site.btaMedia Review: July 9

POLITICS

An article in Capital references an open letter released by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Chair Delyan Peevski on Sunday in which he declares his allegiance to the MRF's honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan. The same article reports that the ambassadors of EU and NATO member states in Bulgaria received another letter signed by MRF MP Stanislav Anastassov and allegedly sent on behalf of Peevski on July 3 that accuses Dogan of having a "close relationship with Ambassador [Eleonora] Mitrofanova and the Russian consul in Bulgaria" and of having performed a "hybrid attack against the MRF and parliamentary democracy in Bulgaria" by attempting to influence his party to vote against GERB-UDF's proposed government with Rosen Zhelyazkov as prime minister.

The letter summarizes: "As a result, Mr. Dogan's actions led to a division within the MRF parliamentary group, with 30 members voting in favor of the government in line with the party's decision, 14 voting against, and 1 abstaining." The letter then assures the ambassadors that both Peevski and the MRF remain committed to the Euro-Atlantic course and values.

BoulevardBulgaria.bg reports that Anastassov has denied having written this letter before 24 Chasa and added that somebody else may have used his computer to do so. He added for bTV that the email is fake and an instance of a hybrid attack. The MP said that many people had access to the MRF's email, which is why its password was changed. He wrote on his Facebook page: "I have no doubt that this attempt at blatant manipulation is in response to the call of the regional leaders of the MRF for a united and whole MRF under the leadership of the Dogan-Peevski tandem, which is not to the liking of a few oppressors and schemers."

Trud writes that Peevski organized a meeting with the party's regional leaders on Monday to discuss the second government-forming mandate, which the President should hand over to the MRF being the second largest political group represented in Parliament. The daily specifies that just over two in three of everyone invited attended the event, which according to Peevski was due to pressure exerted from another MRF MP, Dzhevdet Chakarov.

Telegraph quotes Assoc. Prof. Natalia Kiselova who believes that President Rumen Radev will hand over the second mandate to the MRF no sooner than July 15.

All print media quote Peevski as saying it would be unforgivable, if the MRF split into two fractions supporting him and Dogan each.

In a spread interview for Trud, social psychologist Rosen Yordanov says that a split in the MRF is unlikely and adds: "If Peevski had the same key role as ten years ago, he would never have appeared on the front stage but would have remained in the background. The fact that he is at the front shows one thing: he cannot operate as he used to in the shadows, he cannot have hidden power. Things have obviously changed, and he is rather carrying out Dogan's instructions, because obviously Dzhevdet Chakarov does not have the energy or courage to do what Dogan expects."

Asked what made Dogan instruct his party to withdraw its support for GERB-UDF's proposed government, Yordanov said that the simple answer is that Dogan and GERB leader Boyko Borissov had an agreement. The expert continued: "In this parliament nobody can coalesce with anybody, and it would be self-sacrificing to make an independent government. And even though GERB brought out very good candidates, and the government was very well structured, Borissov did it quite deliberately to show that he was serious. He was secretly hoping it would not pass, because this government would otherwise become hostage to everyone else's complexes. If we consider the last four years, there has been only one serious politician in Bulgaria, and that is Borissov, against whom all the others are measured."

Yordanov called Borissov a cornerstone in Bulgarian politics and added that if Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria fail to cooperate with him, then Bulgarian voters should prepare for a new round of snap parliamentary elections.

ECONOMY

Former economy minister Milen Velchev told 24 Chasa that political instability in several EU Member States, most notably France, leads to irrational promises about budgets. Velchev added: "If even some of these promises are kept, there is a risk that investors will lose their trust in the French state and avoid buying French government bonds." The former minister spoke about the crisis from 12 years ago, saying that if a similar scenario takes place in France now, then investors will likely also lose interest in Italy, which even though enjoys political stability does conduct policies similar to those in France.

Velchev acknowledged that a budgetary crisis could impact an entire nation, but it could also impact the entire EU, if it takes place in the heart of the eurozone. He added: "It is certainly in our interest to find a pier in a big port, as opposed to being alone at sea where we would suffer a lot worse."

* * *

In an op-ed based on data from Eurostat and published on Duma's front page, Valentin Georgiev says that while Bulgaria has one of the longest work weeks in the EU, it also offers some of the lowest wages in the Union. Georgiev suggests that it is not the length of the work week that matters but the workers' productivity. He adds that Bulgarian workers are often forced to work several jobs in order to make ends meet, which after 7 or 8 hours makes them unproductive. Eurostat reports that Bulgaria's work week lasts 39 hours compared to just over 36 hours on average across the EU.

