site.btaMedia Review: September 11

SOCIETY – TRAFFIC ACCIDENT VICTIMS - REACTIONS

People gathered for a national protest in Sofia against the slow administration and lack of justice when it comes to traffic accident victims. The protest was organized by relatives of people killed in road accidents.

Protesters marched to the intersection in central Sofia, where a 15-year-old boy was ran over on a pedestrian crosswalk by a drunk driver last week and killed. There they observed a minute of silence in memory of road accident victims.

Parents of children killed on the road expect concrete legislative solutions to improve road safety from a meeting with Justice Minister Atanas Slavov, it became clear during the protest march.

Participants in the protest called for an end to traffic accident fatalities.  They pointed out that they had a meeting with the Minister of Justice because in all the families with children killed on the road, the drivers have been set free and their driving licenses have been reinstated, explained Petya Ivanova, who lost a child to a traffic accident.  

"They don't have the will and they don't want to vote what they should. They do a ton of crazy things that don't help make the deaths on the roads stop. In our case, we waited a year and two months, but unfortunately 54 more families came together around our case - we have a case from Stara Zagora, they are waiting for a third year for an expert opinion, blood tests are pending for over six months, and the court cases have dragging on for over 10 years," Ivanova said, adding that if the meeting with the Justice Minister fails to yield results, they will go out to protest in front of the Council of Ministers. The protest is covered by the major media outlets. 

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Trud: New rules for young drivers were adopted on the first reading in Parliament. Drivers with up to one year of experience will not be allowed to drive from 10 pm to 6 am, while the fines for driving without a valid license are increased from BGN1500 to 2000 BGN.  

A young driver must not drive a car with an engine bigger than 1.4 litres until they have gained enough experience. MPs decided on first readin to set this ceiling at 120 hp, which is pretty powerful. The ban for young drivers to drive at night is somewhat excessive, however, as they can't gain experience by not practicing, said 20-time motor racing champion Ilia Tsarsky on Bulgaria ON AIR.

The same opinion was expressed by road safety expert Alexi Kesyakov, according to whom restricting night driving will not teach young drivers to drive safely in the dark.

He said that if Bulgarians want to reach the level of road safety like in Sweden or Austria, they should also borrow the practice from there - for example - training on a slippery surface. According to Kesyakov, the discussions should not be limited to the power of the vehicle's engine.

"Young drivers were children before they became drivers. Road safety should be taught in the family. Courses only train them how to operate and handle vehicles," Kesyakov argues. According to him, children must be taught traffic safety at a younger age in school as well.

SOUTHERN BLACK SEA COAST FLOODS – INSURANCE 

Few people from the Southern Black Sea coast have had their property insured, Bulgarian National Radio quotes Vesselin Angelov, member of the Management Board of the Association of Bulgarian Insurers, as saying. 

In general, the property insurance coverage for the country varies between 5% and 6%, Angelov says. Certainly a large share (of insured properties) is due to the big cities and places where mortgage lending is more widespread, which in practice means that very few properties are insured, and everyone saw the damage a flood can cause, he said. 

Angelov said that in mortgage lending, only the real estate is insured, rarely are movable assets insured because they do not serve as collateral for the banks. On the other hand, consumers most often choose the product by price, Angelov said. He noted, however, that the low price has its risks. Most often "flood" is included in all insurance policies, he pointed out and called on people to look at what is covered and what is not when taking out insurance. 

As for the caravans, campers and cars that were dragged away by the flood in Tsarevo, Angelov pointed out that there would be no compensation under civil liability insurance. For this it is necessary to have the additional auto insurance coverage.   

According to him, a large percentage of large hotels are insured. The risk of not having insurance is in small hotels or in houses that rent out rooms. Then they have to turn to the State for help. 

Vesselin Angelov does not expect that insurance will significantly change their prices, which will remain quite affordable compared to other EU countries.  

RENEWABLE ENERGY – SOLAR PANELS - ELECTRICITY 

Sega: Photovoltaics are becoming increasingly important for Bulgaria's electricity system. There are already days and times when more than half of all electricity production in the country comes from renewable energy sources (RES).  

On 1 August at noon, for example, solar power plants overtook the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, "occupying" almost 39% of the share of electricity produced (the nuclear plant was at 37.71%).

Last year alone, the country's solar electricity generation capacity increased by 38.5%, according to data from the Electricity System Operator (ESO). 

