site.btaMedia Review: August 25

VASSIL BOJKOV – RETURN

Bulgarian National Radio quotes gambling mogul and oligarch Vassil Bojkov as saying that he will be returning to Bulgaria on Friday afternoon. Bojkov was sanctioned by the US in June of 2021. He is also facing a number of charges in Bulgaria and has fled the country to UAE and avoided Bulgaria's attempt to have him extradited.

In May this year, Bojkov announced that he was ready to return to Bulgaria, but as a protected witness. 

The news of Bojkov’s return is covered by most mainstream media outlets. Dnevnik quotes Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov as saying that Bojkov will be detained upon arrival. 

FORMER PM BORISSOV – CONTROVERSIAL PHOTOS – PROSECUTION SERVICE

Capital: The Sofia City Prosecutoion Office (SCPO) announced that it has terminated the pre-trial proceedings for the photos and video from the bedroom of former prime minister Boyko Borissov in the Boyana residence, which show bars of gold and wads of 500 euro banknotes in the drawer of the bedside table and a gun on top. According to the prosecuting magistracy, there is no evidence of any attempt to obstruct justice with falsified photographs, nor of money laundering, concealment, embezzlement, bribery or any other corruption offence. The case with the photos and the video from Borissov's bedroom was initiated in late July 2020, shortly after the photos were released, followed by a public scandal. In November 2021, a new series of photographs allegedly from Boyko Borissov's home were published, and shortly thereafter new pre-trial proceedings were initiated and added to the first ones. On 10 May this year, the pre-trial proceedings were terminated - by that time Ivan Geshev, who was already at war with Borissov, had left for a long visit to the US. When he returned, he announced that the cases against Borissov had been terminated in his absence and ordered their resumption, making it clear that the termination was under [then deputy prosecutor general] Borislav Sarafov's supervision. On May 29, 2023, the order of termination was revoked by the Sofia Appellate Prosecution Office, with instructions to carry out further investigative actions. Now the SCPO reports that "the instructions have been fully and correctly executed", and the result is that the supervising prosecutor has issued a decree terminating the pre-trial proceedings. The decree is subject to review by the Sofia Appellate Prosecution Office, the statement said. 

ECONOMY 

NOVA TV examines what will happen on the fuel market in Bulgaria after the State terminates the concession of the port Rosenets. In just a month the price of diesel fuel has risen by up to BGN 0.30 per liter. The increase in the price of gasoline is BGN 0.22. The cost of gasoline has jumped by BGN 0.05-0.06 overnight.

Ivan Kashilski from the association of Bulgarian traders, producers, importers and transporters of fuels is adamant that the increased prices are due to the jump in the price of oil on global fuel exchanges. "There is also another factor - that Russia and OPEC have agreed to cut oil production, while at the same time there is demand, as there is demand for fuel in China after the pandemic," the expert explained.

Economist Ruslan Stefanov also commented the topic. According to him, the termination of the concession of the Rosenets port  and the fuel price surge are not related, "unless there is a malicious act on the part of the oil refinery's Russian operator". Stefanov agreed with Ivan Kashilski's opinion that the fuel price increase in Bulgaria is due to oil prices on the global market.

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Duma: Bulgarian farmers remain under enormous pressure due to the high cost of production and the low purchase price of grain, so a possible termination of the ban on imports of basic commodities from Ukraine is an unacceptable option, said the the National Grain Producers Association (NGPA) in a position, expressed by the chairman of the organization Iliya Prodanov to agri.bg.

Prodanov recalled that the worsening weather conditions, which lead to a reduction in yields, remain a huge problem for farmers. At the same time, the amount of unsold sunflower from the old harvest is about 600 000 - 700 000 tonnes and there is no market for it. "Added to this quantity, with the expected new crop of 2.2 million tonnes, about 3 million tonnes of sunflower will be available to processors. Even if imports are needed, it will be very late and before next summer," the farmer explained.

Sunflower is not an exchange commodity, therefore the market price is an extremely hypothetical concept, Prodanov said.

Recalling that oilseeds are currently selling at about 750 BGN/tonne, the old harvest had a cost price of about BGN 1,000/t, and the new one, according to the NGPA's calculations, will have a much higher price because the yield is very low. So the industry will continue to sell the seed at a loss.

"If we return to the pre-ban version, we will just be flooded with Ukrainian sunflower. This year all the efforts of farmers in Ukraine are focused on sunflower because it has the lowest cost per acre. The local producers are expecting nearly 14 million tonnes of production," Prodanov pointed out.

POLITICS 

The level of trust in the Government is 20%, which is not a high starting position for any cabinet, but the circumstances under which this political development happened must be taken into account, sociologist Dobromir Zhivkov commented on bTV the new survey of Market Links. 

The results are from a national survey, jointly financed by bTV and Market Links and conducted among 1,012 people over 18 in the country in the period 11 - 18 August 2023 via face-to-face interviews and an online survey.

"There are fewer people saying that the State is not developing in the right direction and their share is significantly decreasing.   Parliament is working and has the prospect of continuing to work. Bulgarians are beginning to see how the institutions are moving and performing their functions even though there are still serious deficits in many areas," Zhivkov added.

Trust in President Rumen Radev retains its positions. "Trust in institutions is also up slightly from 9% we now have an 11% higher rating of the National Assembly," the sociologist said. 

According to the sociologist, society is beginning to accept the coalition that governs us.

"The question is what will happen in the local elections. Otherwise, in general, the tension seems to be decreasing because the achieved results are starting to become visible, albeit in separate areas," Zhivkov added.

According to the poll, there is unlikely to be any talk of early elections before the local ones. 

Attitudes towards early elections among the various parties have not changed much. 

SOVIET ARMY MONUMENT IN SOFIA

Mediapool: On Friday morning, a temporary fence was installed around the Soviet Army Monument to secure the dismantling of the plaques with the inscriptions on it, and the building itself is considered unsafe by the authorities.

On 15 August, it was reported that access to the monument in the centre of Sofia would be restricted as the structure was unsafe. A prescription to erect a construction fence and to dismantle the dangerous elements of the monument was sent to Sofia Governor Vyara Todeva by Sofia's Sredets municipality.

A tent camp was erected next to the Monument by Maya Manolova's The Left to stop its possible dismantling. Supporters of Vazrazhdane are also guarding the monument at night. Supporters and members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party's leadership also joined in defending the monument.

WORLD 

Former US President Donald Trump’s mugshot after he surrendered to face charges of trying to steal the 2020 election in Georgia, his fourth indictment this year, is covered by the media on Friday.

Wagner chief Sergey Prigozhin’s presumed death in a plane crash in Russia still dominates the media headlines. Most outlets report that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s eulogized Prigozhin. The media touch on the possibility that Prigozhin’s death might have been the result of him leading a column of his private army troops towards Moscow in June in response to the Russian military leadership’s failures in the war in Ukraine. Putin later described Prigozhin on TV as a traitor.