site.btaMedia Review: January 15

BULGARIAN INTERVIEW OF ALLAH ANSAR SPOKESPERSON

Maritime.bg publishes highlights from an exclusive interview with Nasr al-Din Amer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Yemeni SABA news agency and deputy head of Ansar Allah's media authority. The full interview will be published on Monday.

The crew of the Galaxy Leader are in excellent condition. The sailors are safe and everything they need is provided. At the time of its seizure by the Houthi militia onboard were 25 crew members, including 17 from the Philippines; other crew members came from Bulgaria (including the captain and first mate), Ukraine, Mexico, and Romania.

Amer said that military operations continue in the Red Sea against Israeli ships. He added that the US is trying to convince the world that we the Houthis are stopping shipping. This is not true, dozens of ships pass through Bab el Mandeb every day.  “We are not attacking foreign ships, and operations are being conducted only against Israeli interests,” the spokesman announced. 
 
Until the end of the massacre in Gaza, the blockade against Israeli ships will continue, the Ansar Allah spokesman said. He said Israel was carrying out genocide against the population in the strip. Amer further said that they will look into the possibility of releasing sailors from the Galaxy Leader.  “We have nothing against Bulgaria and countries that do not show aggression in Gaza,” he said. He said Ansar Allah knows that the sailors have nothing to do with the situation in Gaza.  
 
“There are two Bulgarians onboard. I was with them yesterday, everything is being provided. They are in excellent condition. They are able to communicate with their relatives. We will discuss the possibility of their release," Amer said.  
  
The strikes carried out by the US and Britain will not change Ansar Allah's position on Gaza, Amer said. He said damage had been done to military and civilian infrastructure. Five people were killed and six others injured.  There will certainly be a response against American aggression, Amer said.   Americans prefer to harm the whole world but not stop the massacres in Gaza. In his words, the US has supported the militarization of the Red Sea, which ultimately impacts supply chains to Europe as well.  Maritime.bg recalls that Israel's maritime trade with Asia via the Red Sea is many times smaller than the volume of goods traded via the Mediterranean.  "Yes, the effect on Europe's economy will be negative, but the Americans are continuing the militarization of the Red Sea," Amer said.  
  
Houthis see no connection between the strikes and the start of Gaza genocide trial. Maritime.bg recalls that the US and Britain struck 73 targets in several areas of Yemen after the first session of the process launched by South Africa against the state of Israel. 

ECONOMY

The increase in local taxes in 2024 is between 16% and 500% across the different municipalities, according to a check by Sega. However, it should be reported that not many local authorities have decided to raise the amounts. For example, taxes remain unchanged in the three largest cities of Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna.  
 
At this stage, the municipality of Zlatitsa emerges as the leader in the increase. The bad news was reported almost immediately after the new mayor Lyubomir Tsvetkov took office. He stated that the municipality was in a deplorable financial state and had no choice but to take the unpopular measure.

Although the appreciation is against a low base, unchanged for many years, in real money it is tangible. For example, waste tax will increase - BGN 10 per year instead of BGN 2 (set in 2013) for an empty plot in the city with a tax assessment of up to BGN 5,000, from BGN 12 to BGN 40 for an apartment with an assessment of up to BGN 8,000, from BGN 2.25 to BGN 10 for an empty plot in the villages. The property tax for a cheap flat, which is a main dwelling, rises from BGN 8.75 (2017) to BGN 12.25, and for a more expensive main flat from BGN 12.50 to BGN 17.50. 

In Devnya individuals will pay 4 mill instead of 3 for household waste. "Although it may sound startling, the annual fee for households will actually be BGN 10 - 15," the local government said.  In Gorna Oryahovitsa, the housing tax goes from 2 to 3 mill and the garbage fee is raised from 5.2 to 6.2 mill. Thus, for an apartment of 80 square meters, its owner will now pay 90 instead of 60 leva, and for garbage - 186 instead of 156 leva. 

