site.btaMedia Review: August 16

No single topic dominates the front pages and tops stories of media outlets on Wednesday, August 16. Two dailies, Duma and Trud, have military related topics as their frontpage articles, Telegraph’s main story is on road traffic rules and safety and police checks for intoxicated drivers, and 24 Chasa highlights on its frontpage that researchers have found a cause-and-effect relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent heat waves in the northern hemisphere. All media has covered the story of three Bulgarian nationals, who have been arrested on the territory of the United Kingdom for alleged spying for the Russian Federation, yet the topic is more dominant in the morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV, and Nova TV.

BULGARIANS SUSPECTED IN ESPIONAGE

Information is circulating that three Bulgarian nationals have been arrested and charged in the UK for suspected spying for Russia, BBC reported on Tuesday, mentioning the suspects by name and posting their photos. The three defendants, Orlin Roussev, 45, Biser Dzambazov, 42, and Katrin Ivanova, 31, were arrested in February and have been remanded in custody since then.

Valentin Radev, former interior minister and defence minister, commented on the case on the morning programme of BNT. According to him, the story is damaging Bulgaria’s image abroad. “This is another wrong step for Bulgaria as a loyal member of the EU and NATO,” Radev noted. In his words, the arrested Bulgarians were not in high-ranking positions and hardly had access to classified information, but there remains doubt about Bulgaria as a reliable partner.

The morning programme of bTV covered the story by outlining the story’s coverage by British media over the past six months. The reporter said that a publication in The Times reveals that the Bulgarians used fake press cards to carry out surveillance operations. The Bulgarians are believed to have posed as journalists from American television channels. The Daily Telegraph, on the other hand, says that the suspects of espionage for Russia met in a house located near one of the airbases around London. One of the neighbours of the house in question tells the newspaper that Bisser Dzhambazov tried to install a huge satellite dish on the side of the house. The Daily Mail says that the three Bulgarians are accused of possessing a total of 19 false identity documents. 

The morning pogramme of Nova TV also highlighted the media coverage of the case in the United Kingdom. The reporters also mentioned Daily Mail, The Guardian, Daily Express, and The Sun. 

Telegraph has a title on the topic on their front page. The daily highlights that one the suspects were managing a voting section in London, therefore, handling the personal information of Bulgarians there.

24 Chasa writes that if the three were found guilty they would spend at least fourteen years in prison or face life imprisonment.

Trud highlights that the suspects will be in court in January.

Duma has an opinion piece by Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) MP Aleksandar Simov, who criticizes Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Marin Raykov for not knowing about the case, since the Bulgarians were arrested back in February.  

MILITARY

Trud and Duma have on their frontpage articles related to the war in Ukraine and armaments supplied by Bulgaria and other countries. Trud headlines that Bulgaria has given Ukraine 14 assault Su-25 and tanks though third NATO countries. The article references an investigative piece by The New York Times on a Bulgarian businessman Kaloyan Stanislavov, owner of the company Bulcomers KS, which is involved in the “under the table” supply of armaments to Ukraine during the Cabinet of Kiril Petkov in 2022.

Duma’s frontpage article is on Russia’s decision to suspend spare parts supply to Bulgaria and other nations that supply weapons to Ukraine. The daily cites the information from Russia’s Interfax and follows the Tuesday reactions to the matter by Defence Minister Todor Tagarev.

ECONOMY 

Telegraph writes that Bulgarians’ bread consumption has decreased while consumption of eggs had stayed the same over the past year. The daily references data by the National Statistical Institute. The article highlights that Bulgarians are eating more fruits and vegetables and that bread consumption per individual has dropped by a kilogram. Trud and Duma reference the same data with a title reading that Bulgarians’ expenses are rising more than their income is.

Duma writes that Sofia has surpassed Bucharest in in terms of housing prices in a ranking of 73 capitals around the world conducted by NetCredit. The daily notes that the average price per square metre in Sofia is USD 1,425, and in Bucharest – USD 1,309.  

HOME AFFAIRS 

Telegraph writes on its frontpage about the implementation of new week-old road safety traffic rules. The headline says that 156 vehicles had been confiscated from drivers with detected drug and/or alcohol abuse.  

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Telegraph has an interview with the head of the Education trade union with the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, Yulian Petrov, who says that the Finnish example in education is not applicable in Bulgaria at the moment. According to him, about 100 new buildings are needed in order to end double “shifts” at schools. Double shifts entail that half the students in the school, for example the highest three grades study in the first half of the day in the first semester of the school year, while the lower grades attend classes in the second half of the day. In the next semester the students switch. The method is due to insufficient space for all to study at the same time. Petrov stands for a stricter and more complex educational system in Bulgaria and more clearly defined relations between the educational institution and parents.   

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The Bulgarian National Radio has an interview with Yuliana Kovela, a journalist from Dnevnik, who was investigating a baby trafficking ring in Greece. "These people who sell their children almost accept it as normal. But on the other side stands what seems to be institutional acceptance," she outlined the problem. She said this goes back decades. In recent years, traffickers have left more money with families, the journalist noted. If they deceived the family a lot, then it is possible that the family will complain and the scheme will be uncovered, she explained, adding that if the family itself does not complain, it is very difficult or almost impossible to uncover the crime. Koleva stressed that there are many women who are in very great need and poverty, which in her opinion which enables baby trafficking to work in Bulgaria. "You have the demand in Greece, you have the poverty and the terribly impoverished families in Bulgaria,” she said.

POLITICS

Trud has an interview with political scientist Stoycho Stoychev, who says that the President has lost influence. According to him, Parliament and the Cabinet will last as long as the war in Ukraine.

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24 Chasa has a prominent story on the personal property declarations for 2022 of the current Denkov/Gabriel Cabinet, submitted to the Anti-Corruption and Criminal Assets Forfeiture Commission. The daily writes that Bulgaria has three millionaires in its Council of Ministers – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel, Environment Minister Yulian Pavlov, and Energy Minister Rumen Radev. The article highlights that Gabriel is 52 times wealthier than Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov. There Is Such a People (TISP) party leader Stanislav Trifonov is said to have declared his assets for the first time at BGN 11.5 million.

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Mediapool writes that Assen Vassilev, co-chair of Continue the Change, is neither prime minister nor deputy prime minister, but he has gained more real power than both of them. The finance minister in the fabric of Bulgarian governments is usually a shadow prime minister, but in recent weeks Vassilev has surpassed the "swagger" of his predecessors in office. As he had vowed at a party gathering even before he took office, the minister pushed through a raft of changes to his department's regulations that not only reshuffled and "cleaned up" officials but took entire structures under his wing and created several new ones. The article concludes that it is known from history and practice that any excessive concentration of power does not lead to anything good. In order not to reach a point where Vassilev is accused of "gorging" on power, the parliament should urgently consider reciprocal guarantees for transparency and control over the finance minister.