site.btaMedia Review: March 19

GOVERNMENT-FORMING NEGOTIATIONS

The main topic in media on Tuesday were the government-forming negotiations between GERB-UDF and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB). On Monday, GERB-UDF Prime Minister-designate Mariya Gabriel accepted an exploratory mandate from President Rumen Radev to form a government after tumultuous negotiations which almost failed on Sunday. 

Sega writes that "despite the threats and ultimatums, GERB-UDF and CC-DB gave each other a reprieve - 24 hours in which to finish the negotiations for a government". The publication notes that the fact that Gabriel didn't immediately return the mandate shows that a cabinet is still possible. 

Trud, Telegraph, 24 Chasa, Mediapool, Sega reported that Gabriel brought her future deputy prime minister Nikolay Denkov (CC-DB) and CC-DB Co-Chair Keril Petkov, as well as  Temenuzhka Petkova, Denitsa Sacheva and Raya Nazaryan from GERB to the meeting, and requested closed meeting with President Radev. Thus, the ceremony started with an unprecedented 12-minute delay.

Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool, Sega quote a  press statement by GERB, which said that the negotiations with CC-DB will be finalized by noon on March 19 and that they were extended at CC-DB's request.

Sega and 24 Chasa note that after receiving the mandate, the two political forces have a whole week, but Gabriel stressed that  seven days is a deadline that she will not accept. "There is no option for other negotiations after seven days. There is no option for me personally to participate in anything related to a second mandate," Gabriel was adamant.

24 Chasa, Trud, Sega quoted Gabriel, who stressed that there are no differences between GERB-UDF and CC-DB on the priorities of their general management, but they must agree on the composition of the government.

Sega also notes that GERB leader  Boyko Borisov, whom everyone was calling  on to intervene, remained silent. 

24 Chasa reports that the negotiations between GERB-UDF and CC-DB ended minutes before 8 pm on Monday evening with no comments to the media.

POSSIBLE CABINET

Telegraph, Trud, Sega report that earlier on Monday, the composition of a cabinet in which GERB-UDF would be represented with six ministers, in addition to Gabriel remaining foreign minister, was circulated. However, after the meeting with the Pesident, Nikolay Denkov stated that the CC-DB are seeing this list for the first time and do not agree with it. 

Sega stresses that these nominations are quite different from what Borissov indicated previously. He recently named five ministers who should not remain in the new government, including former minister of finance Asen Vassilev, minister of defence Todor Tagarev, minister of economy Bogdan Bogdanov, minister of tourism Zaritsa Dinkova and minister of sports Dimitar Iliev. Of the five, however, only Tagarev was replaced on the list by a person from GERB, while GERB went after the ministries of foreign affairs, labour, education, environment, innovation and energy. 

24 Chasa adds that Health Minister Hristo Hinkov is the only minister who beyond a doubt will not participate in the new government. He explained that he did not receive the necessary support to fulfill the commitments made at the beginning of his mandate.

Mediapool cited unofficial information that there is a dispute over two ministries - of energy and of defence. GERB has expressed the intention to head those ministries, but CC-DB disagreed with both the proposed candidates and the idea of these posts going to Boyko Borissov's party.

REACTIONS FROM OTHER PARTIES

Sega, as well as Mediapool, Trud, note that there is a serious disagreement between the politicians about the role of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) in the future. CC-DB Co-chair Kiril Petkov claimed that the MRF would not be part of the majority, as it had been until now. MRF head Delyan Peevski made a comment on Facebook stating the opposite. 

Mediapool adds that GERB continued to insist on a guaranteed role for the MRF in some of the regulators, while CC-DB disagreed with this. 

Mediapool, Trud, 24 Chasa quote MRF head Delyan Peevski, who otherwise claimed not to interfere in the process, as he called on CC-DB and GERB to come to an understanding and form a government.

Duma, Sega, as well as 24 Chasa, and Trud, report that the Bulgarian Socialist Party reiterated  its position on early parliamentary elections, which they think should be held together with the European elections. Georgi Svilenski noted that "Borissov twisted the arm of CC-DB, CC-DB begged him not to return the mandate, which resulted in a situation where Peevski was telling them what to do".

Trud quotes Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov, who said that CC-DB "committed suicide". He stressed that CC-DB came into power by promising to scrape out GERB, eliminate corruption, but instead are "begging on their knees to manage corruption together with them". He was adamant that a successful government rotation means unsuccessful development for Bulgaria, but it will happen, as CC-DB does not want to go to elections.

