site.btaMedia Review: November 15

No single topic dominates Friday's print media. TV morning shows focused on MPs' unsuccessful attempts to elect a National Assembly Chair.

POLITICS

On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, various politicians and analysts talk about the attempts to elect a Parliament Chair this week. According to Prof. Plamen Kirov, a specialist in constitutional law, exotic is the idea that Parliament should work without a chairperson. "The Constitution is clear:  the first session is opened by the oldest MP present, the oath is sworn and the election of the chairperson and their deputies proceeds. If the MPS fail to elect, they are to go home and be done." Dr Orlin Kolev, a lecturer in constitutional law, expressed the hope that a Parliament Chair  will be elected at Friday's sitting. "We should not equate the organs of the National Assembly with the possibility of going to consultations and handing over cabinet-forming mandates, to relax the process of new elections in case the National Assembly proves unable to elect a government," he commented. Haralan Alexandrov, Assoc. Prof. Daniel Smilov, and Rouzha Raycheva also commented on the political situation and MPs' statements upon entering Parliament on Friday morning. Former National Assembly chairman Georgi Pirinski (2005-2009) commented that today, Bulgaria is experiencing not just a crisis but a breakdown of its political system. "I do not see sufficient concern for such a finding. Are we aware of exactly what constitutes a breakdown of a system? The crisis has grown into an emergency situation where Parliament cannot elect a chairperson to begin to function," he said. According to Pirinski, the situation requires a change in MPs' behaviour, and everyone should speak more carefully; every political formation should be ready to take a step back, otherwise they push the country towards a serious crisis.

On bTV's morning show, former culture minister in several caretaker governments Prof. Velislav Minekov commented that Bulgaria has not hit a bigger low than it is hitting right now. "I get very angry when I see all this. We do not deserve our democracy. Pity about what happened to us 35 years ago. We are insignificant before what democracy means," he said.Prof. Minekov noted that various civil associations want to do something new and significant on the political scene. According to him, they are now warming up and will soon enter politics. However, he denied that there is a specific leader around whom all those who are not satisfied with the current situation should unite. "There are various experiments and attempts are being made to find the right leader. He will be found," he underscored. According to him, the only option for a Parliament Chair to be elected is for everyone to support a consensus candidate, Prof. Silvi Kirilov of There Is Such a People.

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Trud has a story by constitutional law expert Nataliya Kisselova, who warns that undertaking amendments to the Election Code following the October 27 snap general elections could be like opening a Pandora's box. Many ideas for revisions are being voiced, some new and some decades-old. The most popular seem to be those for keeping voter registers up-to-date and introducing active civil registration, but there are many questions within these proposed changes that have to answered first. Starting to amend the Election Code will lead to many proposed revisions, the expert warns.

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Trud has an analysis by Dr Iliya Iliev of the impact of US presidential elections on the world, reading that the US influence Bulgaria indirectly. "In Bulgaria, Washington rarely has direct influence. We are too small and weak to resist even hints from the Embassy in Sofia. Pressure, however, can easily be mediated through Brussels or through the agencies in the parties, administrations and NGOs. Before the US elections and shortly afterwards, there is a turmoil here, clearly visible to the thinking people. Politicians are waiting for some clearer instructions from the Embassy, otherwise they will be shirking the responsibilities of the Executive for some time to come. The patriots, the courageous people with a strong civic stand have long been cleared from the political terrain, so the shameful vegetation continues," the analysis reads.

Telegraf has an interview about the US election results with US citizen of Bulgarian origin Chris Dossev. He explains why, in his opinion, Donald Trump won the presidential elections.

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On Bulgarian National Radio, former environment and water minister Borislav Sandov said that there is a need for structural reform in water management. He commented on the idea of Agriculture Minister Georgi Tahov that a single body should be created to take over the management of water resources in the country. "A state agency, as Minister Tahov envisages, is one of the options. Bulgaria's water is currently managed in a disjointed manner between several ministries. This is not working and the coordination between the different ministries is not good. Whether this should include infrastructure is a separate issue. Then things would be bigger. Think about a reform that is bigger and takes water, and perhaps forestry, into a separate ministry. It should be big enough and responsible enough. But because of the political crisis, I do not think such reforms are possible. It would affect many interests," Sandov said. According to him, the short-term moves are related to law enforcement. "There are many thefts and violations that need to be detected and prevented. The biggest leaks also need to be stopped. Where infrastructure is in the worst condition, national funds should be directed," he argued. He noted that Bulgaria will soon find itself with strict water regimes on the Southern Black Sea coast and for this reason a seawater desalination plant needs to be planned and built. There is also a need to optimise the potential of the Danube, Sandov said. A groundwater strategy should be development, and a groundwater infrastructure inventory needs to be done. Bulgaria has largely exhausted its potential in terms of dams; the existing ones should be better managed and alternatives should be sought, he argued.

