government and Parliament, most of which require additional financing for modernization. Parliament was set the task to revise legislation so as to ensure accelerated modernization. The cabinet was set the following tasks: to provide financing for maintenance of the existing equipment, the emphasis being on the defence of air and maritime space; to speed up the projects for acquisition of equipment for the Air Force and the Navy under already signed contracts; to start an investment fund for an upgrade of the Armed Forces through unused targeted funding and proceeds from the Defence Ministry's budget; to plan a programme which is to guarantee the Armed Forces' modernization until 2032; to increase defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP in 2023 instead of in 2024; and to take steps towards full membership of NATO's Innovation Fund and to fully tap Bulgaria's participation in NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).
A headline in Dnevnik.bg comments that opinions in the government coalition differ on the composition and role of a battalion-size battlegroup that could be set up in Bulgaria in case of a military conflict involving Ukraine. BSP for Bulgaria floor leader Georgi Svilenski said in a bTV interview that the Bulgarian Socialist Party is opposed to reinforcing the Bulgarian battlegroup with foreign troops and would not back the battalion's involvement in military action in Ukraine and Russia. Last week Defence Minister Stefan Yanev said the Bulgarian battalion-sized battlegroup cannot meet NATO standards without being reinforced with arms and equipment by the other NATO countries.
A story in 24 Chasa headlined "Russia Cannot Tell Us How Many Troops We Should Have" features Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's interview on the BBC's HARDtalk. He discussed the Bulgarian battalion, the need of de-escalation and sanctions against Russia, emphasizing that when NATO and the EU speak to Russia, they have to speak in one voice, wherein lies their strength. Petkov also discussed corruption and the accountability of the prosecutor general.
***
Trud has interviewed Atanas Zafirov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, who says the tension around Ukraine is being fanned by huge financial interests. The military-industrial complex is booming on a global scale. Ukraine increased its defence spending by 1.5 billion dollars to 11.3 billion in a year, and a similar process is going on in all countries of the region. There is also the surge in energy sources, from which the two global powers locked in the conflict have profited. Zafirov says the threat comes from numerous paramilitary and armed groups with unclear status as a possible source of asymmetric actions and provocations. He believes, though, that things will not escalate into a large-scale conflict, let alone a global one.
***
24 Chasa quotes Martin Dimitrov MP of Democratic Bulgaria who argues that the 2022 budget should not allocate 126 million leva for MiG-29 maintenance in Russia. He says Bulgaria's old fighter jets should undergo maintenance in NATO countries; it would be less costly to do this in Poland and Ukraine, which have a developed airspace industry.
BARCELONAGATE
The dailies cover the latest developments in a Bulgarian investigation into possible money laundering in Spain involving business owners and politicians and potentially linked to GERB leader and former prime minister Boyko Borissov.
The Specialized Prosecution Office (SPO) announced on Tuesday that it had sent two European Investigation Orders to Spain and that it received a 219-page report, which is yet to be translated from the Spanish, in reply to one of the orders. The information came in reply to questions put by the supervising prosecutor in Bulgaria about lifting of bank secrecy, cash flows and questioning of witnesses. The dailies quote SPO Spokesperson Hristo Krustev as saying that 90 per cent of the investigation has been completed. The information from Spain will be analysed since the money laundering allegedly took place there, meaning that the bank secrecy must be lifted by its authorities.
At the same time, the SPO Tuesday received a 26-page Spanish report in English which was first sent to the State Agency for National Security (SANS). SPO President Valentina Madjarova said this was the first time she had seen such a document - with an unspecified author or issuing department, with no signature or seal. Those 26 pages feature, among other things, photos and stories from Spanish and Bulgarian media. The SPO has asked SANS who requested the information, on what grounds, and who received it in Bulgaria.
Trud reports that the SPO received two 26-page documents in English (which may or may not be identical) from the Interior Ministry and SANS. The daily says that what the Interior Ministry and SANS termed a "Spanish police report" is just an anonymous malicious report made up of press clippings, which, according to the daily, "burst the Barcelonagate bubble". Trud devotes two inside pages to the investigation, to statements by Borissov and by Alexander Chaushev, the owner of an upscale property in Barcelona which is central to the allegations against Borissov. Chaushev says that the origin of his money was probed back in 2013 when he bought the house.
A headline in 24 Chasa affirms that "Spain Sent Bulgaria 219 Pages, Not 21, about the House in Barcelona".
SOCIETY
Telegraf and Monitor report that Sofia will have a law clinic for victims of domestic violence. City Hall is planning to allocate 68,000 leva for protection, psychological support and legal aid if the project is approved by the Municipal Council.
The start in March of US visa interviews for students who want to participate in the Summer Work and Travel Program fronts Monitor. The average hourly rate is 14-15 dollars but some employers pay 19-20 dollars per hour. DD
//
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