site.btaMedia Review: November 23

POLITICS

24 Chasa daily frontpages the data of a Trend Research Center nationally representative survey of voter attitudes. The survey, commissioned by 24 Chasa, was conducted between November 11 and 18 through a semi-standardized face-to-face interview among 1,006 people aged 18 or over.

The 24 Chasa article reads that local elections have not shown significant changes in voter attitudes. The gap between the two leading political forces (GERB-UDF and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB)) remains some 7%. There has been an erosion of support for the government and high distrust of the electoral process - nearly half of Bulgarians think the local elections were unfair. However, the survey shows that most voters have no desire of early parliamentary elections.

The survey gave GERB-UDF 24.7% support from the people who say they will vote. Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria is second with 17.9%, Vazrazhdane is third with 15.4%, followed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms with 13.3%, BSP for Bulgaria – 9.4%. There Is Such a People with 4.4% is slightly above the 4% electoral threshold.

Dnevnik.bg and bTV also covered the topic.

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In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), former caretaker culture minister Prof. Velislav Minekov says that the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, energy, agriculture and culture in the incumbent government have been taken over by GERB. Minekov recalled that a week ago, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told the BNR that there GERB ministers in his cabinet. "We see the absolute return of GERB in power under the good leadership of Mr Boyko Borissov. Every day they [CC-DB] have to take into account whether [their actions] would pleasure him and his partner, Mr. Delyan Peevski. This is so offensive! This is a huge misfortune! ... I do not know how DB allowed the Culture Ministry to be handed over to GERB, because their voters are [the embodiment of] this ministry. And yet, it was given away [to GERB], which is a phenomenon that is more than mystifying to me. And "GERB and culture" - that is an oxymoron. It irritates me and it is offensive!", Minekov argued.

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The Trud daily publishes an interview with historian Assoc. Prof. Svetoslav Zhivkov, who makes a comment on the current political situation in Bulgaria. In Zhivkov’s words, "the assemblage between CC-DB and GERB-UDF squeaks all the time, but it will last until spring" (assemblage is a word that is often used to refer the informal coalition between the powerholders). "To put it absolutely impartially - this is a coalition. It is another matter that the participants in this coalition, especially CC-DB, are worried about [using] this term, they have concerns that it will cause reputational damage, and that is why they introduced another term", the historian argues. "It is now obvious that the government was formed in the dark. Formally, with the mandate of CC-DB, but when it was formed, there were rumours that not all the ministers were [appointed] by CC-DB. Mariya Gabriel makes an exception. Now it turns out that there are people who were promoted by GERB and the MRF. It turns out that the interior minister was not sovereignly appointed by CC-DB. The problem is that, in a democracy, these things should be said in the beginning, not in the backstage. It's a very long story, related to how our parties nominate their candidates for MPs, [municipal] councillors or mayors. We have great claims for extreme transparency in politics, but if it is to be transparent, the parties need to be transparent on the inside. Can anyone say how Anton Hekimyan was nominated for mayor? And how did Boris Bonev end up leading an [electoral] list? The same goes with every party in Bulgaria. Such non-publicity in politics often leads to the problems we see now", Zhivkov explained.

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In a discussion on Nova TV’s morning show, economist Garabed Minasyan and economic analyst Kuzman Iliev commented on the 2024 state budget bill which was not backed by all social partners at meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation on Tuesday. "The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which rejected the 2024 budget bill, has advisory functions. It is the discussion in Parliament that is crucial," Minasyan noted.

Iliev said that, regrettably, it does not matter what the social partners have to say. They have no say, but the idea is the state to involve employers and trade unions more, to hear the voice of business and those who defend the rights of workers, he emphasized. "At the moment, the state takes the decisions about the minimum wage and about social security thresholds solely. This creates very big problems", he stressed, adding that nobody asks those who create the wealth and protect the rights of workers how things should be done, Iliev believes.

AGRICULTURE

The protest of agricultural producers in Sofia is widely covered across the Thursday press, online media outlets and the national televisions and radio. The main problem for large-scale farmers is the overdue payment of compensation for damage inflicted by the war in Ukraine, Dimitar Zorov, who heads the National Union of Cattle Breeders in Bulgaria, told a BTA-hosted news conference on Tuesday.