Trud quotes There Is Such a People leader Slavi Trifonov, who was very critical of the whole "disgraceful" process of negotiation, and said that with parties being so polarized the only way out is an expert government. 

EXPERT COMMENTS AND OPINIONS

Trud quotes MPs from GERB-UDF and CC-DB, who commented that at the moment, the possibility for early elections is "absurd", and that no matter how the rotation develops, snap elections would be an option only after the presidential elections in the USA, which are on November 5. The ultimatums for early elections from the negotiating teams were defined by political scientists as a negotiation tactic that proved to be advantageous for GERB-UDF. Experts noted that early elections would only increase nationalist Vazrazhdane party's MPs and reduce GERB and CC-DB's. 

Sega also writes that it is more logical for GERB-UDF and CC-DB to find common ground, instead of going to an early election, as they could end up having less than 120 MPs in Parliament, as indicated by some polls, and may not be able to push through the things that a simple majority does.

Mediapool quotes Parvan Simeonov, political scientist from Gallup International Balkan, who said that  when it comes to the rotation, GERB leader Boyko Borissov reserved the right to decide the outcome. He noted that experts and media may be overthinking and over-focusing on the the political process. 

Telegraph publishes an interview with political scientist Lyubomir Stefanov, who commented on possible outcomes of the current political situation. One of Stefanov's arguments was that the MRF is a point of contention as the party is crucial to GERB and CC-DB for securing majority in Parliament, but that would cause tension as CC-DB would have to accept it, while GERB would need to be more discreet about it. 

The topic of forming a government was a major focus on Tuesday's morning programmes. 

On Bulgarian National Television (BNT), political scientist Stoicho Stoichev stressed that the ambiguity confuses absolutely everyone and that in recent days he has not spoken to anyone sure of what would happen. Anton Kutev, former spokesman of the caretaker cabinet, said that the current "political bargaining" is about arm wringing, fighting for posts, not policies. He noted that the MRF are in a very comfortable situation, because of the changes in the Constitution, which lead to the fact that the regulators cannot line up without a two-third majority, and the second third comes from the MRF.  He added that CC-DB are in a disadvantageous position due to the fact that they are amateurs.

In a bTV morning discussion, constitutional expert Prof. Nataliya Kiselova argued that Gabriel bringing in Denkov and Petkov is not a good sign, but rather a sign of mistrust. She called it unacceptable and unconstitutional, and inexplicable from a legal point of view. Kiselova noted that she cannot understand where the dispute is, if they have agreed on matters of principle. She noted a lot of confusing facts, like why does Maria Gabriel not want to use the full seven days before returning the mandate, and said that there are no circumstances that call for such ultimatums.

On Nova TV, NOVA political scientists Krystian Szkwarek and Svetoslav Malinov and PR experts Pepi Dimitrova and Nidal Algaffari discussed the chances of forming a government, GERB's attempt to replace Todor Tagarev as defence minister and appointments in the regulators and deputy ministers posts. 

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraph reports that the Varzarzhdane party called on institutions to act on CC-DB's defamatory claim that their members are responsible for an attack on CC-DB MP Daniel Lorer on march 14. 

24 Chasa adds that in its position, the American Jewish Committee in Bulgaria condemned the verbal attack against on Lorer on March 14. "We condemn the display of hate speech against MP Daniel Lorer, especially since the accusations of lack of loyalty are based on his Jewish background," the position states.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Trud and Mediapool quote a position by the Foreign Ministry, in which Bulgaria strongly condemns the illegal elections for the president of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as in Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Bulgaria remains unwavering in its support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia within their internationally recognized borders and territorial waters, the Ministry stated.

24 Chasa writes that most Russian citizens in Bulgaria voted for President Vladimir Putin in the only polling station located on the territory of the Russian embassy in the country. This was reported to TASS by representatives of the sectional election commission. A total of 1,104 voters voted for Vladimir Putin, 516 voted for Vladislav Davankov, 19 voted for Leonid Slutsky, and 26 voted for Nikolai Kharitonov.

ENERGY

Mediapool points out that wind energy in the maritime spaces of Bulgaria can unlock the potential for economic development of the Black Sea regions and of Bulgaria, attracting investments of EUR 15 to 20 billion  and providing electricity at a price of 1.5 to two times cheaper than that produced from new nuclear power and more than 10 times lower than coal power, according to an analysis of the Center for the Study of Democracy, presented on Monday during a discussion dedicated to the opportunities for the development of offshore wind energy in the Varna region. According to the NGO's analysis, this new industry could create around 27,000 jobs by 2035 along with the construction of offshore wind power generation platforms. The bill to regulate offshore wind farms was approved in the first reading in Parliament, but met with fierce opposition from the tourism, restaurant and fishing businesses.
 
