site.btaMedia Review: September 20

No single topic dominates Friday's news media.

POLITICS

Capital Weekly’s main topic is “Something Is Wrong in Sofia”. The expectations for change in the capital remain a year after the local elections, where Sofianites voted for an end to 18 years of GERB running Sofia. Mayor Vassil Terziev made big promises, but the feeling now is that things are not going according to plan. Sofia’s agenda jumps from one scandal to the next; the Mayor replies to the loud attacks of the opposition, then on to the next scandal. He finds it hard to implement the promised reforms and solve pending issues (the mineral springs, the lack of parking spots, the shortage of kindergartens, the inadequate infrastructure). It is a fact that these problems require a lot of time to solve, but at the same time, Sofia’s new management could have shown quick victories with small steps. Instead, the Mayor looks passive and in a regime of explaining himself due to the constant attacks. He is failing to show what he is working or, when he does show, it does not leave a good impression. Although, not everything depends on him: his group of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria-Save Sofia lack a majority in the Sofia Municipal Council, which is a big obstacle to the Mayor’s programme. Key decisions are taken by a majority with economic interests in the Council, meaning any reform that goes against someone’s financial interest will get secretly or openly sabotaged. The fear of mistakes, the lack of communication with the citizens, and specific actions do not promise good prospects. The article goes on to look at specific decisions taken by the Sofia Municipal Council with a potentially big impact on the capital.

In an interview for Capital Weekly, Terziev says that this sabotage based on party interests is the main factor impeding progress and slowing down key infrastructural projects. Despite all this, Sofia is changing from the inside and out. “Something is happening in Sofia but something else is being talked about, and people do not understand what the level of sabotage is in the Municipal Council, how many various interests collide there outside of the purely political and ideological ones,” he tells the weekly. In his words, there isn’t civil education in Bulgaria, and people do not know which institution is responsible for what. That is important because there should be civil activity to apply pressure on the right place, Terziev explains. 

Commenting for Capital Weekly, Municipal Councilor Boris Bonev of Save Sofia says that GERB are not being a constructive opposition but trying to sabotage each action of Mayor Terziev and the Council, including for projects they themselves used to defend just months ago. 

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Duma quotes Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Floor Leader Borislav Gutsanov as telling journalists Thursday that for Sofia-Skopje relations to continue normally, North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski should resign. His statement made in a televised interview on Wednesday is inadmissible for two neighbouring countries, Gutsanov added. Bulgaria’s reaction to that statement should be perfectly clear by all political parties. “BSP’s position is that it is absolutely inadmissible to have such language between two neighbouring peoples,” the Floor Leader underscored. [On Wednesday, Nikoloski joined an outcry in his country against the absence of the national flag of North Macedonia in a photo of Presidents Rumen Radev and Gordana Siljanovska during Siljanovska's visit to Bulgaria on September 13. Nikoloski said the hosts were disrespectful to President Siljanovska, calling them "neither civilized nor decent, nor respectful." He also said that his country is being exploited by Bulgarian political parties and President Rumen Radev for political gain. His claims caused sharp reactions in Bulgaria on Wednesday and Thursday.]

An article in Telegraf reads that a joint front against Skopje is forming in Parliament.

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On Bulgarian National Radio, political expert Ivaylo Iliev commented that the election campaigning for small matters has taken over Bulgaria, and this polarization will reflect on the vote in October. The political division will lead to a public one, he argued. "We cannot expect these [snap parliamentary] elections [on October 20] to fix these systems so that we can have confidence as citizens. What is the main question that we should answer with our vote in these elections? The fundamental question I think, why we went into these elections, has been swept away in time. Is anyone talking at the moment about Schengen, the eurozone, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the regulatory bodies? Is there anything besides [MRF - New Beginning leader] Peevski, Peevski and the insults?", the political expert commented. On the dramas in the MRF and the split in the party and the electorate, he believes that a poster with a picture of MRF Honorary Chairman Ahmed Dogan and the number on the ballot paper may be enough to win back voters who did not follow the scandal between Dogan and Peevski. "There is no doubt that the momentum of the processes went to Peevski, but this is not a sprint but a marathon and it is important until the election protocols are counted. The momentum is in his favour and in the overall exhaustion, rather they managed to come to the fore and skim the positives," he added. According to Iliev, the electoral battle will be decided with the active participation of the local authorities - the party mayors. About the crisis in the BSP, Iliev predicted that the party's collapse is analogous to a new beginning, but it cannot happen with these party wrecks of transitions and this communist line that is being pushed. "Young people in the west are much more pro-Left and reasonably pro-Left, because they have adequate representation that has policies for young people," he explained.

