site.btaMedia Review: January 18

No single topic dominates Thursday’s news media.

TRANSPORT

All media report on the protest of the Federation of Transport Unions in Sofia on Thursday morning. The protesters demand a 30% pay rise and better working conditions in the public transport sector.

Protesting representatives of the Federation of Transport Unions with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions were received by Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev to discuss their demands. Quoted by the Bulgarian National Television, after the meeting Terziev said: "We held a productive meeting with representatives of CITUB and the Podkrepa Labour Confederation, we introduced them to what we offer. Firstly, we are proposing a 15% increase in the basic salary, as of March 1. We will also discuss the possibility of a second wage increase during the year". He added that efforts will be put to monitor and reduce the drivers’ overtime hours. Terziev also stressed that he will work to improve the working conditions of transport workers.

On its front page, the Telegraph daily states that the number of overtime hours worked by public transport employees is reaching unmanageable proportions, adding that there are cases in which workers are doing double shifts of 16 hours. The article points out that this inevitably leads to fatigue and an increased risk of accidents. The problem of understaffing is also touched upon. Chamber of Bus and Coach Carriers Board Chair Vassil Pironkov pointed out that the routes of public transport vehicles in Sofia are currently run by some 60% of the staff required, adding that there is urgent need for significant pay rises in the sector in order to attract new employees.

POLITICS

All media report on Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov’s meeting with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the World Economic Forum in Davos after which it was announced that Blair’s Institute for Global Change will advise Bulgaria on fighting corruption and applications of artificial intelligence.

EDUCATION

The Trud daily leads on an article about the acquisition of the Bulgarian school platform Shkolo.bg by the UK company Juniper Education. The publication says that the Education Ministry had no prior knowledge of the change of ownership of the platform, which operates with personal data from the electronic school registers of two-thirds of Bulgarian schools. It quotes Shokolo.bg co-founder Simeon Predov as saying that the platform keeps data from some 1,700 schools within a five-year retention period. The topic is also covered by Telegraph and 24 Chasa.

Shkolo.bg Managing Director Lyubomir Vanyov told Nova TV that the platform continues to function the way it functioned before. He assured that there is no risk to pupils’ data because the change in its ownership does not change the arrangements that have already been set up, nor Bulgarian or European legislation, he said, replying to comments about the sale of the platform to a British company. On Wednesday, the Education Ministry announced that it had referred the matter to the State Agency for National Security and the Commission for Personal Data Protection. The UK will not gain information on pupils' personal data, Vanyov emphasized, adding that there is no regulatory requirement for the Shkolo.bg owners to provide information to state institutions about the sale of their product. This is why Shkolo.bg have not notified the Education Ministry about the deal, he explained.

Shkolo.bg was set up in 2016 and became popular when the Education Ministry ordered schools to replace the conventional paper grading and assessment registers by online records from the 2022/2023 school year. The platform has segments for teachers, pupils and parents. Its functionalities include assessment, attendance, behaviour, reporting, school calendar, extracurricular activities, lessons and teaching materials. Shkolo.bg has 2 million users, including educators, pupils and parents.

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The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reports that the Education and Science Ministry has found a number of irregularities at the Neofit Rilski South-West University in Blagoevgrad. The ministry's inspection shows that much of the teaching documentation at the university's Faculty of Law and History is inaccurate and incorrect. Quite a few technical mistakes have been made, as well as many corrections to the titles of courses. Errors have been made in the tuition hours’ reports and the ECTS credits for individual courses. The inspection was ordered by Education Minister Galin Tzokov following alerts by students being given wrongful marks without having taken exams.

Dnevnik.bg also covers the topic.

ECONOMY

The 24 Chasa daily frontpages the priorities of the largest employers' organizations in Bulgaria - the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB), the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Organization (BICA), the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), which were outlined at a BTA-hosted press conference on Wednesday. KRIB, AOBE, BIA and BCCI account for 82% of all companies in Bulgaria and make up about 90% of the country's GDP. The national priorities, which the employers' organizations have vowed to work towards this year include Bulgaria to become a full-fledged Schengen member in 2024, and to join the euro area in 2025 and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2026.

KRIB Managing Board Chairperson Kiril Domuschiev says that the employers will push the government for more changes in the energy sector. According to him, the electricity market in Bulgaria should be fully liberalized. Domuschiev sees the continuation of the compensatory mechanism for high electricity prices, which looks set to remain in place in 2024, as a problem. The threshold for compensation for high electricity prices for non-household consumers should be lowered for Bulgaria to be competitive on the European market, Domuschiev believes, as quoted by 24 Chasa.

BICA Management Board Chairperson Vassil Velev adds that in 2024 the business community will insist on finalizing negotiations with the state to introduce an adequate mechanism for setting the minimum wage. In his words, there are currently sectors where the average wage is lower than the national minimum, including in some state and municipal structures.