Again, according to ESO data for the period January-September, the presence of "green" energy (from sun, wind, biomass) in the transmission grid increased by a remarkable 53% compared to the same period last year. This result is actually due to a huge leap in solar farms - 137% growth in transmitted energy.

Interest in renewable energy plants is booming. There are now applications for over 12,000 MW of new capacity to be built and commissioned.

It is noteworthy that the largest investments in photovoltaics are not foreign, but come from Bulgarian companies. Recently Capital made a ranking of the 20 most powerful solar installations. Among their owners there are well-known names such as the founders of Vinprom Peshtera - the Domuschiev brothers, Ginka Varbakova, who was a candidate for the assets of the Czech CEZ electricity distribution company in Bulgaria, and also Assen Hristov, whose company Eurohold eventually concluded the deal with CEZ.

The boom of renewable energy plants in Bulgaria would have been even bigger if it were not for the heavy bureaucracy surrounding the issuance of permits and endless approvals. The procedures were eased significantly recently, but another colossal problem remains - the country's transmission and distribution grids are not at all prepared to accommodate so many new producers. The investments in infrastructure planned by ESO are very insufficient.

WASTE RECYCLING 

Around 120 000 people across the country earn their living by collecting scrap materials. For them, the environment ministry proposes to abolish income tax on the money they earn. Another measure relied on to increase the collection of recyclable waste is increasing the limit on cash payments from the current BGN 100 to BGN 1,200 per year. This could also be done through food vouchers. 

The most common waste that is bought for recycling is plastic, paper and metals. Collectors say that they come from pots, pans, and in rarer cases the occasional thrown out water heater. 

The collected recyclable waste is handed over to a recycling point where it is sorted and processed, explained the Bulgarian Association for Recycling (BAR).

Along with other raw materials, prices for secondary raw materials have risen.

A kilo of paper is bought for BGN 0.20. The price of copper is BGN 11,20/kg, lead goes for BGN 2,80/kg and bronze is BGN 7,75/kg. Ferrous metals range from BGN 220 to BGN 380 per tonne. 

For plastic, which has become popular recently, the prices are different. For bottles, companies pay out BGN 0.50/kg, for plastic BGN 0.60/kg, and for other types - BGN 0.40/kg. In the case of prices for electronic scrap, the highest paid ones are ceramic processors. Their prices vary from BGN 120/kg to BGN 450/kg.

Some 10-12 thousand electrical appliances go out of order and are handed over for recycling each month. These are mainly washing machines, refrigerators and TV sets, most of which are relatively new - one or two years old, said one of the major collection points for recyclables. They have been doing regular campaigns with many municipalities to explain the benefits of handing in unwanted appliances to specially built sites rather than throwing them away. Unlike new appliances, older models are more durable.

There are currently around 600 companies with scrap yards and around 1 700 registered traders. In Bulgaria there are various enterprises for recycling end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment. These include plants working with aluminum, copper, ferrous metals, paper, plastic, glass, batteries and car batteries, etc. 

IRRIGATION SYSTEMS COMPANY - RESHUFFLES

Capital leads with an online story about the reshuffles in the State-owned Irrigation Systems’ managing board. Lobbies from various political forces have their influences in the company, which will be distributing BGN 108 million.  

Close to a month after the Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev replaced Irrigation Systems' entire board of directors, appointed during the caretaker cabinet of Galab Donev, the rotations in the company continue. Only two of the seven board members Snezhina Dineva, who was appointed as exectutive director, and Dragomir Gospodinov have retained their posts. The other three - Ventsislav Nenkov, Mariana Krasteva and Sevinch Karaoglan have been replaced and the board has been filled with two more members after the previous change left the seats vacant.

Vatev's decision to replace the three was made on August 4, just a month after they were appointed by him.

The new successors were entered into the Commercial Register on August 14. Their appointments are temporary, pending a competition for the posts, according to their half-year contracts.

The Agriculture Ministry told Capital that the changes within a month in the company's board of directors were necessary because the original appointees turned out to be in "non-compliance with the law".

According to MPs, however, various lobbies from the construction sector might be interested in Irrigation Systems, because the procurement of public contracts for the rehabilitation of the irrigation network worth over BGN 100 million is about to be awarded, which means it is important who makes the decisions in the company. Moreover, a quick glance at the new appointments shows that the board of directors includes people close to GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, ABV and those associated with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.