site.btaPress Review

ECONOMY 

"Economic Growth in Last Quarter of 2021 at 4.5%," reads Capital's headline. Bulgaria's GDP increased by 4.5 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year, shows an express assessment by the National Statistical Institute. Thus, Bulgaria's economic growth rate is slightly under the average EU rate, which is 4.8 per cent, according to preliminary data by Eurostat. This country's GDP reached 38.5 billion leva in the fourth quarter of 2021, of which the gross value added is 33.5 billion leva. The nominal GDP in 2021 has reached almost 133 billion leva. The economic growth was driven by end consumption, which has gone up by almost 8 per cent compared to the last quarter of 2020. Base capital investments continue decreasing and have dropped by 12.5 per cent year-on-year. Consumption, however, makes up a much larger portion of GDP - close to 82 per cent, which has ultimately resulted in economic growth. The export and import of goods and services have increased in the fourth quarter by 13 per cent and 11 per cent year-on-year, respectively, with a negative foreign trade balance. 

ENERGY 

Mediapool runs a detailed article about the Bulgarian delegation's visit to the US, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev. 
The delegation also includes Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov and the heads of the Kozloduy N-plant, Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz. The Bulgarians have conferred in Washington with senior officials from the White House and the US departments of Commerce and Energy. Among the US officials to meet with Vassilev was US Department of State Counselor Derek Chollet, who was in Sofia last week, as well as Andrew Light, who is an Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Energy, social media posts by the US Embassy in Bulgaria showed. 

The enhanced cooperation in diversifying energy supplies and green initiatives was discussed during the meeting with Chollet, which would mean improved energy security and prosperity for Bulgaria, the US Embassy in Sofia said. The meeting with Light focused on broadening business opportunities for a clean energy future and the diversification of energy sources and supplies. Mediapool quotes sources, according to which the Bulgarian delegation also had meetings on Wednesday with members of the US Chamber of Commerce, including large companies in the fields of natural gas supply, nuclear energy, digital technology and renewable energy and energy storage. 

Vassilev was scheduled to return to Sofia Wednesday evening, while the remaining Bulgarian delegates will visit Pittsburgh, Houston and Dallas, where they will have meetings with representatives of universities and businesses to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector. The talks will focus on renewable energy sources, battery energy storage, nuclear power technologies and fuel, as well as possible private partnership in the liquefied natural (LNG) gas sector. 

A similar visit to Dallas and Houston took place a couple of years ago, but there are no joint projects yet. According to Mediapool, one of the main topics of discussion were battery energy storage from renewable energy sources (RES). Last week the Bulgarian Government presented corrections in the energy projects, for which this country will seek EU co-financing under the Recovery and Resilience plan. A project for a national energy storage park was presented, in addition to the batteries already included under the new RES projects, which are to store 25 per cent of the produced wind and solar energy. 

No noteworthy results can be expected from the natural gas meetings. No supply of LNG from the US can be expected to be negotiated either, as the Bulgarian market is very small and the US companies view Bulgaria rather as a country through which natural gas can be transmitted. 

When it comes to nuclear technology, Westinghouse is interested in the upcoming tender for the supply of nuclear fuel for the Kozloduy N-plant in 2024. The long-term plan, which dates back to the times when Boyko Borissov was prime minister, is to build small modular nuclear reactors on the Kozloduy N-plant's future Unit 7. The Bulgarian energy experts' visit is scheduled to conclude this weekend. 

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Duma leads with a story about the Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP) firm stance in favour of building the Belene N-plant. The Socialists demand that the coalition agreement is observed. The need for new nuclear power facilities should be assessed after an expert public analysis is made, a position issued by the party's Executive Bureau says. BSP has always wanted for Bulgaria to remain part of the European nuclear family, Dragomir Stoynev is quoted as saying. One of the reasons BSP is part of the government is that nuclear energy has a future, according to Georgi Svilenski. According to BSP leader Kornelia Ninova, an expert team must be convened to draft proposals, which can then be discussed on a political level. 

COVID-19 

"Delta and Omicron Killed 16,000 in 180 Days in Bulgaria," reads 24 Chassa's front-page headline. The bottom line of the Delta and Omicron waves is that 16,000 Bulgarians with COVID-19 have died in six months. The estimates are made by the newspaper based on official data. The combination of the two variants brought this country to permanently high mortality levels (an average of 50 people daily) over the course of close to six months. The Omicron variant has a significantly lower mortality rate, but a higher infection rate - over 300,000 new infections since the start of this year, while according to experts, the real infections are three times higher. A total of 3,700 people have died since January 1. Among the factors for the high mortality rate in Bulgaria are the aging population, unqualified medical staff, poor organization between COVID units and ICUs and the low vaccination rate. The highest share of COVID-19 deaths is reported in Sofia's Pirogov emergency hospital - 31 per cent, which the hospital explains with the fact that they are treating the most severe COVID-19 cases and patients come too late. Around two million Bulgarians have still not come across the virus, which means there is still a high risk. 

Trud leads with a story headlined "Europe Is Lifting the COVID Blockade". Europe is gradually returning to a normal life by lifting the COVID-19 restrictions after almost two years. Many governments across the old continent are deciding on such moves. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Czechia announced that they are lifting all restrictions. Greece, however, is still keeping them in force. The relaxation of the anti-epidemic measures in Bulgaria depends on the morbidity levels. Vaccination is still considered to be the most effective form of protection against serious illness, the newspaper recalls. 

PROPERTY DECLARATIONS - OFFICIALS

The property declarations submitted by government officials to the Counter-corruption Commission are extensively covered by the press. 

Monitor: A total of 12,430 people have submitted declarations, while 60 of those obliged to do so have not done it. Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has entered the government wealthy, while his deputy and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev is rather modest when it comes to wealth. 

24 Chassa writes in a front-page story that Transport Minister Nikolay Sabev is the richest member of the Government. There is a tendency among the new MPs to invest in cryptocurrencies and tech giants, such as Amazon, Facebook and Virgin Galactic. Others still prefer to buy real estate properties and cars and keep their money in bank deposits, the declarations submitted by the powerholders show. Continue the Change MPs are the most innovative when it comes to investments. 

Mediapool writes that There Is Such a People leader Slavi Trifonov has been refusing to declare his wealth for nine months now, which is against the law. 

The various newspapers get into specific details about who has declared what in terms of properties, cars, bank accounts, investments, etc. 

JUSTICE 

Dnevnik writes that the prosecuting magistracy has announced the start of a probe in response to a list, submitted by former TV host and member of the European Parliament, Nikolay Barekov. The list contains 20 names, about which there are media publications (mainly in the PIK and Blitz tabloid websites). On the list are Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, Petkov's chef de cabinet Lena Borislavova, Economedia publishers Ivo Prokopiev and Teodor Zahov, former prime minister Ivan Kostov and his daughter, as well as other ministers from Petkov's Cabinet. Barekov's list came in response to the list Petkov submitted last week to the prosecuting magistracy.