site.btaMedia Review: November 1

All print media quote GERB leader Boyko Borissov, who seemed to agree with Anton Hekimyan's words that "state ownership is better than State Security". Hekimyan took a third place in the mayoral race in Sofia after front-runner Vassil Terziev of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and Save Sofia and runner-up Vanya Grigorova of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Hekimyan seems to favour Grigorova with her Socialist views over Terziev, who was frequently attacked for his family's connection to the communist-era State Security service.

LOCAL ELECTIONS

On Nova TV's morning show, top-of-the-list candidate for municipal councillor of the CC-DB (Save Sofia) local coalition, Boris Bonev, asked how Grigorova would be able to govern Sofia with only eight out of 61 municipal councillors and with no regional mayors. He commented on Borissov's words, saying: "Boyko Borissov's political gymnastics, which he demonstrated again and this time, playing with people who are expressing pro-Russian and anti-European positions, speaks of another abuse of the trust of the voters of this party. I accept the voters of GERB as citizens of Sofia, whom I want to take care of in this Municipal Council". Bonev was adamant that machine-voting should be implemented, in order to avoid vote manipulation.

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Trud quotes Professor of Constitutional Law Plamen Kirov who praised the Supreme Administrative Court for its agreement with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to have the first round of the elections use only paper ballots and no machine voting. The reason for the CEC to not use machine voting was that the Deputy Minister of e-Government, who certified the machines for the elections, lacked the authority to do so. The certification should have been signed by the Minister of e-Government, Alexander Yolovski, himself.

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24 Chasa reports that Minister of e-Government Alexander Yolovski is under heightened guard from the National Service for Protection, while his family is guarded by the Gendarmerie Directorate. The heightened guard comes after the Minister was heard by the Counter-Corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets Forfeiture Commission (CCUAAFC) on the occasion of the report drawn by the State Agency for National Security, which reported that Yolovski's deputy, Mihail Stoynov, was caught making a video of a compliance test of the voting machines. Yolovski complained that he was under political pressure to award public procurement contracts to specific people rather than to follow the established processes. There Is Such a People floor leader Toshko Yordanov suggested that CC-DB MPs Kiril Petkov and Bozhidar Bozhanov had been accused by Yolovski of exerting this pressure.

ECONOMY

bTV quotes data from the National Statistical Institute, according to which one in four retailers predicts a spike in their prices. The reason is that the business climate deteriorated in October compared to the previous month. The owner of a small bakery, Plamen Petrov, describes working in times of high inflation and instability thus: "We have supplier pricing dynamics. They [our suppliers] experience the same with their suppliers. There is no control of the products needed to make each bake. There are a lot of monopolists in the market, I don't know what kind of regulator the state plays. After the price increase of cooking oil last year, it is now back to normal, but there are dynamics in eggs and other products". Petrov notes that Bulgarian consumers' purchasing power has diminished significantly from previous years.

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Duma quotes Georgi Parvanov of the Bulgarian Employment Confederation, who told Nova TV that two out of three advertised job positions remain unfilled. Nearly 30% of employers want to recruit new employees, and more than 50% are willing to hire people from abroad. Parvanov said that the lack of labour has an impact on the entire labour market. He added that unemployment started growing in the spring of this year, with the job gap currently being at between 200,000 and 250,000 positions. The expert concluded that there is a disconnect between employees looking for work and the needs of businesses. "There are unqualified people available or those who do not meet the requirements. They are looking for other profiles that are simply missing on the market," he said.

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Head of the Bulgarian Association of Restaurants, Richard Alibegov, told Telegraph that representatives of the hospitality industry will conduct negotiations with four parliamentary groups to preserve the 9% VAT on the industry. The lower VAT was introduced as a measure during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the tax prior to the pandemic used to be 20%. Alibegov's association received an invitation from Finance Minister Assen Vassilev to start the negotiations on October 24, however, the restaurateurs preferred to have the meeting after the election runoffs on November 5, as they are unwilling to use the matter at hand for political purposes. Vassilev stated that he is willing to consider keeping the lower VAT, as long as the industry offers ways to bring parts of it out of the informal sector of the economy. Some way that Vassilev listed as options are introducing payment terminals in all hospitality establishments and enforcing minimum monthly insurance income of 20% over the minimum monthly wage, which comes to some BGN 1,100.

