site.btaMedia Review: October 24

PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT TO AUSTRIA 

Capital Daily writes that following Monday’s announcement by Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu that Austria has lifted the veto to Schengen for their country, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov is visiting Vienna for new talks with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. 

According to Capital Daily's information from the Council, officially there is no change in Austria's position, neither towards Bulgaria nor Romania. This was also confirmed by Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner in an hour-long interview on Austrian public television (ORF), quoted by BTA. 

Last week, however, it transpired that the Spanish EU Presidency is willing to include the issue of Bulgaria and Romania on the agenda of the last meeting of EU interior ministers on December 5th. A new refusal by the Netherlands and Austria will certainly bring fresh tensions into the European family. Rumours are also growing in Brussels that only Romania may be granted full access to the Schengen area as a kind of compromise, which, however, would be to Bulgaria's detriment. 

Prime Minister Denkov will visit the Austrian Parliament, where he will hold meetings with the chairs of the EU affairs, foreign affairs and home affairs committees, as well as with the chairman of the parliamentary group "Austria-Bulgaria-Romania" Harald Troch and with MPs from various political groups.

However, the one-to-one meeting between Denkov and Nehammer remains the most important, where Bulgaria is expected to use all levers of influence. As former prime minister and co-leader of Continue the Change, Kiril Petkov said in an interview with Der Standard, Austria is interested in the two countries being in Schengen because "there is a significant risk that Russian gas will not reach Austria via Ukraine next year", which would leave two possible alternatives - Bulgaria and Romania. 

The Netherlands' migration minister, Eric van der Burg, said last week that The Hague is not likely to lift its veto on Bulgaria's Schengen accession in the near future. He again asked an EU mission to come to Bulgaria and give an independent assessment of the country's readiness for Schengen membership. It should be recalled that the Netherlands remains opposed only to Bulgaria's entry. 
 
OCTOBER 29 LOCAL ELECTIONS  

Dnevnik.bg looks at the October 29 local elections in an analysis, which says that the parties in the ruling coalition will count their mayors in order to write the post-election governance scenario.  
  
A week before the local elections on 29 October, political players are carefully calculating the effects of the vote on their future. In the face of scant polling forecasts, the expectations of the main players in the vote range from concerns about the position of the leaders, through a potential loss of electoral weight to a change in the delicate balances in the central government, Dnevnik has learned from sources in the ruling parties, staffs of the contenders for local power and observers of the processes in power.  
  
For the moment GERB seems to be in the most advantageous position, as it has chances to keep its positions in many of the big cities, even if it loses the capital after 18 years of rule. A possible success, coupled with a weak performance of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, would be an argument for the party to claim more positions in their joint government, especially after the rotation scheduled for March next year, when GERB's Mariya Gabriel will become prime minister.  

For the other participant in the government - Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, the vote appears to be decisive. Either it will inject new strength and self-confidence to the coalition, or it will make it vulnerable, forcing it to choose between sticking to the usual business for as long as possible, or it will lead to the resignations of party leaders and a split.  

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which traditionally performs well in local elections, is counting on consolidating its position and maintaining its weight as an informal, but key, partner of the government. Weak results of the Bulgarian Socialist Party across the country, possibly coupled with a good performance in the capital, risk to bring the leadership issue sharply back on the agenda and to put Kornelia Ninova on the defensive against the internal party opposition. The least affected by their performance seem to be Vazrazhdane and There Is Such a People, for which the elections are unlikely to bring significant changes. 
 
In a Trud interview political analyst Tatyana Burudzhieva comments on possible shocks within the ruling coalition in view of the local election performance. According to Burudzhieva, the man who can bring down any government is Finance Minister Assen Vassilev. As long as Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria is fixated that in any government Vassilev should be the finance minister, all sorts of shocks can happen.  