FINANCE

BNR has an interview with financial expert Levon Hampartzoumian, who expressed hope that the date for Bulgaria's entry into the euro area will not be postponed, arguing that such a move would prove to be a “geopolitical anchor” for this country. Asked why Bulgarians seem to fear the euro, he said this is due to scarce knowledge on the issue. The expert stressed that the currency revaluation will be covered by the state and that no fees or commissions will be imposed. He added that the banks and the state will find a solution to carry out the revaluation without it being at the expense of citizens. Hampartzoumian also pointed out that people should consider the ongoing inflation processes as something natural and to keep in mind that euro changeover is not the only factor for the inflation. “There are other factors that make things more expensive and fuel inflation,” Hampartzoumian said.

ENERGY

Trud has a two-page interview with There Is Such a People municipal councillor and ex-deputy energy minister Plamen Danailov, who says the neglect of the energy sector is becoming a serious national security problem. He notes that photovoltaic power plants and wind turbines are not a solution to the growing need for electricity. Danailov says that investment should be made in district heating companies, especially in Toplofikacia Sofia, which, he argues, should expand its capabilities. He notes that it is also to be considered that the Bulgarian capital’s heating company has accumulated liabilities of nearly BGN 2 billion over the years, mostly to the Bulgarian public gas supplier Bulgargaz and the Bulgarian Energy Holding. Danailov further stresses that the lack of investment would have Toplofikacia Sofia drowning in debt with no ability to invest in network development, which in turn would make the service supply more substandard.

DEFENCE

Mediapool.bg writes that the Defence Ministry has quietly opened the price offers of the five companies that bid to sell 3D radars to Bulgaria intended for the Armed Forces. The deal is expected to cost over BGN 400 million. In August 2023, the bids of Lockheed Martin (USA), Leonardo (Italy), Elta (Israel), Indra (Spain) and Thales (France) were publicly opened, but the opening of the price offers was delayed, although Defence Minister Todor Tagarev expected to have concluded the contract as early as 2023. The publication reports that a working group at the Defence Ministry is already analyzing the bids and ranking them. Traditionally, in public procurement procedures price matters most. However, the Defence Ministry took a different approach in its last two major deals for F-16 fighter jets and Stryker armoured vehicles, which were concluded through direct intergovernmental negotiations with the US.

ENVIRONMENT

In a Nova TV interview, Environment and Water Minister Julian Popov said that Bulgaria is becoming increasingly cleaner. He recalled that this country had won a case brought by the European Commission because its air indicators are improving. “Technologically, Bulgaria is improving, which is also affecting the air [quality],” Popov said. Commenting on Sofia’s littering issue, Popov argued that it is not a political matter but a logistical problem. Popov noted that Sofia’s waste treatment plant could operate to more modern standards. He added that there is no need to build new plants but to get the work done at a faster pace. The Minister also spoke about his idea of repopulating the Perlovska River in the capital. “I want all urban rivers in Bulgaria to become clean and repopulated. This will serve as an indicator for the entire river basin’s ecological state, he said.

HEALTH

Speaking on bTV's morning talk show, Chief Health Inspector Angel Kunchev said that two more regions in Bulgaria - Plovdiv and Pazardzhik, are on the verge of declaring a flu epidemic. A flu epidemic has already been declared in Smolyan Region. Cases of citizens sick with the flu are also on the rise in Gabrovo Region, Kunchev added.

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Sofia Municipality Health Adviser Todor Kantardzhiev told Nova TV that the situation in Sofia is calm and currently there are not that many flu cases.

HOUSING

BNR has an interview with Bulgarian Lift Association Chair Valentin Marinkov, who said that there are more than 90,000 elevators in this country that raise safety concerns. He argued that this information is unofficial since the official data is being “concealed”. "There are about 130,000 elevators in Bulgaria, and over 90,000 of them were installed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s,” he noted, adding that their average age is between 45 and 50 years. He said that the main problem is that these elevators’ expiration dates are long overdue, some of them being even some 70 years old. “All of them must be immediately modernized or replaced,” Marinkov emphasized, noting that mass elevators must undergo major renovation every 15 years. He pointed out that this has not been done at all and that is why they are dangerous and do not meet the European safety and security requirements. He was adamant that his Association would refer the matter to the European Commission and the European Union, pointing to the negligence that puts millions of lives at risk. In his words, raising the issue will force state authorities to take action.

CULTURE

An article in 24 Chasa reads that the Municipality of Plovdiv is estimated to spend some BGN 6 million to conduct a referendum on the proposal to relocate the local Soviet Army Monument, popularly known as Alyosha. On Wednesday, citizens staged a protest in front of the Municipal Council building against the idea to dismantle the monument and move it to Sofia' Museum of Socialist Art by the end of 2024. The proposal came from municipal councilors Vladimir Slavenski and Yono Chepilski of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, which is part of the Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria Group. BSP for Bulgaria MPs Kristian Vigenin, Georgi Svilenski, Manol Genov, Ivan Petkov, and Ivan Chenchev supported the protest. 24 Chasa say the number of BGN 6 million was suggested by Plovdiv municipal councillors, but the media does not provide any of their names. According to those unnamed councillors, the relocation of the monument will also not be cheap, as it is a reinforced-concrete statue on top of a pedestal, both lined with granite. “Not to mention it is located in a protected zone”, they also say, as quoted by 24 Chasa.

Duma also covers the topic.