site.btaMedia Review: August 23

POLITICS

Defence Minister Todor Tagarev met with his Romanian counterpart Angel Tilvar, the Bulgarian Defence Ministry said, quoted by 24 Chasa. The two ministers discussed Black Sea security issues, regional cooperation and the two countries' defence cooperation.

On Tuesday, Minister Tagarev visited Odesa and met his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov to tell him that Bulgaria would continue to provide all-round support to Ukraine.

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Wednesday’s media report that at its regular meeting, the government is to discuss a draft decision on the preparation and conduct of the elections for municipal councillors and mayors scheduled for October 29, 2023.

The government is also expected to appoint a deputy chair of the State Agency for National Security and a draft decision on the adoption of a National Counter-Terrorism Plan.

Cabinet’s agenda on Wednesday also includes approving the next batch of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, this time in the amount of BGN 293,376.

BNR adds that Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov is to submit a report on the replacement of Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Petar Todorov to the government for approval. 

His removal was demanded last Friday by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov after a meeting on the increase in serious criminal offences, including the shooting of Alexey Petrov.   

The Prime Minister said that the new Chief Secretary of the Interior Ministry to replace Chief Commissioner Petar Todorov will be proposed after the President signs the decree on his removal.

"Along with preserving public order, fighting illegal trafficking of migrants, combating the production and distribution of drugs, and ensuring road safety, the Ministry of Interior will take on a number of new tasks, which must be implemented in a qualitative and timely manner," said Prime Minister Denkov at the beginning of Wednesday’s sitting of Cabinet, Nova TV reports.

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Turkiye is currently a major player in the region, because it has real military capabilities in the Black Sea. Turkiye itself is willing to play a significant role in the processes related to the war in Ukraine and the Black Sea crisis, said on BNT Dimo Gyaurov, former director of the National Intelligence Service. According to him, in recent years NATO has underestimated the importance of the Black Sea, the Russian presence has not been compensated, and now Russia has serious superiority in the Black Sea.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Turkiye has limited the ability of NATO ships to be present in the Black Sea. This makes the situation uneven in Russia's favour. Bulgaria and Romania, although they have some sort of naval fleet, it is not a combat fleet, but rather a patrol fleet. Measures may be taken, talks are underway by Ukraine to create a corridor different from the one that exists so far and based on the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkiye, Gyaurov said, adding that NATO could be present in the region and exercise control not so much by navy but by air means. He expressed confidence that Russia would not dare engage in a direct conflict with NATO.

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A multinational exercise with Bulgarian participation is taking place in Georgia. It started on Monday and the aim is to practice actions to ensure stability in the Black Sea region, BNR reports.

Bulgaria is represented by a light infantry platoon from the 61st Stryama mechanised brigade in Karlovo. The Bulgarian troops are part of the 3,500 servicemen and civilian staff from 25 countries and military structures who are taking part in the exercise. It includes computer simulations with a multinational brigade training headquarters and battalion tactical exercises, which will take place at a training ground in Georgia and Turkiye until 1 September.

The multinational tactical exercise is being conducted by the U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command in conjunction with the Georgian military forces and formations from NATO member and partner nations. Among its objectives is to contribute to the stability and secure environment in the Black Sea region.

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A new scandal involving the Monument of the Soviet Army exploded and in the centre of it was MEP Angel Dzhambazki. He is the man who sent text messages to Levski fans to attack the monument, according to sources from the First Police Department in Sofia, quoted by svobodnoslovo.eu and Standart news. Dzhambazki, who is part of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, sent inciting and instructive messages to people in the group that attacked the monument and the tent camp around it shortly before midnight on August 17.

ECONOMY

The Electricity System Regulator reports a record growth in electricity generation from renewable sources, according to BNT.

For the first 6 months of the year, the jump was 50%. At the same time, however, there has been a drastic drop in exports by 70%. In addition, domestic consumption is also reported to be decreasing. The overproduction of green energy in the first half of the year is attributed to a boom in newly built renewable energy plants.

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Bulgaria will pay no damages to the Lukoil Neftohim refinery controlled by the Russian Lukoil for the early termination of the concession contract for the Rosenets oil port terminal, Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov assured Mediapool. In his words, the process is on schedule, respecting the deadlines set in Parliament’s decision, which was taken with the votes of GERB, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, and MRF.

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Crude oil continues to rise, and it is possible that by the end of the year it will reach USD 100 per barrel, Svetoslav Benchev of the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association told bTV.

"As long as we have a refinery that produces oil products, Bulgaria will not have a problem with diesel," the lawyer said, adding that if Lukoil's refinery stops working with Russian oil, fuel prices will be above BGN 3 per litre.

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The prices of cereals are going down on an annual basis. This trend from August last year until now has brought a pride crop of 25-30%, explained for BNT Vasil Simov, executive director of the Sofia Commodity Exchange.

Stock markets are not used to seeing such large price differences on a yearly scale. We are used to these price changes always being within the inflation rate. This is not only the case in Bulgaria, but also in the United States and Western Europe. Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and Romania - also major grain producers - are reporting these price decreases on a yearly scale, Simov said.

HEALTH

"There is no boom of intestinal disorders and diseases on Bulgarian beaches. It is unnecessary to overexpose this problem. The pollution of Kakhovka was something similar," Health Minister Hristo Hinkov commented on the information about pollution on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, as quoted by 24 Chasa. He stressed that the sea water is salty and purifies these organisms. According to him, a lot of investments were made a decade ago to discharge faecal water, and now the situation is much better.

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“There is no reason to hide facts about the pollution of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. We can and have closed beaches just on the basis that a sewage treatment plant has failed. More and more beaches will earn a blue flag in this country,” said Chief Health Inspector Angel Kunchev on bTV. He was commenting on the information released in the media that the beaches on the South Black Sea coast are polluted by up to 41 times above the norm.

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Trud warns that because of the high temperatures, fast-spreading and strong fires are possible. In 24 districts of the country warnings have been issued for dangerously high temperatures - up to 38-39C. On Tuesday, fourteen people fainted in Sofia due to the heat, the capital's emergency services said.

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Most media cover the first conviction under the new law against driving under the influence. The case is from the town of Iskar, near Pleven. On 9 August, a 36-year-old man was drunk driving someone else's car. He was ordered to pay the value of the car he was caught drink-driving in and which, under recent changes to the Criminal Code, has been seized by police. The driver's test showed 1.9 millilitres of alcohol (well above the 0.5 allowed), and the man was given a six-month suspended prison sentence, as well as a fine of nearly BGN 4,000, the amount the car was valued at. 

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Most media report that the Danube Bridge at Ruse is closed to traffic because of a truck that broke the railing. Traffic is jammed. According to preliminary information, the accident occurred in the section of a recently repaired defective joint. According to drivers, a protruding piece of metal caught the tank of a passing truck, causing it to spin around.

Border and Road police are on the spot, ambulances and fire brigades were dispatched just in case. Fortunately, the driver of the truck was not injured. Traffic from Marten to Ruse has been rerouted through Nikolovo.