site.btaMedia Review: January 24

POLITICS

Trud quotes GERB-UDF MP Raya Nazaryan, who criticized President Rumen Radev for exerting pressure on the Constitutional Court by asking the Court to declare unconstitutional the January 19, 2024, National Assembly resolutions on the election of Desislava Atanasova and Borislav Belazelkov as Constitutional Court judges. Nazaryan describes Radev's actions as an attempt to destabilize the parliamentary majority.

Constitutional expert Stoil Mollov told Nova TV's morning show that there is no provision obliging the Constitutional Court to take into account the views of other state bodies in the consideration of cases and the exercise of its functions. He added: "I see no reason to declare the election of judges unconstitutional. There is a consistent case law of the court on when the term of judges begins. It is defined by the Constitution and the law."

Duma reports that 14 out of Bulgaria's 27 bar associations from the country came up with a common position regarding the procedure for the election of judges to the Constitutional Court from the quota of the National Assembly. In it, they call on MPs to reverse their January 19 decisions on the election of Atanasova and Belazelkov as constitutional judges.

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In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, Vili Lilkov, a Sofia municipal councillor of Blue Sofia, said that there has been progress in the negotiations for the election of a Sofia Municipal Council chair in recent days. A seventh attempt to elect a person to this position will be made on January 25, with Lilkov pointing out that the previous unsuccessful attempts were due to the distribution of political forces in the Council. "We will find a solution tomorrow. It involves mutual concessions from the larger political forces," he stated. Lilkov expressed belief that there will be no coalition agreement between the top two political forces, but there is willingness to resolve the situation.

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A piece in Dnevnik.bg predicts the results of the next elections for the European Parliament in about four months from now. The text reads: "[...] there will be a rise of the extreme 'anti-European' populist right, which will affect the commitments made by the European Union, especially those on the climate (Green) deal, the rule of law (problems not only in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and foreign policy (support for Ukraine, enlargement, immigration). The parliamentary groups Identity and Democracy (ID) and European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) are expected to increase their numbers significantly."

In Bulgaria four new parties will win their first MEPs: Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, Vazrazhdane, The Left! and There Is Such a People. All the traditional players - GERB, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) are expected to lose between one and three of their representatives in the European Parliament, while VMRO will likely have no MEPs at all.

ECONOMY

On bTV's morning show, former finance minister Simeon Djankov predicted that Bulgaria will not enter the eurozone in 2025 due to the inflation rate in the country. "It is twice as high as the European average," he pointed out. Djankov argued that it is not possible to compromise on inflation and that the most realistic date for Bulgaria's accession is January 2027.

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On the occasion of the new Bulgarian National Bank Act, a key element to having Bulgaria join the euro area, that was passed in Parliament on first reading on January 19, both bTV and Nova TV published pieces on the history of Bulgaria's official currency at the moment, the lev. The introduction of the monetary unit lev took place in 1880 by decree of Prince Alexander of Battenberg. It was equated to the gold French franc, divided into hundred stotinki, its weight, content and images on it were determined.

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Trud's frontpage notes that the average monthly pension in Bulgaria is EUR 445, which is nearly four times lower than its equivalent in Germany – EUR 1,728. According to data from Eurostat, Germany spends 12.6% of its GDP on pensions. In Bulgaria, the planned pension spending for the current year is BGN 21.7 billion, which represents 10.5% of the country's GDP. If Bulgaria were to allocate the same percentage of the country's GDP to pensions as Germany, this would mean that pension spending could be increased to BGN 26 billion for the current year, or BGN 4.3 billion more than the planned funds.

24 Chasa reports that the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Ivanka Shalapatova, took part in a discussion with six of her predecessors on the topic of how the elderly in Bulgaria can lead an active life in society without the stigma that comes with their age. The former ministers that participated included Emilia Maslarova, Mincho Koralski, Lydia Shouleva, Hristina Hristova, Hasan Ademov and Totyu Mladenov. The suggestions given at the forum included having the pension system get rid of the atypical social and health payments, incentivizing employers to hire pensioners on flexible terms, guaranteeing long-term, adequate and humane care for pensioners. Hristova suggested ending the minimum pension, so that everyone gets paid according to their contributions. Maslarova suggested trashing the cap on insurance income, so that the system becomes more just. Ademov proposed the introduction of personalized care for the elderly and closing the nursing homes in the country.