On Nova TV's morning show, Dimitar Kumanov from Balkanka Association presented his opinion on who is responsible for the water shortages in the country. "During socialism it was absolutely clear that the water in the dams would not be enough for irrigation and drinking. Now they have built hydroelectric power plants, and all these places are in crisis. Everything that has to be done should be described in the plans for the Maritsa basins. First, the water management strategy has to be completely changed - from where the rain has fallen to people's taps, and this thing has to be managed by a single State body," he argued. According to him, water thefts are not investigated in Bulgaria. He said state authorities have a duty to convince the public that they have stopped the thefts.

ECONOMY

Capital Weekly's issue is titled "Formula for Losing Weight and for Everything Else"; it features several articles about GLP-1 agonists as a class of medications revolutionizing medicine. These medicinal products for diabetes help people lose weight but also have the potential to tread cardio-vascular diseases; they have potentially beneficial effects on the whole body. Pharmaceutical companies are competing in developing new versions and applications of GPL-1 agonists. Their wide application could have an impact on various industries: from the food industry to cosmetics and even aviation. For example, analysts from the Jefferies investment bank have calculated that in 2023, if the average passenger of United Airlines loses 4.5 kg, that would reduce the airlines' fuel costs by USD 80 million a year. A related article looks at the situation with obesity in Bulgaria. With 73% of Bulgarians being obese, the potential of the new medicinal products to reduce weight and the risk of a heart attack and stroke offers many opportunities for this country, which is first in the EU for cardiovascular diseases and mortality rate. On the free market in Bulgaria, those losing weight with GLP-1 agonists number 11,000. Another 18,000 Bulgarians are being treated for Type 2 diabetes through the National Health Insurance Fund. The weekly has an interview on the topic with endocrinologist Assoc. Prof. Yavor Assyov, who notes that some of his patients achieve results far greater than those listed in the medical trials, while others see no effect at all. In another related article, the weekly presents two companies - Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk - that are described as being far ahead of the competition in the production of medicinal products for losing weight.

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Capital Weekly presents the interim financial statement of Bulgargaz, noting that the State-owned monopolist in gas supplies is in technical bankruptcy. The public supplier loses market shares, buys natural gas at high prices and then sells it at lower prices, and customers decrease in number because of more better conditions for competitors. As a result, the company's revenues have shrunk by almost 60%, with the company ending the first half of the year with a net loss of BGN 258 million, compared to BGN 36 million for the same period of 2023. That equals an increase of the negative financial result by 611%. This raises a lot of questions about Bulgargaz' future, the article reads.

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Trud's front-page story warns of scams and tricks buyers should watch out for when shopping on Black Friday. "A lot of people will go shopping on Black Friday and they will be greeted by credit agents everywhere, or there will be a pay-in-installment (on-credit) button online. People, especially the young, are succumbing because the discount is valid only today and now. And having no money, they buy on credit so as not to miss the offer. But if the discount is, for example, 10% or BGN 100 and you take a loan, when you return it you will have overpaid BGN 500,"  Active Consumers head Bogomil Nikolov told the daily. He explained that the best thing to do on the day of big discounts is to have a list of things we want to buy to avoid impulse unnecessary purchases just for the sake of "hunting for percentages". The Consumer Protection Commission warns of fake websites imitating popular ones, and advises buyers to check a website's security before typing in their personal and card data.

