site.btaMedia Review: August 7

A topic covered by all news media is Monday’s extraordinary parliamentary sitting convened to debate on draft amendments to the Penal Code and the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act increasing the penalties for domestic violence.

POLITICS

On Bulgarian National Radio, Assoc Prof Ivo Indzhov, a lecturer in political communications, commented that the draft revisions against domestic violence are a step in the right direction, but certain texts are not well thought-through and show the MPs are acting in a hurry as a PR move under the public opinion’s pressure. This topic should be handled more professionally and only then should certain amendments be made. He believes there is a loophole where the penalty gets increased but the perpetrator can actually get away with a milder penalty. The fines should be increased, but it appears no one is talking about the preventive work of the police and other institutions that are obliged to react in every case of domestic violence. The solution does not lie in legislative revisions alone, because the laws may be wonderful but without the will and capacity to apply them, they remain on paper only, he argued.

On Bulgarian National Television’s morning show, political experts Tatyana Bouroudzhieva and Stoycho Stoychev commented on the draft revisions. According to Bouroudzhieva, the shocking cases of violence and society’s reaction is what made the MPs act; it is only in violence’s last phase that people react, society lacks understanding what should happen in previous phases. Stoychev said that making legislative changes is easy, but the problem lies in society and values; perhaps an entire generation has to pass to reach a moment where there is personal and public intolerance towards such acts of violence. Writer Zdravka Etvimova also commented on the series of cases of violence and the problems in society hidden behind them.  

Nova TV’s morning show featured several stories from across Bulgaria about domestic violence, violence against animals, and assault.

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Trud has an interview with Ivan Sotirov, former chief secretary of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), who talks about the local elections in October. According to him, candidate for mayor of Sofia Vili Lilkov, who is supported by the UDF and the newly formed right-wing coalition Blue Sofia, is the best one to run against the candidate of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, Vassil Terziev. Sotirov believes that Lilkov will unite the right wing and finally, after two decades, offer Sofianites a candidate who can restore the democratic community. There is no truly right-wing party at present, that is why Sotirov has joined the steering committee that nominated Lilkov. In his words, both main political coalitions claiming they are right-wing and anti-communist have done inadmissible compromises over the years and resorted to actions that have nothing to do with their slogans, which has pushed many people away. “Our ambition is to also offer an alternative to those who do not actively participate in the political process,” he adds.

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24 Chasa has an interview with Roumyana Bachvarova, former deputy prime minister in the second government of Boyko Borissov (GERB) and ambassador to Israel from 2019 to 2023. According to her, the fact that part of the participants in the coalition between GERB and the Reformist Block of 2014 are together again shows that their joint governance is an objective need for Bulgaria. In the last several years, reaction parties and leaders have been using antisemitism to gain some political dividends, she argues. “I do not think there is another country whose population in its entirety is so friendly towards Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people. Through the Israelis’ eyes we see what we ourselves cannot believe about us: that we are good, deserving, and brave people, and Bulgaria is a welcoming and beautiful country. We owe this image of our country to the Bulgarian Jews in Israeil – those rescued in 1943 and their children,” she tells the daily.

ECONOMY

Capital.bg presents an analysis by the Council for Economic Analyses with the Council of Ministers, according to which the high inflation might prevent Bulgaria from adopting the euro in January 2025. Though the country meets most formal criteria for the eurozone, the rise in prices remains far above the admissible levels and will hardly fall below those before the convergence report in 2024. As a whole, Bulgaria’s entry in the eurozone should not cause a serious change for the economy, the analysis reads. As a whole, there will not be significant consequences for inflation; one-time and short-term increases are possible in some sectors, particularly services and restaurant businesses. To prevent businesses from taking advantage of the euro’s introduction to increase prices, the Bulgarian institutions should follow the example of West European countries and guarantee smooth adaptation of society to the new currency, which includes information campaigns, presentation of prices in both currencies, and additional transparency measures, the experts advise. 

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24 Chasa’s front-page story reads that the price of eggs goes up by 70% by the time it reaches the shop. No significant rise has been registered in the price of poultry. Data show that there are over 6.5 million laying hens in Bulgaria in a total of 193 farms.

