site.btaMedia Review: February 14

HEADLINES

24 Chasa’s lead story cites findings from a nine-month investigation by the British NGO Earthsight, revealing that Russia has illegally exported over 500,000 cubic metres of timber - worth EUR 1.5 billion - to Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine. Despite the EU’s ban on Russian timber imports, Moscow continues to circumvent restrictions by exporting through Turkiye, China, Kazakhstan, and Georgia, with the EU as the final destination. The undercover investigation indicates that all EU Member States have been involved in this illegal trade.

Duma leads with the headline: "51st Congress to Shape BSP's Future." The congress, which will take place over the weekend, will see delegates adopt the party’s key documents, vote on changes to its statute, and decide whether the BSP leader should be elected directly or by congress. The daily recalls that 15 candidates are in the race for the leadership position.

On its front page, Telegraph reports that the family doctors association in Burgas is advocating for individuals under 18 to be included in a free seasonal flu vaccination programme to help reduce hospitalizations. The daily quotes Petko Zhelyazkov, head of the association of general practitioners in Burgas, as saying that children aged two to seven frequently fall sick and often require hospitalization due to complications.

Trud’s top story cites a warning from the Commission on Protection of Competition, which cautions that the real estate brokerage services bill that has recently been submitted to Parliament could drive up property prices. The bill proposes the introduction of a mandatory professional qualification certificate for real estate intermediaries and the creation of a register of intermediaries.

The key story in Capital Weekly focuses on Bulgaria’s ambition to have its own AI factory. The country is looking to attract a major tech giant’s investment in a computing centre. While the chances of securing such an investment are slim, the media outlet notes that they do exist.

POLITICS

On its front page, 24 Chasa writes that "insults and elbows have become a trend" in Parliament. "Lawmakers rarely go a day without nasty scandals and generating tensions, which increasingly lead to attempts at physical altercations" regardless of the issue at hand, the daily adds. 

The story comes after tensions in Parliament flared up on Thursday after Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) once again pushed for a vote on forming an ad hoc committee to investigate MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski’s influence.

Mediapool.bg recalls that the proposal failed on Wednesday as there were not enough CC-DB MPs present in the plenary hall. While There Is Such a People (TISP) initially supported the proposal, they changed their stance on Thursday, making their support conditional on the creation of an ad hoc committee to investigate businessman and publisher Ivo Prokopiev’s influence. Both proposals were eventually rejected.

A heated confrontation, which nearly turned physical, arose between CC-DB MP Kiril Petkov, MRF-New Beginning’s Delyan Peevski, and Bayram Bayram. Petkov was eventually sanctioned by Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova.

In its story, 24 Chasa adds that more of the same followed shortly afterwards. During a Vazrazhdane-requested hearing with Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Cabinet ministers regarding Bulgaria’s conditions for allowing Greece to use water from the Arda River, tensions boiled over between MRF - New Beginning’s Yordan Tzonev and Vazrazhdane’s Ivaylo Tchorbov.

Political analyst Tatyana Burudzhieva and journalist Veselin Stoynev shared their views on the week’s political events during Bulgarian National Television's (BNT) morning programme. Burudzhieva said that a major issue in Parliament is the lack of real policy debate and government oversight, with opposition parties focusing predominantly on fighting one another. "Vazrazhdane claims to be the opposition, BSP claims to be the opposition, even Delyan Peevski now asserts himself as opposition, as a left-wing leader. Boyko Borissov identifies GERB as the only remaining right-wing force," Stoynev said. In his words, much of the physical and verbal confrontations stem from "the Peevski problem.""On one side, we have Peevski. On the other, we have Vazrazhdane and TISP, who have introduced a very brutal, aggressive tone, which we have not seen in previous National Assemblies."

Speaking on Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), political analyst Petar Cholakov was pessimistic about the situation improving soon. "The so-called political elite has gone feral," he said, arguing that even greater escalation is likely.

ECONOMY

Thursday’s nationwide supermarket boycott is widely covered by the media. The protest over rising prices of staple foods was organized by four civil groups: the Consumers' Federation in Bulgaria, the Affordable and Quality Food Association, The System Is Killing Us, and the United Pensioners' Union.

Telegraph notes that while some customers still shopped that day, grocery stores were less crowded than usual. The daily adds that the boycott divided Bulgarians into two camps.

Discussing the issue on BNT’s morning programme, Association of Modern Trade Executive Officer Nikolay Valkanov said that the National Revenue Agency is expected to release official data on the boycott’s effectiveness by Friday afternoon. He suggested that loyal customers were largely unaffected. Valkanov said that the Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) had conducted a thorough analysis and issued a decision on January 29. It found no evidence of collusion between retailers. Instead, the main factors behind rising food prices are increased shipping costs and higher production expenses for traders. “The CPC also found that retail chains did not report commercial gains during this period of highest inflation,” Valkanov stated.

Speaking to BNR, financial analyst Boris Petrov said the boycott is likely to impact the turnover of major retail chains. However, he noted that the real problem lies with the institutions responsible for regulating competition. Petrov noted that while food prices in Bulgaria are comparable to those in Europe, the country still has a price advantage in certain segments.

On bTV’s morning programme, former agriculture minister Mehmed Dikme said that it is producers - not major food chains – that will suffer from the boycott’s impact. He suggested that the initiative is fueled by populist talk.

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Capital Weekly’s key story reports that the Energy Ministry recently announced plans for a roadshow aimed at attracting foreign investors by offering them secure and affordable electricity from the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. Just days later, the European Commission revealed a USD 200 billion investment in AI, including tens of billions for physical infrastructure. Even if Bulgaria secures only a small fraction of this private and European funding, it would feel like a breakthrough, given the country’s steadily declining foreign direct investment, the media outlet notes.

According to Capital Weekly, the Energy Ministry confirmed that the roadshow is still just an idea, but Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov has already held talks with 30 major US companies during a Business Council for International Understanding event. The Ministry also said that building a computing centre would support the electricity grid and improve smart electricity distribution.

Securing investment will be challenging, given the fierce competition. Bulgaria has tried multiple times over the past ten years to attract conventional data centers from major tech companies but has lost out each time. Still, Capital Weekly suggests there is room for optimism.

"Our country missed out on the chance to host a major tech giant’s data center. Greece entered direct negotiations with Google and Microsoft and managed to attract both. […] Missing that opportunity is not fatal, but we must learn from it," Dobroslav Dimitrov, head of the Bulgarian Employers Association for Innovative Technologies, says. He identifies three key advantages Bulgaria has and should use in negotiations: secure, low-cost energy from the Kozloduy N-Plant; favourable climate; and strategic location, as the country has access to sea and has low seismic activity.

FOREIGN POLICY

On BNT’s morning programme, former deputy foreign minister Lyubomir Kyuchukov and Middle East and Islam expert Vladimir Chukov analyzed Donald Trump’s approach to ending the war in Ukraine and his proposed plan for Gaza. "We are witnessing a logical paradox: the war between Russia and Ukraine is being resolved through negotiations between Russia and the US, which simply confirms that the conflict was always a matter of geopolitics," Kyuchukov said. Chukov argued that Trump’s diplomacy is based on bluffing. The topic was also covered by journalist Ognyan Daskarev in an interview with Trud and by former deputy foreign minister Milen Keremedchiev, who spoke to BNR.