* * *

Nova TV's morning talk show notes that Bulgaria is the EU Member State with the highest spike in housing prices. Garages in Sofia now cost almost as much as residential buildings with the average garage price in the capital ranging between EUR 30,000 and 40,000. Irena Perfanova of the European Association of Real Estate Professions said that this phenomenon can be explained with the rising number of people choosing to live in cities and drive their own cars. Financial expert Lyubomir Karimanski added: "Banks continue to lend on mortgages. This is due to the fact that banking institutions have enough liquidity, which they want to dispose of. The appetite for large profits that are generated negates the risk."

* * *

Trud's front page quotes data from the National Social Security Institute, according to which 30.6% of all women pensioners in Bulgaria (1,134,040) receive the minimum monthly retirement pension of BGN 580.57. For comparison, of the 806,299 men pensioners here, 49,934 or 6.2% receive the same amount. Similar inequality is present in the average monthly pension with men receiving BGN 1,006.62 compared to women's BGN 738.36.

ENERGY

The Bulgarian National Television and Nova TV reports that state-owned natural gas distributor Bulgargaz has started arbitration proceedings against the Russian majority state-owned energy corporation Gazprom before the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Bulgargaz has decided to claim more than EUR 400 million from Gazprom suffered as a result of the unilateral suspension of natural gas supplies in April 2022.

* * *

Mediapool.bg cites the investigative journalism website Bird.bg, which reported that Bulgargaz has rescheduled the repayment of the BGN 40 million debt of TPP Varna for a period of three years. TPP Varna, whose majority owner is Ahmed Dogan, was ordered to pay more than BGN 37 million to Bulgargaz for failing to pay its natural gas invoices issued between January and April 2022. A little over BGN 35.5 million of the amount is the principal due, and BGN 1.5 million are the awarded costs that the power plant must pay to the gas company for the costs of the case, the Varna District Court decided in August 2023. Together with interest, the amount swells to BGN 40 million.

* * *

In an interview for Telegraph, Sofia municipal councillor Boris Bonev said that of the BGN 1.8 billion debt that the Toplofikacia Sofia district heating company owes, some BGN 1 must have been stolen. Bonev added that an independent audit must be carried out by a foreign entity, as he expects massive misappropriations to be uncovered. 24 Chasa quoted Sofia municipal councillor Boyko Dimitrov, who said that by late October or early November Toplofikacia should become one of six key Bulgarian companies to have new leadership, the others being Urban Mobility Centre, Sofia's city bus company Stolichen Avtotransport, the city's tram and trolley-bus operator Stolichen Elektrotransport, Metropolitan Sofia and Sofinvest.

TRANSPORT

Sofia municipal councillor Boris Bonev told Telegraph that Sofia's public transport is nearly 450 drivers short, despite the job offering a relatively competitive monthly salary of over BGN 2,000. Bonev added that Sofia Municipal Council is working to improve the job's working conditions. The councillor reported that of the 300 trams that operate in the capital, less than 20% are airconditioned.

CULTURE

Duma reports that the third edition of the Jazz Velingrad festival between July 9 and 10 will feature performances by popular musicians Kalin Veliov and Theodosii Spassov.

RELIGION

24 Chasa has published the results of a 2021 National Statistical Institute poll, according to which Bulgarians have become less religious since the previous such poll in 2011. Just over half of all respondents or 51.4% confirmed they were religious in 2021 compared to 60.4% ten years earlier. Nearly one in four or 24.7% said they were not religious, an increase of 2.7 percentage points. In 2021, some 13% chose none of the above as their answer, while 10.9% chose not to answer the question. Nearly 4.22 million people said they were Christians, of whom 97% they practiced Orthodox Christianity.

BULGARIA ABROAD

The Bulgarian National Radio reported that two Bulgarian nationals have been detained in Greece for allegedly taking part in phone scams, which had them obtain EUR 57,000 from elderly people. The victims were told a member of their family had been involved in a traffic accident and urgently needed a large sum of money to cover a hospital bill.

With the permission of the prosecution service in the city of Nafplio, the photos and personal data of five other Bulgarians were published on Tuesday. The investigation alleges their involvement in 42 frauds for EUR 120,000. They are accused of being part of a criminal group that operated throughout Greece.