site.btaMedia Review: June 19

JUDICIARY

24 Chasa has an overview of the situation in the Bulgarian judiciary after the May 1 explosion close to the car of former Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. The article comments on the appointment of Borislav Sarafov as acting Prosecutor General and the lack of discussion before his election. The daily recalls that several weeks ago, Sarafov had said on bTV that he did not want to be a candidate for the position of Prosecutor General, nor to be an acting Prosecutor General, but nevertheless on Friday he accepted the post. The daily writes that Sarafov might be the first Prosecutor General to be investigated. 

Trud writes on its front page about the position Democratic Bulgaria leader Hristo Ivanov, who posed an ultimatum, asking for the newly appointed acting Prosecutor General Sarafov to be removed from office. Trud quotes Justice Minister Atanas Slavov, speaking for the Bulgarian National Radio, who has said that there were doubts related to the procedure of Sarafov’s appointment – “completed in a matter of hours and with no discussions”.

Telegraph writes that Sarafov has a low level of trust from Bulgarian society. The daily also quotes Justice Minister Slavov, saying that a new Prosecutor General can be elected only after constitutional changes.

Duma has a short piece on the topic as an overview of the recent developments around the dismissal of Geshev and the appointment of Sarafov. The daily also recalls events from further back in time, such as Geshev’s appointment in 2020 and him saying in 2019 that he is “99.99% sure” that he will not become Prosecutor General. Duma notes that Sarafov was also deputy to previous Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov. 

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Todor Slavev from the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives says that he does not expect the appointment of Sarafov to destroy the coalition of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and GERB. Slavev fears the Supreme Judicial Council will hurry to elect the next Prosecutor General in the same manner before any possible changes to the Constitution could be adopted by Parliament. “My fear is that this Supreme Judicial Council is in a hurry to choose the next Prosecutor General”, Slavev said. According to him, the term in office of the Prosecutor General should be reduced. He believes the proposition is realistic and that the society expects constitutional reforms to change the legislative framework. He also pointed out that unless honest and independent people are sought and found for such positions, it will always be possible to bypass all rules and measures, be it old or new ones.

In a Mediapool.bg  story of the past weekend, CC-DB MP Yordan Terziiski responds to criticism by Vice President Iliana Iotova that CC-DG violated the principle of separation of powers by urging the newly elected acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov to come down (for being elected by the Prosecutors’ Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council rather than by its Plenum). Terziiski said: “When there is something that goes against our principles, it is normal to state our position and say that we are against what is happening. We do not call people or send them an email to do that [in back-stage actions, as has apparently been the established practice].” Terziiski called on the presidential office, the National Assembly and the judiciary to “tone down” their rhetoric “because the confrontation is not in the interest of Bulgarian people”. He recalled that President Rumen Radev had also come out in front of the presidency with a raised fist after prosecutors raided the presidency two years ago. "I notice that whenever there are attacks against the parties, [Vice President] Mrs Iliana Iotova is the face of these attacks, while the president somehow stands in the background," Terziiski said.

Mediapool.bg also has a position of the Bulgarian Judges Association, describing Sarafov’s appointment as “yet another shameful decision”. The organization calls for a prosecutor of proven professional competence and integrity to be chosen as acting Prosecutor General, who is outside the circle of the deputies of former Prosecutor General Geshev.

Global Metric sociologist Radostina Angelova spoke for BNR about Bulgarians’ low trust in the judiciary. “The trust in the judiciary is very low and it is very difficult to measure how much this 10% can go down,” she said. According to her, when something is at some very extreme values, a possible decline cannot be measured because it has little to nowhere else to fall. Angelova noted that very few people form their opinions based on personal experience, for the rest this happens through the media and what is discussed in society.

ECONOMICS 

Telegraph’s leading topic on the daily’s front page compares housing prices in the capital Sofia and other smaller cities and towns across the country. According to an investigation by Telegraph, a garage in Sofia costs as much as two flats in a prefabricated apartment block in Mezdra, northwest Bulgaria. The daily writes that Botevgrad, which is about 60 kilometres north of Sofia, has surpassed Sofia in terms of housing prices. Many young people move to live there, and prices have gotten as high as EUR 2,000 per square metre, which, according to brokers, is the price of flats in the popular neighbourhoods in Sofia. In the outskirts of Sofia prices go down with EUR 500 per square metre compared to Botevgrad or popular locations in the capital, Telegraph writes.

Duma highlights on its frontpage a topic related to fast loans and “mass” violations by loan providers. The daily quotes the Chairman of the Commission for Consumer Protection, Stoil Alipiev, saying that some of the violations found by his Commission during check-ups were that fast loan companies widely use unfair trade practices and telecoms are demanding unreasonably high fees.  

Trud, Duma and 24 Chasa have written about the summer tourist season in Bulgaria and Bulgarian tourists going abroad. 

Trud writes that the prices in Bulgaria’s resorts on the Black Sea in 2023 have increased between 10% and 30%. Even though strong sales are expected, the number of tourists is still low. According to experts from the hospitality business, the main problems are the lack of trained staff and the summer season becoming shorter. They say that it is difficult to find staff willing to work for 45 days only, and that people prefer contracts with a minimal length of five to six months. 

Duma writes on its front page that 8 million tourists are expected at the Bulgarian seaside in the summer of 2023 - 5 million foreign tourists and around 3.2 million Bulgarians. According to Rumen Draganov of the Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism, prices in 2023 are the same as in 2022. Draganov says the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine will not affect the quality of the sea water in Bulgarian resorts.

24 Chasa has an article comparing prices in summer resorts in various countries. Turkiye, even with the high inflation there, remains the cheapest foreign destination for Bulgarians, the daily writes. Prices in Greece are higher and comparable to those in Italy.

Deputy chairman of the Union of Hoteliers in Varna Stanislav Stoyanov said on the morning programme of NovaTV that there is no pollution of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast after the destruction of Kakhovka dam. "This information hardly reaches foreign tourism markets, where people should take note that our beaches are safe," Stoyanov said. Prof. Stoyan Marinov, co-chairman of the Varna Chamber of Tourism, noted the slow start of the summer tourist season but said he expects the industry to catch up.

The two were also interviewed by bTV. Marinov told bTV that among the reasons for the "weak" start of the tourist season is the lack of Romanian tourists, which, according to him, are the main market segment. he said that not many people are going to the beach, they are mostly young people who prefer the nightlife. Marinov noted the need to understand the reasons and strengthen Bulgaria's presence in key markets.

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Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria, said on the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) that it is possible that the new state budget will shrink the deficit to 3% and find an extra BGN 800 million for pay rises to compensate for the inflation. He recalled that in the State Budget Bill about BGN 540 million were planned for wage increases in secondary education and about BGN 150 million for municipalities and some other sectors that did not receive any increase in funds allocation in 2022. Regarding the containment of inflation, Dimitrov said that so far there has not been a decline in the prices of basic goods and services.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Journalist Lybubcho Neshkov commented on the morning programme of bTV on a declaration of Germany’s Bundestag about North Macedonia, aiming to accelerate the negotiation process of the country’s EU accession. According to him, what happened in the Bundestag has absolutely no significance for the Bulgarian-Macedonian relations and has no impact on the two countries' bilateral relations.

HEALTHCARE 

Trud has an interview with Assoc. Prof. Atanas Mangarov, who talks about the summer flu in Bulgaria. He warns against excessive use of antibiotics. According to him, the viral infections also called summer flu are ones that do not require a lot of medical treatment but rather time to pass on their own. Mangarov estimated that it takes from seven to ten days for one that has fallen sick to recover.