Sega, Duma report of a large protest that took place in Varna on Monday against the construction of RES in the Black Sea. The protest was supported by BSP, Vazrazhdane and other parties. During his last visit to Varna three weeks ago, Boyko Borissov promised that the Bill on Renewable Energy in Maritime Spaces, tabled by CC-DB, and approved in parliament at forst reading, would not be supported by GERB. But the Center for the Study of Democracy organization, identified as a lobbyist in favour of RES, scheduled a round table in the city on the subject, which became the reason for the dissatisfaction.

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24 Chasa quotes expert Tsveta Nanova, who said that the construction industry is struggling to meet the various energy efficiency plans until 2026 due to delayed recovery and resilience plans and interrupted building decarbonisation programmes. She warned that billions of BGN will have to be absorbed within a short period of time, and the delay is more than three years. Nanova argued that the lack of a permanent investment programme for energy renovation of the building stock will deepen the problem. 

ECONOMY

On BNT, Pavlin Petrov, Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Association of Catering Establishments said that Zaritsa Dinkova is not suitable for minister of Ttourism, as she failed to coordinate actions between the industry and individual institutions. Former deputy minister of tourism Branimir Botev supported that statement, noting that the current budget of the Ministry of Tourism is the same as the budget four or five years ago. "In reality, we do not have the resources to  ensure the branding of Bulgaria, to ensure income from more solvent tourists, to be able to promote those types of tourism that bring more to Bulgaria - spa tourism, spa tourism, winter tourism, urban tourism. For this reason, Bulgaria is currently the cheapest tourist destination in Europe," he stressed.

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Sega reports that mayors from the Southern Black Sea coast and representatives of the tourism industry discussed creating a new airline to save the dying traffic at Burgas airport. At a meeting organized by the Regional Governor of Burgas Plamen Yanev, a conceptual project for establishing an airline owned by the municipalities of the region was discussed and a business plan with more specifics will be presented by April. Recently, hoteliers and mayors from South-Eastern Bulgaria, led by the Mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, took an stand against the concessionaire of the Burgas airport, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, whom they accused of deliberately diverting traffic from the Burgas to Varna airport and ruining tourism in the Southern Black Sea. The company replied that it is the airlines that decide whether to open or close new routes, including year-round routes.

24 Chasa reports that Burgas Municipality plans to  terminate its membership in the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast Alliance. The organization was established on the initiative of the concessionaire of the airports in Burgas and Varna several years ago and brought together a number of representatives of various resorts, hotels, airlines, tourist chambers and others. Failure to comply with the request made for assistance to the municipality of Burgas in its overall policy to ensure the much-needed air transport to all important European destinations lead to the conclusion that its participation in this association will not lead to the achievement of the formally stated goals, Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov said on Monday in a report to the municipal councilors.

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Trud publishes a piece by finance expert Dimitar Chobanov who wrote that the budgeted GDP for 2023 will deviate from reality. According to the NSI data, GDP for 2023 was BGN 183.7 billion. The GDP forecast for 2023, which was used to draw up the budget for 2024, was BGN 191.2 billion. This is a very large discrepancy, which is the result of the unrealistic GDP forecast that was made in relation to the budget deficit for 2023. This could lead to a higher deficit exceeding 3% of GDP and trigger the excessive deficit procedure. This procedure makes it impossible for Bulgaria to join the Eurozone. 

Telegraph, Trud, report that the Technology Industry Alliance successfully conducted industry negotiations and reached an agreement with the Consumer Protection Commission to conclude a branch agreement, according to which they will amend their general conditions for the provision of telecommunication services.

24 Chasa reports that 147,100 Bulgarian young people between the ages of 15 and 29 do not study or work, according to National Statistical Institute employment data for the fourth quarter of 2023. The figure is a significant part of Bulgaria's labour force (2.9 million people). These young people are 15.1% of all Bulgarians in this age group and about 5% of the entire working population. Eurostat data show that for the last decade they have nevertheless significantly decreased by about 10 percentage points. It turns out that a significant part of this group could hardly fall into the "poor" category, because they receive a monthly allowance of up to BGN 2,300, i.e. often have more money than their working peers, shows a study by the Institute for Market Economics based on Eurostat data. The profile of the unemployed Bulgarian youth, who are also outside the education system, is markedly female, shows the study of the Institute of Education and Research. The largest share are women between the age of 25 and 29 years old who live in Plovdiv or in the regions of Kardjali, Pazardzhik, Smolyan or Haskovo.