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Trud reports on its front page that fuel prices continue to increase gradually and the upward trend is here to stay but without sharp rises. The reasons for the increase observed in the past month are several, including the removal of the zero excise duty on liquefied natural gas as of August 1 and the restoration through the adoption of the 2023 state budget of the tax rate of BGN 340 per 1,000 litres, the appreciation of crude oil on the world markets, oil refineries being repaired or closed, and other reasons.

In an interview for Telegraf, Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association head Zhivodar Terziev says that fuels will continue to appreciate in August. 

Mediapool.bg has an interview with Martin Vladimirov of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, who comments on the Government’s recent actions against Lukoil [the termination of the Rosenets oil port concession, the proposal by MPs of the ruling majority to ban the import of Russian crude oil and appoint a special manager at the Neftochim refinery in Burgas]. He approves of these actions and argues that the way forward is to appoint a special manager as a means to convince Lukoil to sell the refinery to a strategic company. Both Germany and Italy have shown that is possible without causing a crisis in supplies. However, more attention should be paid to the legal aspects of this situation, Vladimirov adds. It seems there is a hastily drafted strategy aimed at gaining political dividends, which is not the best approach given how experienced Russian companies are; they would not allow their assets to be taken. They have a long-term interest to withdraw from the region, but at present they are making significant profits so there is no reason to withdraw right now, he argues.

On bTV’s morning show, energy expert and former ambassador to Moscow Iliyan Vassilev commented that it is good that the incumbent gave up on a quick termination of the Rosenets concession, because otherwise that could have affected the fuels market. In his words, the way that the National Assembly decided to terminate the concession was a good decision in terms of direction but a problematic move in the way it was executed, because it places a huge mine in the Government’s field and creates conditions for Lukoil to limit or discontinue supplies. Any disruption in supplies cannot but affect the fuels market and prices. According to the expert, Bulgaria can continue without Russian oil but that should happen gradually. 

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On Nova TV’s morning show, former energy minister Alexander Nikolov commented on the 13-year gas supply agreement between Bulgargaz and Turkiye's State energy company Botas concluded by the caretaker government. A positive effect for Bulgaria’s households and businesses requires that Bulgargaz purchase gas at the best price and along the best infrastructure, and the agreement does not meet those conditions. Since the gas consumption will drop drastically, a large part of the obligations Bulgaria has under the agreement will be paid but not used, he argued. In his words, the average price for what the agreement entails will be catastrophic for Bulgaria at the end of the agreement, because the negotiation process was far from transparent, there was no preliminary data and analysis on domestic consumption, and there were no regional meetings to confirm that consumption. “When a contract for 13 years is concluded by a political cabinet with a three-month term in office, things are strange, to put it mildly. When you negotiate on such an agreement, the negotiations should last at least six to nine months to ensure they are effective enough for Bulgaria,” he said. 

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Telegraf’s front-page story is that there is a rising interest in the purchase of houses in depopulated villages.

HOME AFFAIRS

Segabg.com publishes the Facebook post of Sasha Bezouhanova, an internationally recognized manager and head of an online platform for civil initiatives, who warns that 15 Bulgarians are wanted in Germany and Austria with a European Arrest Warrant for having worked from Bulgaria for foreign call centres involved in financial fraud. There already are boys sentenced to imprisonment in Germany. The daily confirms that German and Austrian nationals have been defrauded of millions of euro, and them turning to the court has resulted in more than one or two convicted Bulgarians in those countries. Bezouhanova calls on Bulgarian authorities to get involved and take measures for the international protection of these and future young people being sued for simply having followed the instructions given to them by their employers – the true perpetrators. Bezouhanova’s post got a comment by Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivanka Shalapatova, who writes that a meeting will be held on this topic with her and her team, and that the Labour Ministry will do everything within its power to prevent such cases.

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Duma reports that Bulgarian drivers’ blue card with control points will no longer be used, following legislative changes that go into effect on Monday. Until now, the card was a compulsory document that had to be presented to traffic police together with the driving license. Also to be scrapped is the golden card issued to drivers without violations. Diana Russinova of the European Center for Transport Policies commented, as quoted by the daily, that the blue card was valid only for Bulgaria. Without the card, drivers cannot see how many control points they currently have [points are withdrawn for traffic violations, and losing all points results in revocation of one’s driving license], but in the future they will be able to check that in an e-system to be developed by the Interior Ministry, Russinova explained. Until then, the only way to check is by going to the Traffic Police Directorate.