site.btaMedia Review: September 19

WORLD – BULGARIA – EXPLODING PAGERS

Mediapool: A company from Bulgaria may be involved in the case of the blown up pagers used by the Hezbollah terrorist group, it transpired from information published by the Hungarian Telex news portal, DW reported.

According to Telex sources, a Sofia-based company bought the devices from Taiwan and they have never been in Hungary. Until now, it was claimed that the pagers were manufactured there under a license of a Taiwanese company. However, Telex claims that the devices were bought by Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd., which is the real buyer. This company is owned by a Norwegian national.

According to Bulgarian National TV (BNT) the company has no business activity in Bulgaria. However, the State Agency for National Security told BNT that "no customs operations with the goods in question have been carried out through the territory of Bulgaria".

An official position of the Hungarian government claims that the company BAC, which initially claimed to have delivered the pagers, was only an intermediary in the deal.

"The authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a commercial intermediary that has no production or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address and the said devices have never been in Hungary. In further investigations, the Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organisations. For Hungary, this case does not pose a risk to national security," Zoltán Kovács, a spokesman for the cabinet, said on X.

The blasts of Hezbollah members' pagers began on Tuesday. The group says it was an operation by the Israeli secret services. "Hezbollah uses pagers because smartphones are believed to be much easier to track.

More than 2,800 people were injured in the explosions, about 200 of them in serious condition. A second wave of explosions was recorded on Wednesday, killing at least nine more people.

A Lebanese source told Reuters that authorities there believe the Israeli Mossad service managed to plant explosives in 5,000 pagers imported by the Lebanese Hezbollah group several months prior to the deadly blasts on Tuesday and Wednesday. The information was confirmed by other agency sources.

Trud also quotes SANS as having said that the exploded pagers have not passed through Bulgaria.

bTV: "Pagers and walkie-talkies are being blowing up, putting pressure on Bulgaria. I hope SANS and the caretaker cabinet will explain what happened. The media in Hungary and around the world are reporting that Bulgaria is directly involved through the payments. Someone must stop this. Bulgaria and Sofia are being pointed to as the company's headquarters," GERB leader Boyko Borissov commented the allegations in Hungarian media about this country's connection with a Norwegian citizen and the blown up pagers in Lebanon and Syria. According to them, the devices passed through Bulgaria.

Dnevnik quotes The New York Times as having reported, quoting anonymous sources from the intelligence sector, that the Israeli secret services have created an network of shell companies along time ago, which were used in the operation, launched on Tuesday in which thousands of pagers exploded in Lebanon. Most of these devices, as well as the ones that blew up on Wednesday, were part of Hezbollah’s communications network.

MRF SPLIT – SIMEON DJANKOV - COMMENTS

Trud: The split of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms has plunged Bulgaria into uncertainty. The split came along the Russia-Ukraine line, said former finance minister and deputy prime minister Dimeon Djankov, who has not been on the political stage for years, but closely follows the developments on it.

"There are no politicians, no parties that can offer a vision for Bulgaria that can harness enough enthusiasm among the people. That is why we have rached [the point of having snap parliamentary] elections once again, where no obvious results that would lead to [the formation of] a regular government are expected," Djankov pointed out.

According to him, the MRF's split has also hurt the There Is Such a People (TISP) party. After the elections GERB and these two parties had a majority. The math added up and they could have formed a cabinet, but apparently some in the MRF did not like this, he said. "For almost a third month now, we are witnessing this political process where there is one MRF and one non-MRF. This will make the elections even more complicated, because now you need at least four parties for a majority in parliament," Djankov told bTV.

"There were informal and formal talks before the elections that in case of success between GERB, MRF and TISP, a regular cabinet could be formed. But to my surprise the MRF split. Whether it was along pro-Russian lines - perhaps that is the real reason. Because it really happened at the last minute. Before the elections, the leaders of the three parties had talked about the possibility of forming a cabinet with several priorities, with a long enough life to get out of the election campaign cycle," Djankov said.

"I think what is happening in the MRF is along the lines of Russia - Ukraine. There was a majority. Basically the parties want to be in power. Especially the MRF has always wanted to participate in both local and central power. For me the surprise came from the outside. This external factor influenced the group around Ahmed Dogan, which withdrew and did not form a government. And this put Bulgaria in even greater uncertainty," the former deputy prime minister added.

ENERGY

Capital: With BGN 220 million excluding VAT, the National Electricity Company (NEK) will try to repair two of the Chaira pumped storage hydro power plant's (PSHPP) units - hydraulic aggregate 1 (HA1) and 4 (HA4), which experts have found to be heavily depreciated and in need of replacement with new ones. Generators, turbines, main equipment, control systems, etc. will be replaced. The current procurement comes three months after the fiasco with the previous tender in which no bidders appeared. It was to repair only one of the units of the failed PSHPP, so at the insistence of Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov the tender has now been extended.

Why it's important

The Chaira PSHPP has been out of service for over two years, which on the one hand results in lost benefits of hundreds of millions of leva, but on the other hand, the lack of this power creates a problem for the entire system and increases electricity prices for businesses.

That is why its overhaul is crucial for balancing the country's energy system. The reason is that the Chaira PSHPP is the largest pumped storage power plant in the region and can be used both in cases of power shortage and in cases of surplus.

What's next

According to the documents, the implementation period is 42 months and bids are due by November 15, 2024. They will be ranked on the basis of "most economically advantageous offer", where price will have the greatest weight (70 points), and efficiency and completion deadline will "carry" an equal number of points in the evaluation (15 each). In the event of a tie, the lowest bidder will have the advantage. If candidates cannot be ranked in this way as well, the winner will be determined by lot. But even in the best case scenario, the plant will not be operational until 2027-2028.