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Duma and Trud report that the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) strongly opposes the amendments proposed by Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria MPs to the Public Enterprises Act, which provide for a cap of 12 salaries that can be given as retirement benefits by a state-owned enterprise employer. According to CITUB, the motives behind the bill contain anti-union messages and direct attacks on the collective bargaining process. The bill sponsors say that the Social Security Code provides for a minimum compensation of two salaries, and six salaries for service of more than 10 years. The Code, however, allows collective or individual agreements to specify higher amounts of compensation on retirement. In the state-owned Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA) it was decided by collective agreement that upon retirement employees should receive a compensation determined by a formula: the last salary multiplied by the number of years of service in the company, and the resulting amount is increased by a specific coefficient.

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24 Chasa published the results of a study conducted by the Receivables Management Association (RMA), according to which now is the first time in 10 years that Bulgarians are not suffering from being in debt after the winter holidays. Rayna Mitkova-Todorova, chairperson of the RMA, said: "At the start of 2024, we are seeing more sensible behaviour. Only around 10% of the people we spoke to, compared to almost 30% in past years, are struggling with their debts as a result of unwise consumption over the festive season." The high inflation that has marked the last two years made people more cautious. At the end of 2023, many budgeted for the festive season and even left themselves a buffer amount to save if possible.

ENERGY

Duma quotes former energy minister Alexander Nikolov, who commented the high electricity bills on bTV, saying that Bulgargaz is in a disastrous situation and has been bankrupted. Nikolov blames the situation on contract signed with the Turkish state energy company BOTAS, as it was signed in a hurry and with no clear coordination.

EUROPE

An article in Trud entitled The Inadequate Decisions of European Bureaucrats harshly criticizes EU's bureaucrats for their failure to offer adequate solutions to a number of crises. The article reads: " The European Union institutions employ more than 60,000 officials. The competitions for applications (unless they are political) are tough and ostensibly aim to identify the best candidates. After all, the fate of Europe's 448 million citizens is in their hands. In recent years, and more specifically, between 2019 and 2024, Europe has been inundated by a number of crises - debt, industrial, health, migration, demographic, financial. In none of the aforementioned crises have European bureaucrats been able to provide an adequate solution that would strengthen Europeans' faith in the Union."

The article quotes the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) Executive Director, Hans Leijtens, who recently told the German weekly Welt am Sonntag that nothing can stop people from crossing a border, no wall, no fence, no sea, no river. This is why Leijtens's strategy will be to reinforce asylum policies instead of reinforcing border security measures. The article describes his approach as defeatist.

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraph's frontpage reports that traffic police officers in Bulgaria are likely to spare a driver from alcohol and drug tests, if the driver offers a bribe ranging from BGN 1,000 to 5,000. One driver told the daily that he smoked marijuana on Saturday. On Monday morning, he got pulled over and successfully bribed the traffic police officer, as he was afraid a potential drug test on him would come out positive. A recent report by the Ministry of Interior revealed that between August and December 2023, 1,593 vehicles were seized from drivers, whose drug or alcohol tests came out positive. The article points out that no new and expensive cars worth BGN 100,000 or more have been seized, which means that "either rich people do not take cocaine, or they give bribes".

SCIENCE

In an interview for Nova TV on Wednesday morning, Prof. Christo Pimpirev said: "All polar nations look up to us with the utmost respect because of [the Bulgarian naval research vessel] Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii. The experience and competence of our scientists is highly valued throughout the scientific world."

SPORTS

All dailies report on Sacramento Kings' victory over Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association and Aleksander Vezenkov's 8-point contribution in just over six minutes of play. Vezenkov's right ankle was injured during the game, which got him out early.