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24 Chasa writes on its front page that according to data released by the Institute for Market Economics as part of the 13th edition of Regional Profiles, Kardzhali in addition to Sofia has the highest average life expectancy, 75 years and 4 months. However, while Sofianites get the highest average pension in Bulgaria, up to BGN 1,040.23, those living in Kardzhali get the lowest, BGN 656.36, with the smallest increase observed in Bulgaria in the last year. Both Sofia and Kardzhali are the regions with the biggest mechanical population growth, but the reasons are quite different, the daily writes: Sofia attracts people in the active age group thanks to the more developed labour market and salaries two-fold higher than the average in Bulgaria, while Kardzhali attracts those Bulgarians who moved to Turkiye in the late 1980s and have retired. Consequently, Kardzhali has been in the top 10 for new residential buildings lately and is among the settlements with the most active real estate market.  

In an article on the same topic, Segabg.com puts the emphasis on Montana being the municipality with the lowest local taxes in the country. The property tax for this year there is 1.72 per mille, and the property transfer tax is 2.75 per mille. The vehicle tax is BGN 1.22 per kW, and the retail patent tax is BGN 5.06 per square metre. Some of the lowest local taxes are also reported in Blagoevgrad Region and Lovech Region, while the highest are in Varna, Burgas, Sofia, Ruse, and Veliko Tarnovo. Plovdiv is the second largest economy, contributing 6.5% of GDP, followed by Stara Zagora with 6.2%, fuelled by a strong energy sector. Stara Zagora is also the municipality reporting the highest growth in the local economy in 2023. The recovery of tourism is a key factor for the positive development of Varna and Burgas, while for Sofia Region the driver is the concentration of industrial production. The districts of Vidin, Silistra, and Dobrich remain with the lowest growth, further widening the income and quality of life gap, the article reads.

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In an interview for Mediapool.bg, Ilia Krastev, Chairman of the Association for Innovation, Business Excellence, Services, and Technology (AIBEST), talks about the ongoing technological revolution in the world and how that will impact the Bulgarian economy. "In the last more than ten years, we have managed to establish Bulgaria, as well as the whole region, as a key destination for companies that want to invest in innovation and this has driven a whole cycle of not only large investors to Bulgaria, but has also led to the creation of funds that invest in startups and finance these processes. That is, a whole ecosystem has been created that allows the development of a high-tech industry. These start-ups worked with large global companies to position them on the world market, so Bulgaria was the most successful country in the region for years. However, the risk now is for this to change. And if other countries become more successful in the region, they will start pulling companies and people who have invested in Bulgaria," he warns. According to him, Bulgaria's competitors in Southeast Europe are Romania and Greece; in Central Europe they are Poland and Hungary. He argues that unless technologies become the State's top priority, there will be no economy: the situation is that urgent, and Bulgaria is at a turning point. "It is imperative, if we want the Bulgarian economy to be competitive, to develop in the high-tech industry. Now. If this does not happen now in Europe and in Bulgaria, in ten years we will not be talking about technology and innovation, but about how Europe is the restaurant and museum of the world. If that is the priority, at least be clear. We cannot afford to do everything and have public policy based on which sector is the noisiest and on electoral factors rather than economic factors," the expert tells the e-zine.

Duma reports of a free applied course in Bulgarian "From Beginner to Expert in AI", developed by Netpeak Bulgaria, that has already attracted serious attention: over 1,000 people have enrolled, and 148 of them have successfully completed it and received a certificate. The course is available online and is designed for both complete beginners and experienced users who want to deepen their AI skills using only free tools. The programme offers over 60 microlearning lessons grouped into six modules, each with a clear practical application - from creating content and images for social networks to building custom AI assistants. The methodology is to apply everything learned immediately; every skill can be tested right away and without the need to pay for the tools at that point, the daily writes.

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraf's front-page article reads that hundreds of Bulgarians were fined by traffic police because the Waze application for GPS navigation and live traffic updates stopped showing where traffic police are positioned. The application has temporarily turned off its most used function due to ongoing technical issues.

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24 Chasa has an interview with investigator Svetoslav Vassilev, head of the Cybercrimes unit at the National Investigative Service. He says that they work with the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security, and European partners. A US prosecutor has said that they have not cooperated so well with anyone as they have with the National Investigative Service, Vassilev notes. As of 2026, traffic data can be demanded for crimes punishable by over three years in prison. There have been cases where the defendant’s computers contain hundreds of thousands of files with child pornography, but until recently the punishment for that was one year in prison, and the sentences were always conditional, Vassilev tells the daily.