site.btaMedia Review: September 8

TOP STORIES

The top stories in the online and print media on Friday are the floods on the southern Black Sea coast and a set of bills Parliament passed Thursday which amend the Road Traffic Act. The passed bills are on the frontpage of every newspaper (Duma, Telegraph, 24 Chassa), and the top story in Trud, where the title reads: “Parliament passes foolish laws for drivers”.

24 Chassa has two main stories on its frontpage, one is on healthcare, referencing a longitudinal study the heart health of 15,000 participants, and the other one is on abandoned buildings in Bulgaria. The daily writes that the topic will be closely examined until the local elections in October in order to follow where candidates are making empty promises.

The top story in Duma is on the actions of the Bulgarian Socialist Party during Thursday’s parliamentary sitting. Telegraph’s main story is about taxi drivers and their demands to be able to drive in the bus lane. 

Capital weekly's front-page and main story is on Bulgaria's Generation Z.

FLOODED SOUTHERN BLACK SEA COAST

The topic is commented on every television morning show (Bulgarian National Television – BNT, bTV, Nova TV) and on the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). All print media also has substantial articles. A dominant story is about allegedly illegal underground pipes which discharge waste water into the sea.

After the floods on the beaches of Harmani and Atliman, pipes have surfaced that enter the sea and raise questions - what is pouring out of them. The Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection said that it was not sewage.

The mayor of Kiten, Nikolay Markov, told BNT that the pipe on Atliman beach is legal, it is a rainwater collector and if anyone claims that it is illegal, he is welcome in my office to see the project. Guests of BNT’s morning programme were former regional development minister Violeta Komitova and former deputy tourism minister Branimir Botev, who also gave their opinions on the cause of the floods and the crisis management, saying that contradictory laws and diversion of responsibility are considerably problematic.

bTV had a reporter in Tsarev who interviewed live a family in their home after the natural disaster. The reporter interviews a little girl, the daughter of the family, who shared how scared she was during the flooding. The family allowed the camera man inside and said they need temporary accommodation until they manage to clean and fix their home.

Nova TV also interviewed the mayor of Kiten, who reiterated his position on the case. Nova's reporter also interviewed Nikolay Nikolov, representative of the tourist chamber in Primorsko, who said: "Yesterday I was ready to sip from the water to show that it really is rain water. I am 100% sure. There was a fish swimming inside, which is proof that it is clean".

BNR had an interview with Konstantina Velichkova, a long-time tourist in Sinemorets. She said that for about 20 hours, there was no electricity, but no lack of water and food was felt there. Velichkova stressed the importance of an investigation into the causes that lead to this tragedy. “Particularly, in Tsarevo, it is important to clarify - why a bridge that was repaired last year is collapsing today. This was the main reason why people were evacuated," she said.

BILLS AMENDING ROAD TRAFFIC ACT

Parliament adopted at first reading on Thursday four bills for amendments to the Road Traffic Act. The amendments foresee additional regulations for new drivers, increased penalties and an obligation for control authorities to stop drivers on the road and hand them unreceived electronic tickets.

Capital weekly has a detailed analysis of the car accident, in which a 15-year-old boy was killed on a zebra crossing in the centre of Sofia. The article highlights that data provided by the Interior Ministry shows that even if fines for road traffic violations are imposed, they are too often not paid. The story is entitled “BG 400 million uncollected traffic tickets are encouraging killers on the road”.   

bTV reported that two young drivers were drifting in the centre of Sofia and on a busy boulevard on Thursday evening. Both drivers were identified and were issued traffic tickets. Krassimir Georgiev of the Motorists' Qualification Association told the reporter that this type of irresponsible drivers do not think at all about what will happen if a car appears across the street, if they lose control and crash into nearby storefronts. These drivers lack the ability and capacity to think, such drivers should go through a tough programme to try and change their behaviour”.

In his words, the amendments for drivers that passed the first reading will not be effective. "They exude a great deal of incompetence and lack any forethought. They will do nothing but improve the welfare of the control bodies," Georgiev said.

Trud writes that 112 MPs passed bills that they had themselves referred to during the parliamentary sitting as "populist and foolish". 

ECONOMY

Complex games and calculations will decide the fate of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB), Mediapool.bg writes in a headline. The subheading says that a merger with the Fund of Funds is being considered and that direct privatization is unlikely.

"Mediapool has learned that preparations are underway for a major transformation of the state-owned BDB, after which it would cease to exist in its current format. The main option for the future of the lending institution, which became known under GERB's government as the 'treasury of the oligarchy', is a merger with the Fund of Funds, which manages EU financial instruments. There is also talk of some form of privatization of the bank, but a classic sale is an unlikely option. The official motive for the planned changes is to clean up vicious practices in the state-owned bank. According to Mediapool's sources, however, it is very likely that behind the idea there are also behind-the-scenes goals related to large loans adding up to some BGN 1 billion, which that bank has provided and many of which are already non-performing or highly problematic," the story says.

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24 Chassa has an interview with former Social Minister Hristina Hristova. She says that a minimum wage of BGN 933 can lead to lay offs of workers with the lowest qualifications. Hristova reiterates that a big part of the population in Bulgaria is “surviving” with income below the minimum wage for the country.

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Georgi Koynov, financial director of one of the largest sunflower processing companies in Bulgaria, told BNR in an interview that there is a risk that factories will shut down and workers will be laid off if the situation remains as it is after September 15, when the ban on sunflower imports from Ukraine expires. The sector in Bulgaria employs between 10 and 20,000 people.

Huge sunflower processing facilities have been built in Bulgaria and the country has turned from a net exporter into an importer, Koynov said, stressing that the processing industry is partners with farmers, not enemies.

"Exports have been kept to a minimum. What is different this year, however, is that producers have adopted a policy of holding back the commodity in anticipation of better prices," Koynov explained. He concluded by saying that the there are enough stocks, and the Bulgarian consumer will not be left without sunflower oil.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Trud has put on its frontpage a question asked by Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was briefing MEPs on the latest European security developments and EU-NATO cooperation. Her question, among others she asked, that Troud highlighted was: “Do we have reason to fear a full-scale war in the Black Sea region? “.

SOCIETY

The top story in Capital is Bulgaria’s Generation Z or so-called Gen Z, the young people aged between 16 and 26. The weekly writes that “Gen Z children are fine, but they are different”. The children born after 1997 grow up entirely in a digital environment, which defines their social skills, changes their education and job requirements. They are willing to take risks, do not fear change, but are very much distanced from the political processes in the country. Many young people choose to stay in Bulgaria, but they seek a diverse and fast-paced lifestyle.

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Diyan Stamatov, President of the Union of Employers in Public Education, says in an interview for Trud, that smartphones should be prohibited in class. According to him, the feeling of impunity starts at school age, where institutional authority fails to exercise its duties.

HEALTHCARE

Friday’s issue of 24 Chassa includes five pages on healthcare related topics. The frontpage topic on heart health highlights the importance of pulse regulation and warns that the higher one’s pulse is at rest, the higher chance of earlier death.

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A front-page story in Trud is headlined “One in three Bulgarian children is overweight”. The daily writes that children are not doing enough sports, or none at all, and spend hours in front of tablets and smartphones. The information references conclusions from the 32nd annual congress on childhood obesity, hosted by the Bulgarian Association for the Study of Obesity and Related Diseases. Another highlight is that obesity “unlocks” very dangerous diseases. The article says that in Bulgaria there are only recommendatory regulations, and no real state policy on the matter, which much needed.