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On bTV’s morning show, caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said that the Bulgarian Air Force has two L-39ZA Albatros trainer and practice aircraft, which have been repaired. “The switch to the F-16 fighters requires a new combat trainer. Discussions are under way at the Bulgarian Air Force about the type of combat trainer that should be chosen. For now, that aircraft is not so important, because the Bulgarian pilots are training in the US, and two pilots have been sent there for each F-16,” he explained. The topic will become important in 2027 when the Bulgarian Air Force will have to reorganize its training and practice so that it can prepare its own pilots, the Minister added. Zapryanov also commented on a crash of a Bulgarian Air Force L-39ZA combat trainer at the Graf Ignatievo Air Base on September 13 in which the pilots, Petko Dimitrov and Ventsislav Dunkin, were killed. The two pilots had performed the routine 24 times. "Everybody claim that the pilots tried to get the aircraft under control," the Minister said further.  Within ten days or so, the plane's flight recorder is to be sent to Czechia where it will be read at the manufacturer's plant, Zapryanov also said.

ECONOMY

Capital Weekly has an article about the so-called Virtual Power Purchase Agreements, which allow energy producers to trade in electricity that does not actually get used by the buyer, who is more interested in buying the guarantee that said electricity is produced. Several such deals have already been made in Bulgaria. This is an opportunity that will change the energy market in Bulgaria, because it gives security to companies; instead of depending on the exchange and the volatile market, they get a long-term contract allowing them to control their energy consumption. However, it is important for the seller to have the finances and operational capacity to implement the agreement long term, often for 10 to 20 years; should the seller’s financial state weaken, the agreement might be at risk, the article reads.

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In an interview for Trud, caretaker Minister of Innovation and Growth Rosen Karadimov says that the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) could fund the State’s big projects. The BDB’s problems with bad loans are being overcome and becoming a thing of the past. “The BDB is currently at an entirely other level, it has a new management strategy, a new image. It is a powerful market tool of the State in the field of public policies and overcoming regional imbalances,” he tells the daily. He lists the changes he has made at the bank to make that a reality. Part of the BDB’s new strategy and image is the funding of enterprises from the military-industrial complex, Karadimov specifies. The BDB will also take part in Bulgartransgaz’ public tender for BGN 600 million for building the vertical gas corridor. The BDB will intervene in the healthcare sector as well, for example to help hospitals with their debts to suppliers.

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Telegraf’s front-page story reads that the ceiling for insurance contributions will be raised to BGN 4,130 as of 2025. At present, the ceiling is BGN 3,750. The Finance Ministry plans further raises by BGN 300 a year, to BGN 4,430 in 2025 and BGN 4,730 in 2027.

Segabg.com quotes Eurostat data showing that Bulgaria is the European vice-champion in terms of labour cost. In a year, the cost of 1 hour of work in Bulgaria jumped by 15%; only Croatia has a bigger increase in average hourly wages - by 17.6% - and Romania is third with a 15% increase. The percentages refer to the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. By comparison, hourly labour costs in Germany, France, Sweden, Spain have risen by only 3-5%. The picture for wages, bonuses and allowances is quite the same. In Bulgaria, in the second quarter of 2024, they were by 15% higher than a year earlier. Again, Romania is close behind, and Croatia is at the top with a 17% rise.  The Eurostat data is an excellent illustration of the "catch-up effect" - Eastern European countries that are poorer and with lower incomes are rushing to catch up in prices and wages with the West. In the construction sector, Bulgaria is first in the whole EU: construction wages in this country have jumped by 21% in a year, Eurostat data for the second quarter of 2024 show. In Belgium and Malta, construction wages have barely moved in a year, and Finland even registered a 0.3% decline. Overall, the growth of wages in Bulgaria is significant, but it is not adequate to the weak economic growth, Sega comments. It is also not normal for public sector incomes to increase steeply without the economy's drivers providing sufficient revenue to the budget, and this is exactly what is happening in Bulgaria. 

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Trud’s front-page articles reads that draft amendments to the Income Taxes on Natural Persons Act aim to put in order the use of tax benefits for children and disabled children by unmarried and divorced parents. The draft revisions have been put to public discussion by the Finance Ministry. The changes are necessary because, in principle, each parent is entitled to the benefit so as to reduce their income tax, as long as the other parent does not use that benefit. In practice, it is often the case that non-custodial parents use the child and disability tax allowances through an employer or by filing an annual income tax declaration without notifying the other parent, thereby depriving the other parent of the opportunity to apply the relevant reduction. This is the case both for divorced parents and for parents who are not married and also no longer living together. The allowances are large - this year, one parent can reduce their income tax by BGN 600 for one child, by BGN 1,200 for two children, and by BGN 1,800 for three or more children. Therefore, the changes in the law will give priority to parents who have parental rights. It will be stipulated that a parent who has not been granted the exercise of parental rights in cases of divorce, may benefit from the reduced income tax, provided that the other parent will not do so for the relevant tax year. Where the other parent has not benefited from the tax reliefreduction in full, the difference may be used by the non-custodial parent.