Of the big cities, Burgas and Ruse are the leaders in the price rise. In the seaside city, the fee for household waste increased from 1 to 1.3 mill, i.e. by 30%. In the Danube city, the property tax rises by 50% (from 2 to 3 mill).  In Blagoevgrad, 2.5 instead of 1.9 mill is set for buildings, and the garbage tax increases from 2.1 to 2.5 mill. There is a slight increase - 1.7 mill instead of the previous 1.45 mill - in Stara Zagora.

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Capital Daily reports that Bulgarian exports between January and November last year exceeded BGN 80 billion, but were 7.1% less than in the same period of 2022. The bulk of the drop comes from sales to the European Union, preliminary statistical data show.

Overall, the most significant drop was in energy products, with exports amounting to BGN 5.8 billion in the ten months, or BGN 3.3 billion less than a year earlier.   
An exception to the general trend is the export of machinery and equipment, which, in addition to being the largest in value (17.4 billion BGN for the ten months), managed to grow by 10.7% year-on-year. 

The weak performance of Bulgarian exports was expected and is taking place against the backdrop of stagnant economic activity in the leading European markets for Bulgaria, which has led to less demand for Bulgarian production. Thus, exports to EU countries are down by 9%, and there is also a decline, although smaller, by 3.5% to third countries.  
  
As the figures are nominal, they are heavily influenced by the sharp changes in prices, which fell last year from the highs reached in 2022. The latest data as of the third quarter show total prices of Bulgarian exports down nearly 10% from the previous year's average. For energy products, the decline is 13.5%, with an overall drop in value of around 36%, meaning that in addition to the price effect, exported quantities are also lower. The main reason for this is the lower production of electricity, because of which in some periods Bulgaria has recently even turned out to be a net importer of electricity. 
 
In the ten months, exports to Bulgaria's five largest trading partners - Germany, Romania, Italy, Turkey and Greece - decreased by between 10-20% each. The breakdown shows that the mysterious destination of "unspecified countries" stands out as the sixth largest market for Bulgarian production. There is usually "hidden" trade that is subject to trade secrecy or concerns the production of the defence industry. Exports in this area are approaching BGN 2.8 billion and are growing by nearly 35% on an annual basis. 

WORLD

Artificial intelligence will affect 60% of jobs in developed economies, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said ahead of the Davos forum, quoted by Bulgarian National Radio. A report by the fund predicts this percentage will drop to 40% in emerging markets and 26% in other countries.  

The impact of artificial intelligence on jobs will be negative for about half of them, while the rest could benefit because of productivity gains. 
Georgieva warned: "If we don't have a thought-out distribution of the benefits of AI and inequality grows dramatically, it could disrupt the social order in a way that would be very unhealthy for the world. Social safety nets in the AI world are paramount."   

Kristalina Georgieva predicted that 2024 will be a very difficult year in terms of fiscal policy, especially for countries where elections are coming up. The reason is that buffers have to be built up to deal with the debt accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in an election situation there is usually pressure to absorb more spending. Georgieva noted that there will be elections in a total of 80 countries this year.

POLITICS 
Mediapool.bg quotes Bulgarian Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova as saying on Bulgarian National Television: “I am not Sergei Stanishev. I will not run in the elections for the European Parliament," reacting to recent reports. She pointed out that it is too early to talk about the BSP ticket, as the nominations will begin on January 20 with a National Council meeting.  Former prime minister Sergei Stanishev was BSP chairman from 2009 to 2014. He was elected as a MEP in the 2014 European Parliament elections.

Also, Ninova harshly criticized a potential political project of President Rumen Radev.  "As for Radev's party, I hear that he is making another party - March 3, based on the signatures they collected to save March 3 as a national holiday. First, they failed to collect signatures for a referendum. Second, these people did not sign for a party. In other words, they used the patriotic feeling to create another tragic party of President Radev. I think it will not succeed, but it shows once again President Radev's desire and greed for more power than the presidency has under the Constitution. To influence the executive, the processes in the country, the parliamentary work," Ninova said. 