Burudzhieva argues that the local elections will strengthen the arguments that power should be distributed according to the real situation and support for the individual parties among the voters. When the cabinet was formed, it made sense for GERB to step back in order to have a government and a budget, and to start the constitutional reforms. The situation is turning around. Now Continue the Change has to step back if it wants to maintain its position in parliament. If its results are what is expected in the local elections, Continue the Change will have to fight to get into Parliament. It is a question of foresight and understanding that when you need someone's votes, politics is done in partnership and cooperation.  

GERB leader Boyko Borissov has already said that there could be a change of 7-8 ministers. Continue the Change will either have the political foresight to be active and agree which ministers remain and which will be replaced right now and then the rotation of prime minister will pass painlessly, or they will not. If not, it is possible that the country will go to early elections. 
 
ECONOMY 
 
Sega.bg writes that GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) will move draft legislation to put Lukoil's fuel storage depots under the control of the State Reserve and Wartime Stocks State Agency. 
Along with the terminated concession for the Rosenets oil port terminal and the threat to ban Russian oil imports unless Lukoil pays BGN 1.5 billion in taxes in the next two months, GERB and the MRF urged the state to get a hand on the storage depots of the refinery. 

GERB MP Delyan Dobrev said that the aim is to encourage competition and end Lukoil’s monopoly.  
"Each trader, who wants to store fuels, should have access to a storage depot,” said Dobrev. However, Lukoil owns 92% of the storage depots and that’s why the State Reserve Agency should step in to manage the company’s depots and oil pipeline. 

Also, GERB and the MRF urged for the reversal of a controversial new requirement, gazetted two weeks ago, stipulating that for 12 months 100% of emergency stocks of oil and petroleum products should be held on the territory of the country. Now, 50% of the country’s stocks can be held abroad. 

Dobrev said that the provision benefits Lukoil only. 
Fuel traders warned that they will have to stop imports. Finance Minister Assen Vassilev said that some BGN 300 million should be invested in new storage depots in the next 12 months. 
 
The law obliges fuel producers and traders to hold in storage certain quantities of fuels based on their turnover.  

Dimitar Hadzhidimitrov, deputy chair of the Association of Fuel Importers, Traders and Carriers, said that the current storage depots in the country cannot hold 100% of all emergency stocks, and new depots need large investments. 

Another obstacle is the high rent. For example, the rent in Hungary is EUR 6 for 1,000 cu m, compared with EUR 17 in Bulgaria. Hadzhidimitrov did not specify if Lukoil or any other depot holders has set this price. 
 
On a proposal of GERB and MRF by June 30 2024, 50% of emergency stock will be held in other EU countries. Afterwards the cap will be put at 30%, said Dobrev. 
 
Mediapool.bg writes that Commission for Protection of Competition has put a stop to an initiative of the Economy Ministry which aims to make major food chains set price caps on basic food products before the start of the winter season to protect the most vulnerable consumers.  

It applies to several groups of goods from the small consumer basket - bread and cereals, meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, eggs, butter and vegetable oils, fruits and vegetables, as well as canned foods and was supposed to be launched on November 1. 

The regulator claims that the initiative will restrict competition and is linked to underpricing of several groups of food products, which violates the principle of free economic initiative. A possible measure to deal with the higher prices rise would be to provide individual food packages. 
 
ROAD COMPLIANCE CHECKS 
 
Media outlets on Tuesday report the results of checks, unveiled by Regional Development Minister Andrey Tsekov that more than half of tested road Infrastructure under warranty deviates from quality standards. 
The tests aimed to find out whether there are any problems with the quality of the materials used and the thickness of the road structure. 
 
Responding to these findings, former regional development minister Grozdan Karazdhov said on Bulgarian National Radio that the control system of one organization has issued two different opinions about the same roads. 
 
The Institute of Roads and Bridges carries out regular checks during the process of construction, said Karadzhov. The same institute has issued a compliance certification for the roads, claims that they are substandard. According to Karadzhov, the checks are a PR stunt.