site.btaMedia Review: May 29

POLITICS

Deputy chair of the Central Election Commission Rositsa Mateva explained the rules of voting on the morning show of NOVA TV. She showed the ballot that will be used to vote outside the country in the elections for MPs. Mateva also showed the ballot paper for the European Parliament elections. She said that the two ballot papers are similar and that is why they are printed with different ink colours: green for the National Assembly and blue for the European Parliament.

The municipalities will publish Wednesday on their websites the lists of people who are not allowed to vote in the June 9 elections, she told BNR later, adding that these are persons who do not have the right to vote in both types of elections, and most of all for members of the European Parliament due to the lack of permanent address.

HEALTH

Life expectancy in Bulgaria has increased by a year and a half, the latest data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) shows, the national radio reported. The study covers the period 2021-2023 compared to 2020-2022. Compared to 10 years ago, however, there is a decrease in life expectancy for both women and men. It turns out that people in cities live more than 3 years longer than those in villages.

"Life expectancy is slowly increasing, but we are still in the tail - we are last in Europe in life expectancy, first in mortality. This is a sign that something is wrong," Magdalena Kostova, director of the Demographic and Social Statistics Directorate at the NSI, told BNR. 

"By 2020, we had an increase in life expectancy. In 2019, COVID-19 increased mortality in the country tremendously, which has caused life expectancy to start declining. So in 2023, we're back to the previous mortality levels, which is affecting life expectancy and it's increasing. In Bulgaria, this process is quite slow, as we have an extremely high mortality rate in general. Our mortality rate is the highest in the EU”, the expert said.

Kostova pointed out that mortality rate is higher for men, adding that premature mortality is almost twice as high for them. This is the proportion of people who died before the age of 65. According to her, this percentage for men is almost 30%. 

The average life expectancy of people in urban areas is more than 3 years higher than in rural areas. According to Kostova, the factors for this are complex, including health care, quality of life, food, air, and even education. Life expectancy is highest in Sofia and lowest in Vidin, Vratsa, and Montana. 

One in five persons lives in the capital, the specialist stressed, pointing out that Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas continue to be the centres of attraction. Jobs, education, better life and better conditions for raising children are the factors that influence migration in the country, she specified.

According to her, the birth rate is at an average European level. The total fertility rate is higher than the European average, i.e. fewer women give birth to more children. 

The desired model in Bulgaria is the two-child family, but for various reasons many people do not realize this ideal and have only one child.

The flow of Bulgarians returning from abroad has increased, but it is not enough to compensate for the lack of active population, she said, adding that data-based policies should be made.

"The realistic option predicts that the population will fall below 6 million in 2035, and if this demographic development is maintained - below 5 million in 2075," Magdalena Kostova said in conclusion.

ECONOMY

Dnevnik reports that the salaries of civil servants in similar positions sometimes differ by a factor of 2.6, and at higher levels in the hierarchy the pay gap is four times. This transpires from the report on the state administration in 2023, adopted by the Council of Ministers.

It underlines that significant imbalances have accumulated both between the different administrations and for the same posts in the different structures. This is explained by financial constraints, different application of the legal framework and historically unjustified differences in individual salary levels.

The gap between minimum and maximum salaries is smaller at the lower levels of the career ladder, the report notes. The data reveals that there are civil servants earning the national minimum wage of BGN 933 (as of early 2024), while the highest salaries reach BGN 6,540.

The data was collected by the administration of the Council of Ministers by anonymously processing information on the salaries as of 1 January 2024 of 50,000 employees. The aim was precisely to identify salary disparities in the different administrations. Employees of the NSI, the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) and social workers protested against their low salaries.

To overcome the imbalance in salaries, BGN 353 million were earmarked in this year's budget to raise the salaries that lag behind.

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In an interview for 24 Chasa, Zornitsa Slavova of the Institute for Market Economics says that the demand for IT professionals is declining, but when the kids graduate, the boom is likely to return. Only for chefs and electricians is there a good match between demand and supply from schools. The problem with dual education is that employers have to declare that they will employ students in 3-4 years, but only the biggest companies can do it. Dobrich and Sliven have the best synchronisation between vocational schools and the labour market, Slavova says.

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Kozloduy NPP has officially started the implementation of alternative fuel in Unit 5 of the plant, BNR reports. In implementation of the diversification programme - the plant signed a contract with Westinghouse Electric Sweden for the supply of nuclear fuel. The first shipment arrived in April and the fuel is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency. Loading of the cartridges began at the beginning of May when Unit 5 was shut down for planned annual maintenance. The official ceremony will be attended by Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov.

ROADS

Mayors and residents of the villages affected by the flood in Karlovo in September 2022 will close the National Road I-6 and the Troyan - Karnare pass for one hour, NOVA TV reports. They are protesting the insufficient and delayed funding of infrastructure projects in the villages affected by the disaster. Bogdan, Karavelovo, Slatina, Rozino and Hristo Danovo suffered the most serious damage after the water disaster nearly two years ago. More than BGN 75 million had to be allocated for the reconstruction of the infrastructure. So far, however, Karlovo Municipality has received only 17 million, which is insufficient to complete the reconstruction works.

Caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said the problems date back two years. He added that the district governor has to give his opinion and then the inter-ministerial committee will meet to allocate the possible funds within the budget.

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A retaining wall on the Struma motorway collapsed on April 28 and the clearing of the debris continues. Traffic is being reorganized at the 16th kilometre towards Sofia, where the landslide occurred, bTV reports. Repair works on the reinforcement structure have started.

It is the responsibility of municipalities and the road agency to plan regular road inspection and maintenance, according to Emil Panchev, chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Motorists, who was a guest on BNT’s morning show. He added that Bulgaria is a grim leader in Europe in road accidents and road deaths, and the authorities should not rely on reactive alerts from citizens.