She said that a few days ago she was shocked when in Parliament she quoted that 7,000 people were fired under the caretaker cabinets from the public administration, and Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov corrected her that 14,000 people were fired. "How can you fire 14,000 people in the whole country in three months and make your cohort? This goes beyond any normality of the presidential institution," Ninova said. 
 
Of the rotation of prime ministers and the ruling majority, Ninova said: "It's not just a majority of 160 votes, it's a creeping dictate. The basic principles of statehood are being violated. They are going to distribute the regulators in three between the parties in the majority- GERB, MRF and CC. The BSP will not participate in political bargaining, we will nominate our own people, who will not be MPs, but experts," said Ninova.  
  
She added that if the rotation takes place, Defence Minister Todor Tagarev should be the first to be replaced and expressed doubt that after the rotation the government could serve its full four-year term.

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A number of media outlets quote UDF Secretary Iliya Lazarov as saying that after the rotation in the government there should be political figures. If the other political formations in the government come to this conclusion, the UDF is interested and will insist on having its own minister. Regarding the upcoming elections to the European Parliament, he said the party should have a representative. In his words, this will be part of talks with their coalition partners from GERB. Lazarov also said that the UDF strongly supports the nomination GERB-UDF floor leader Desislava Atanasova for a constitutional judge. "We are confident in her qualities and firmly stand behind her candidacy. She is a person who reads and learns and applies what she knows. We will also support the candidacy of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria for a constitutional judge," Lazarov added.  
 
So far, the only confirmed change in the cabinet lineup concerns the Health Ministry. Health Minister Hristo Hinkov announced a few days ago that he will not stay in the post after the rotation, saying: “I will not be able to adequately manage this system, which needs this reform and this reform is a change of managers. Reactions to my decisions have shown me that I should step down after the rotation." 
 
DEFENCE MINISTER 
 
The first two F-16 fighter jets will arrive in the spring of 2025, Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said on bTV. He was on a visit to the US, where the first seven out of eight aircraft are being assembled at the Greenville plant.  “The Bulgarian armed forces will benefit from infrastructure that will facilitate the actions of allied troops for possible action in Ukraine. The cost of road and rail infrastructure is towards EUR 6 billion euros, which will be covered by a special fund,” said Tagarev. Regarding comments about Bulgaria’s possible participation in the war in Ukraine Tagarev said that Bulgaria is a victim of Russian propaganda and the target is probably himself. According to Tagarev, the ammunition and armoured vehicles approved as aid for Ukraine have not yet been sent. 

Asked whether he will remain a minister after the rotation, Tagarev said: “If I am given the opportunity to work - yes. Otherwise, I will return to my academic work.” He added: “I have the knowledge and the energy to continue.”  He said that the state is looking for a way to help the Bulgarian sailors kidnapped by the Houthis, but this must be done without violating Bulgaria’s national interests. Action is possible with a decision of the National Assembly, all options are being considered - for example with liaison officers in Bahrain.
 
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Speaking on the morning show of Bulgarian National Television, former health minister Petar Moskov said that here is no state policy in health care and that changes are being made, but the foundations are lacking.  
According to him, emergency care is disintegrating and out of hospital specialized care is a parasitic part of the system.  Moskov gave an example with Austria, where the number of hospitals is the same as in Sofia, but Austrians do not complain about the system. It is the minister's right to appoint or fire a hospital manager, Moskov said of the scandal with Pirogov director, fired by incumbent Minister Hinkov. Large state hospitals are put under pressure, they only have debts, he said. The former health minister welcomed the idea of acquiring helicopters for the emergency service. However, he is adamant that this should not be done at the expense of other divisions in the sector. According to him, the state is doing nothing in the public sectors.