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Trud reports that resellers of dairy products are profiting off the decreasing purchase price of milk. The average purchase price of milk today is BGN 0.87, which is over 17% lower year-on-year. The wholesale price of yellow cheese reached BGN 20.71, a yearly increase of 5.4%. The retail price hit BGN 25.12, a yearly increase of 12.2%, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Cheese saw a price spike of 7.4%, up to BGN 17.54, while the retail price of milk itself is BGN 3.25 per litre, an increase of 12.5%.

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Telegraph's frontpage is dedicated to the price of homemade rakia, Bulgaria's traditional fruit spirits, going up because of this year's weak grape harvest and the higher prices set by distilleries. The price of the homemade alcohol ranges between BGN 10 and 18 per litre. Poor weather conditions were the reason some vineyards lost some 80% of their harvest, in some cases even up to 100%, which made 2023 the worst year for vine growers since 2014, experts agree. The article points out that while selling homemade rakia is illegal, as it can be only consumed by its own producer, online ads for selling such alcohol are far from uncommon.

ENERGY

Duma quotes 24 Chasa, according to which Gazprom is leaving the fossil fuel industry in Bulgaria, even though pressure lately has been exerted on Lukoil. The Serbian Naftna Industrija Srbije, through which Gazprom was operating in Bulgaria, has announced that Gazprom is selling its 23 petrol stations in Bulgaria.

HOME AFFAIRS

24 Chasa published an interview with Professor of Banking and Finance Richard Werner, who will be leading a Master's Programme in International Banking and Finance at the Higher School of Insurance and Finance in Sofia. Werner quoted a statement by a former Bulgarian minister who said that a newborn here should be sponsored with BGN 20 to 30,000. The Professor believes that this sum should be increased tenfold and argued that this would be productive, non-inflationary and would not be a burden on the tax-payer, as it should be implemented by the Bulgarian National Bank.

HEALTHCARE

Telegraph reports that Mladite Lekari (The Young Doctors) Association is launching an initiative to train children in 6th to 10th grade to be able to give first aid to people suffering from cardiac arrest, pulmonary embolism and heart attack. The Association reports that if a person suffers from cardiac arrest abroad, they have an 80% chance of being reanimated, while that chance here is about 20%.

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Duma quotes infectious disease specialist Dr Trifon Valkov, who said in a Nova TV interview that the abrupt change in temperatures increases the spread of infections. The doctor is adamant that the intake of certain foods will not change one's symptoms. "The only way to prevent this type of disease is vaccinations," said Valkov. He added that it is never too late to get a flu or a coronavirus vaccine.

EDUCATION

A spread article in 24 Chasa reports on an award ceremony for 23 of the brightest and most successful pupils in Bulgaria. The event was attended by Minister of Education and Science Galin Tzokov, who said that excellent students are the influencers of tomorrow.

CULTURE

Nova TV reports that artists and representatives of cultural institutes across the country chose November 1, National Awakeners Day, to organize a rally. The artists demand financial support for Bulgarian culture. Cellist Asya Ruseva of the State Opera in Ruse said: "Our demands, especially in the performing arts, are to have our humiliatingly low wages raised. My salary is BGN 1,200, and it has been for a long time. We have been close to the minimum wage for a few decades. We want salaries in our sector to start at BGN 2,000". Conductor Yordan Kamdzhalov said that many of those employed in the field of culture are forced to deliver pizza, drive taxis and work in bars. "This is an absolute humiliation. Today's awakeners are left at the mercy of fate. This is suicide for the nation," he said.

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bTV reported on 12-year-old Nikola, whose artwork won an honourable mention at the ‘My favourite place on Earth’ competition organized by the European Space Agency. A copy of Nikola's piece will be sent to Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen on the International Space Station who will then print it and sign it.

HISTORY

The Archives State Agency (ASA) told the Bulgarian National Television that a new website (vlevski.archives.bg) has been created to mark 150 years since the death of revolutionary and national hero Vasil Levski. ASA has scanned and uploaded hundreds of texts and photographs documenting Levski's life that are now available to see on the website.

INTERNET

24 Chasa reports that as of November 1, online users in all EU Member States, Bulgaria included, will be able to use Facebook and Instagram ad-free on a computer for a monthly fee of EUR 9.99 (BGN 19.53). Mobile users will have to pay EUR 12.99 or BGN 25.40 for the same service. This move comes after the owner of the two social networks, Meta, was fined EUR 390 million by the European Commission for using personalized ads after tracking their users' online activities.