site.btaMedia Review: April 11

HIGHLIGHTS 

24 Chasa’s leading article talks about a high-profile case of five Bulgarian nationals who have been convicted of a GBP 50 million benefit fraud in the UK. The story also covers the scandal over Zhivko Kotsev, the former Interior Ministry Secretary General who was fired Wednesday over suspected links with contraband trade rings.

According to the 24 Chasa story, Kotsev held the most important office in the Ministry for the shortest time - 6 months.

On its front page, Trud reports that the police and gendarmerie raided offices of Nastimir Ananiev, MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), in Sofia on Wednesday in execution of a European Investigation Order issued by a Belgian investigating judge. The order was related to an investigation of an organized crime group, illegal trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic substances, and money laundering involving Belgian natural and legal persons and Bulgarian legal persons. The story is also covered by other dailies.

Trud has a leading article titled "Kiril Petkov Has Threatened Former E-governance Minister’s Children". The daily cites leaked minutes of an interrogation of ex-E-governance Minister Alexander Yolovski, which took place in the Sofia City Prosecution Office on the day of the first round of the local elections, October 29, 2023. Yolovski said that he had been pressured and threatened by Continue the Change co-leaders Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev and Yes, Bulgaria party activists Bozhidar Bozhanov and Vasil Velichkov to conclude public contracts with certain companies. "I was instructed to do whatever they told me, including about companies that should be awarded contracts by the Ministry," the ex-Minister said, adding that he was scared for himself and his family. After the interrogation, Yolovski and his family were assigned a security detail by a prosecutor's order. The story is covered in Duma as well.

Duma’s front-page article quotes Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Korneliya Ninova as saying in Parliament that her party reiterates its call for postponement of the liberalization of the energy market for households, planned for July 1, by one year.

In its lead story, Trud writes that more than 50,000 people suffered a stroke in 2023, which ranks Bulgaria first in mortality rate for this condition in Europe. Citing National Center for Public Health and Analysis data, the daily reports an alarming trend of strokes rising in people aged 20 to 35. The data shows that stroke cases have increased as a consequence of COVID-19.

Duma and Trud report that pensioners below the poverty line will receive Easter supplements of BGN 100 in accordance with a decision approved by the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday. The decision will be voted in Parliament on Friday.

Telegraph’s front-page story quotes climatologist Prof. Georgi Rachev as saying that Bulgaria is expected to experience La Niña climate conditions in a month or two, which will likely cause temperatures to fall. La Niña and El Niño are two opposing climate patterns that break normal conditions. Global temperatures typically fall during La Niña and increase during its counterpart.

POLITICS

Telegraph reports that reshuffling is expected at the upper levels of the Interior Ministry. Citing the Ministry, the daily writes that deputy ministers Kiril Tsenkin and Ivelina Dundakova are expected to be replaced.

Trud carries a signed commentary by political activist Petar Kichashki, who says that what is happening in the Ministry of the Interior and the National Customs Agency cannot be dismissed as a trivial scandal. Kichashki was referring to the arrest of Customs Agency Director Petya Bankova over possible links with smuggling groups, and Kotsev's dismissal. "What is happening in this country is ugly, even grotesque," he notes. "Some of the most senior officials in the State have been implicated in activities undermining the very notion of statehood. They have undermined statehood to the point that we no longer know where the State begins and the crime group ends," he adds.

On Nova TV’s morning programme, journalist Emilia Milcheva and political analyst Georgi Harizanov commented on an array of topics, from the scandals in the Interior Ministry to the fiscal reserve controversy. Milcheva described the scandals as "a sandstorm that hinders public communication". On the future governance of Bulgaria, Harizanov argued that an expert cabinet could be formed, but it would be a "disguised backstage". Milcheva noted that "a new formula of governance is being tested with a different player".

***

24 Chasa has an extensive interview with constitutional judge, former Prime Minister and Bulgarian Ambassador to the US Philip Dimitrov, who comments on Bulgaria’s place in NATO, the constitutional amendments, and the role of politicians in this country’s judicial system.

ECONOMY

Duma has a story based on figures from an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development survey of levels of financial literacy in Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, conducted as part of a five-year project encompassing 2018-2022. According to the survey, Bulgarians’ level of basic financial knowledge remains low, at 58%. They are less likely than other countries in the region to do long-term planning, relying mainly on the State to fund their retirement (78.6%). A total of 77.6% of Bulgarians save, compared to a regional average of 67%. The survey shows that young adults (53%) have the lowest financial literacy level compared to people aged 30 to 60 (61%) and people over the age of 60 (57%).

***

24 Chasa and Telegraph have a story about the heated verbal exchanges between GERB-UDF and CC-DB regarding the amount of the fiscal reserve. After handing over the Finance Minister role to Lyudmila Petkova on Tuesday, Assen Vassilev said that there are BGN 9.9 billion in the fiscal reserve. Later in the day, Petkova noted that the BGN 9.9 billion was current as of March 29 and that, according to Bulgarian National Bank figures, the fiscal reserve held on central bank accounts was BGN 6.7 billion as of April 8, 2024. The 3.2-billion discrepancy prompted GERB leader Borissov to attack Vassilev on Wednesday morning, expressing concern about state finances. Venko Sabrutev, MP of CC-DB, further spoke on the topic in bTV’s morning programme, stressing that revenues are yet to be generated.

***

Trud has a two-page interview with Bulgarian Fiscal Council member Lyubomir Datzov, who comments on the implementation of the budget for the current year, the Finance Ministry’s GDP growth projections for the next two years, and Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area, among others.

HEALTH

On Bulgarian National Television’s morning programme, former Health Minister Hristo Hinkov commented on the hurdles in the process of the planned building of a national children's hospital and the shortage of medicines in pharmacies.

MIGRATION

Interviewed on Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva talks about the new EU migration policy, which is designed to ease the burden on countries that have historically taken the most asylum-seekers among the EU’s 27 Member States. Yoncheva said that the new mechanism will become operational in two years. As to the upcoming European elections, the MEP said that she expects a slight decrease in the composition of the two main political groups, the European People's Party and the Party of European Socialists, and a rise in the more extreme left and right.

MAGNITSKY ACT

BNR has an interview with Bill Browder, an American-born businessman who worked in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and lobbied American officials to pass the Magnitsky Act, sanctioning individuals involved in corruption. Asked to comment on the EU equivalent of the Magnitsky Act, Browder said that unlike the US, Canadian, British, or Australian Magnitsky laws, the EU system does not include corruption among the grounds for applying sanctions. He implied that corrupt officials could come to Europe and keep their wealth without any consequences. Browder added that travelling to Bulgaria would pose a serious risk of him being handed over to Russia. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been set to arrest and extradite him ever since the adoption of the Magnitsky Act in 2012. Browder argued that Putin hates the Magnitsky law because it is used to sanction all officials involved in the invasion of Ukraine. The interview is reproduced in Dnevnik.bg.

CRIME

All print media write about five Bulgarian nationals who have pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering-related offences. The benefit fraud gang, made up of Galina Nikolova, 38, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, falsely claimed GBP 50 million in Universal Credit. The gang operated over a four-and-a-half-year period, between October 2016 and May 2021, when they were arrested.

The Nova TV morning programme also covered the topic, adding that the Bulgarian nationals also admitted money laundering offences. Joint teams have been set up by representatives of the British and Bulgarian law enforcement agencies because it is alleged that the money was laundered and used in Bulgaria. It is believed that the Bulgarians were not the masterminds of the scheme but operated at mid-level.

All five defendants will appear for sentencing at Wood Green Crown Court on May 28.