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On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, Economic and Social Council (ESC) Chair Zornitsa Rusinova presented an ESC analysis on "Inequalities in Education and their Impact on the Labour Market in Bulgaria. Solutions for Realigning the Еducation System towards Knowledge Relevance and Social Skills Formation". In Bulgaria, educational inequalities are found due to income inequalities as well as other factors such as ethnicity and the socio-economic level of the families of the students, the analysis reads. The issue of inequalities has been the focus of the Economic and Social Council for quite some time. With the advent of artificial intelligence, some of the problems in the labour market are becoming even more acute. The value of the analysis is that it attempts to summarise several trends in the topic of inequalities, with a focus on education, and gives concrete recommendations that are extremely important, said Rusinova. The root cause of inequalities is grouped into several themes. They are also related to income, but not only. They are also related to regional differences, how big the gap is between small and big cities. Many of the inequalities, especially in primary and secondary education, have a huge impact on the labour market, she added.

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24 Chasa’s front-page article reads that Bulgaria’s first shopping centre – TSUM in Sofia – will be closed for repairs in several months. Its owner, businessman Georgi Gergov, leases the place for 20 years to an Egyptian businessman, Ahmed Nasr, who said he will transform TSUM into a luxury hotel, spa centre, co-working space, an Egyptian museum, and a museum of Bulgarian rose oil. Nasr has 100 copies of famour Egyptian cultural monuments, including Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus and the Nefertiti Bust. The project was presented on Thursday in Gergov’s absence. Famour Bulgarian Egyptologist and former minister of Education Prof. Sergey Ignatov will be the project’s scientific consultant. The project will be implemented in two stages. The first stage will last eight months and will end with the installation of the Egyptian copies  and rose oil museum at the building’s sub- and ground level. The exhibited items are expected to attract at least 200,000 to 300,000 visitors a year. The co-working space and the existing business centre on the top floors will be rented out to small- and medium-sized companies for EUR 1,000 a month per company. The second stage will last two to three years and will end with the building’s complete transformation. Nothing will be changed on the outside, and the internal construction works will not be significant, Nasr said. 

Mediapool.bg specifies that Gergov bought TSUM for EUR 30 million twenty years ago. He leases the building to the Egyptian businessman and head of Antika World as of October 1, 2024. Thursday’s presentation of the project to businesses and journalists at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry was also attended by the current and previous ambassadors of Egypt to Bulgaria. It did not become clear why Nasr chose TSUM for his project and how he had come into contact with Gergov. The sum to be invested in TSUM’s transformation will be announced later, the Egyptian businessman promised, specifying that he will not use a bank loan to make his idea a reality.

HOME AFFAIRS

On Bulgarian National Television’s morning show, several experts commented on a report of the Hungarian news site Telex that the sale to Hezbollah of pagers, which have so far killed 37 people and have wounded about 3,000 in Lebanon and Syria, was facilitated by Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd. According to security expert Tihomir Bezlov, Hungary has passed the bucket to Bulgaria. A check shows that Norta Global has an average annual turnover of some BGN 1.3 million. Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov commented that such an operation requires complex organization. He was impressed by the quick reaction of the Bulgarian authorities, rather than the Hungarian company. The Bulgarian authorities said Norta Global has not participated in the deal for the pagers. Former deputy foreign minister Milen Keremedchiev commented that this is deep conspiracy. Bulgaria has been present in big international conspiracies – from drug trade to terrorist attacks, including that at the Burgas bus station in 2012. This latest case will not affect Bulgaria’s image, he argued.

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On bTV’s morning show, Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva said she was in Yemen where on Thursday she met with the two Bulgarian seamen from the Galaxy Leader ship, hijacked by Houthis ten months ago along with the 25 crew members. The meeting took place outside of the ship, in a place chosen by the Houthis. “The foreign affairs adviser to the President attended the meeting. It was him who assured me that their [the Bulgarians’] release soon is being considered,” Yoncheva told bTV. The meeting was the result of the Bulgarian MP’s diplomatic efforts and her talks with Yemen’s authorities, including with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

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On bTV’s morning show, caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov commented on a recent accident on the Pleven Theatre’s stage that resulted in the death of a child. In his words, not a single Bulgarian theater meets the European requirements adopted four years ago. The Culture Ministry’s check into the accident has concluded, but that of the prosecution service has not. The Ministry’s check found that there were irregularities on site; the situation is not as presented to the public but the tragedy is a fact, he explained. There was a rehearsal of the children’s theatre school in Pleven that was cancelled without telling the children they should leave the stage. Two hours later, the absurd accident occurred [where a child fell through the stage’s trap door], the Minister said. There has been some kind of human error, or rather negligence, because the stage workers should have checked whether there were people on the stage. The reason for the accident was not the poor state of the Pleven Theatre, the Minister argued. The check has also established that the children’s theatre school has existed for 20 years without being legally linked to the Pleven Theatre, which is why the latter bears no responsibility for the children.   

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24 Chasa has an interview with the head of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior, Chief Commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov, who says that the better street lighting and CCTV at vulnerable locations in the capital as well as the contacts with district mayors have resulted in 70 thieves getting caught by the police.

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Telegraf has an interview with journalist Vladimir Hristovski, who says there has been a drop in the number of people driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. 

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Nova TV’s morning show focuses on the problems of people with dementia in Bulgaria, which data say number around 70,000. Experts talk about what it is to have dementia and to care for a person with dementia.