In a Bulgarian National Television (BNT) interview on Thursday, Zorov urged Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev to transfer "these BGN 30 million to the agricultural producers in order for the sector to survive". In his words, the government should protect national interests and domestic production. "The enterprises we work in bring 20,000 jobs. If all these people go to the job market next year, they will cost the [state] budget over 200 million," Zorov said. For his part, the Agriculture Minister Tuesday said all payments had been made as agreed on September 20 during a farmers' protest prompted by Parliament's decision to lift a ban on Ukrainian agricultural imports. Vatev called on the farmers "to come down to earth and increase their productivity". He added that he wanted to see the protesters' market shares, adding that "it all boils down to demands for money".

Participating in BNT's morning talk show on Thursday alongside Zorov, Velin Georgiev of the National Association of Greenhouse Growers said that on Wednesday in the National Assembly's Agriculture Committee the agricultural producers have seen themselves that politicians were not listening to their demands. "The new facts put forward by the State Fund Agriculture Director Georgi Tahov that Bulgaria is not like European countries in structure because [its agriculture] is not supported per farm, but per head and per decare, and this disadvantages Bulgaria and makes us uncompetitive. The chairwoman of the agriculture committee, on the other hand, made a light-handed decision to destroy 90% of greenhouse production and 50% of dairy production," Georgiev argued.

ENERGY

A lead story in Segabg.com reads that GERB and the MRF seem to have backed down from their demand to ban the export of petroleum products derived from Russian oil as early as of January 1, 2024. On Wednesday, the parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy and Innovation voted at first reading for the ban to enter into force as of March 15, 2024, when the derogation granted to Bulgaria by the European Commission to import and refine Russian oil will also end. The MPs in the committee approved the draft law proposed by CC-DB with 11 votes in favour and 4 against. The bill was tabled in place of the rejected draft law proposed by Delyan Dobrev of GERB, which provided for the derogation to be terminated within three days. According to the CC-DB proposal, imports of Russian crude oil will stop between March 1 and 15, 2024, and exports of petroleum products derived from Russian oil - from March 15, 2024.

Speaking to BNT, MP Vladislav Panev of CC-DB, who introduced the bill before the committee, explained that, in his opinion, the expiry of the derogation period is linked to a possible deal to sell the Lukoil refinery in Burgas. "Obviously, the derogation does not seem to be working. This is a reason to end it more quickly, but if you stop the fuel supply from Lukoil, who are obviously not ready to start importing non-Russian oil within 3 days, it will distort the market", he stressed, adding that this will make fuel prices spike. Explaining why the derogation is not achieving its objectives, the MP said that before the war in Ukraine the Lukoil refinery in Burgas was operating with 50% Russian oil, and after the start of the war this amount has risen to 90% because Lukoil finds it easier to process cheaper oil. The state failed to collect the profit from this difference, meaning that somehow the government failed to do its job, Panev admitted.

HOME AFFAIRS

Commenting on the violent behaviour of policemen during the protest against the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) in Sofia on November 16, MP Antoaneta Tsoneva of CC-DB told bTV that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against three policemen only and two others are being investigated for exceeding their powers during the clashes. "What I saw with a naked eye is that more than five people were involved in these cases of excessive use of force and police violence. The Interior Ministry has more work to do," she said. Тsoneva underlined that she remains highly critical of the behaviour of Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov and disagrees with his attempts to shrug off his responsibility. CC-DB came up with a proposal for convening a temporary committee of inquiry to investigate police violence during the protest against the BFU.

"It must be established who the victims are. I have been approached by citizens who are injured - a 55-year-old man with multiple stitches on his head from a police baton. I spoke to him personally and he said he wanted to speak to a committee and be heard. His dignity was damaged by the way he was treated [by the police]. We have a duty to ensure that victims are given the opportunity to be heard," Tsoneva said.

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Commenting on the same topic, Mincho Spasov, a lawyer and former chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Internal Security and Public Order, told BNR that everyone bears individual responsibility. "Any police officer who commits police violence should be held accountable. Any minister who has not done his job must be held accountable. The head of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior who has not done his job must be held accountable. Prosecutors, if they fail to act, must be held accountable", Minchev said.

In his words, the first action of the temporary committee should request from the police its force distribution plan – a mandatory document that is needed before any police operation takes place. According to Minchev, police officers should wear body cameras and there should be at least two field teams filming both the actions of protesters and the actions of police officers. Minchev stressed that at the moment no one is talking about these videos, nobody requests them and they might be expected to disappear somehow. There is a law that obliges the Interior Minister to make sure that every policeman has an individual insignia, as well, he added.