site.btaMedia Review: February 13

Ongoing farmers protests, road safety and food prices are among the issues that dominate the Tuesday media outlets. 

HIGHLIGHTS

The front-page stories of Trud on Tuesday are: against the euro changeover in Bulgaria („Nothing good awaits Bulgarian citizens in the eurozone“, an interview with Stoyan Panchev, leader of the Bulgarian Libertarian Society), high food prices in Bulgaria („We Get Robbed via Milk as Well“), against the Green Deal („EU‘s Green Deal: Poorer, Eating Less and Living in Smaller Housing “) and the purchase of new armoured vehicles for the Parliament leader, the Prime Minister and the President. 

Duma leads with a story saying that over 800,000 Bulgarians live on the edge of poverty. According to the subheading, one in two pensioners is paid a minimum pension. The traditional signed commentary on the front page is about the divisions in the Bulgarian chess community.

The front-page story in 24 Chasa is about a shortage of 243,000 university graduates on the labour market. There are too few doctors, teachers and economics experts.  

On Tuesday morning, the top-of-the-list story for dnevnik.bg is about a recent update on Bulgaria from the Economist Intelligence Unit which says that Bulgaria’s accession to the eurozone and Schengen (by land) from the start of 2025 looks likely because these are two of the three key priorities of the government of Nikolay Denkov (the third is constitutional reform). Dnevnik also writes, quoting the Economist analysts: “Inflation will come down steeply from 9.5% last year to an average of 3.1% in 2024, which will be close to the trend in the EU and will probably remain around this pre-pandemic level until 2028. The introduction of the euro from January 2025 seems a realistic prospect. But the risk for political stability and for early elections remains high, which - if it happens - would block entry into both the euro area and Schengen.”

The online edition of Capital (capital.bg) leads with a story about the Monday signing of an intergovernmental agreement between Bulgaria and the US for cooperation on a project to build a nuclear capacity at the Kozloduy N-Plant site and a civilian nuclear programme in Bulgaria. Capital writes: “Bulgaria made a formal commitment to the US government for the largest investment project in its modern history - two new nuclear units at Kozloduy. […] Formally, this means that Bulgaria commits to work with the US on the investment in the new reactors and will probably skip a procedure for selecting a strategic investor, as it did in the Belene NPP project. The agreement undoubtedly also has strong political overtones, positioning Bulgaria as a partner of the US not only in the security sphere, but also in the energy sector, which has always been dominated by Russia. The big question of costs does not yet have a concrete answer. The issue is particularly sensitive in view of the delay of nuclear projects worldwide and their rising costs, and it has recently emerged that the long-awaited two-reactor project by France's EDF in the UK will cost around 35 billion pounds. The colossal figures and the need for extensive financing could befall the Bulgarian project, especially considering that Westinghouse has several other such projects in Europe and none of them is yet operational.

In a story on the Bulgaria-US agreement, 24 Chasa writes that the electricity to be produced by Unit 7 and 8 of Kozloduy will cost EUR 65/MWh.

FARMER PROTESTS

All media outlets report the ongoing protests of some farmer organizations on Tuesday after the rest accepted a deal with the government. The key demand remains the resignation of Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev. The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported that 26 farmer organization continue the protests and will be outside the government HQ at 11 on Tuesday morning to call for Vatev’s removal. These organizations dismiss accusations that they are not legitimate representatives of Bulgarian farmers and said that they have been around for 20 years now and give bread to 300,000 people. The protesters want to double the subsidy for the dairy, fruit and vegetables sectors; to abolish the ceiling for what they call "Ukrainian aid"; to end the taxing of subsidies; to change the strategic plan; to abolish some of the administrative burdens on farmers. The leader of one of the organisations in the initiative committee said that "this time the protest will not be peaceful" and, if not heard, the protest will continue at 25 road junctions in the country, BNR reported.

The protests were the first topic in the Tuesday morning programme of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) where the leaders of the Bulgarian Association of Potato Growers, Todor Djikov (who is also a former deputy agriculture minister), and of the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber, Simeon Karakolev, traded barbs over the representative power of their organizations and their attitude to the government. The potato growers association remains among those who continue with the protests.

On Nova TV, Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev said that it takes dialogue to resolve the problems of protesting farmers. “When there is a will for dialogue, results can be achieved. When there is no will for dialogue but only a determination to protest, it is logical to seek other motives. Much of the demands of the protesting farmers are political. When one says they are bad off and claims that the resignation of a minister or the prime minister will solve your problems, the natural conclusion that their demands are political,” he said.

ROAD SAFETY

24 Chasa writes (on the front page with more inside the paper) about new smart speed cameras going into use in Sofia and other parts of the country. The cameras capture offending drivers and produce a ticket immediately, and sends it to an Interior Ministry without the interference of policemen. The Interior Ministry told this paper that now they are able to present 73% of the tickets for traffic offences to the offending drivers. Until mid-2022, only 42% of the tickets were presented.

On Bulgarian National Television, Rossen Rapchev, chief expert at the State Agency for Road Traffic Safety, commented a recent incident in which the winner of Bulgaria’s Miss Silicone pageant was caught speeding in Sofia under the influence of cocaine. Also, she had a Parliament sticker on her car. Rapchev said the worst thing is that many people take as a role model for all she is doing. The woman regularly posts on her social media videos of herself driving without holding the steering wheel and speeding on a Sofia boulevard. On another video, she is going at 260 kmph on Trakia Motorway where the speed limit is 130 kmph for most parts. 

On bTV, Vladimir Todorov of an association of people hurt in road accidents, said that one of the Miss Silicone videos showed at least five offences: speaking on the phone while driving, not wearing her seatbelt, having her dog in her lap while driving, not holding the steering wheel while the car is going, speeding and more. 

The “Miss Silicone” case was also in the morning programme of Nova TV.

Telegraf leads with a story about driving under the influence and how drug users get high on cocktails of drugs during the weekend – and then get in the car. 

POLITICS

24 Chasa writes about “a war in the Bulgarian Socialist Party” (BSP) after the Socialist members of the Sofia Municipal Council voted to back the election of Tsvetomir Petrov of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria and Save Sofia as chairman of the Municipal Council – in defiance of the instructions of the BSP leadership. On Tuesday, the party leadership are expected to decide how to punish the disobedience. 

In a different take on the issue, Duma writes in a full-page comment by Alexander Simov that backing the election of Petrov turns the party into a part of the backstage deal – not into an indispensable factor. 

Telegraf reports that two MPs from Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria have submitted a question in Parliament for Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel in which they argue that the Russian Culture and Information Centre in Sofia has recently engaged in activities “which bear all signs of open propaganda”, including screening in 2023 the documentary Azovstal, and suggesting that the Bulgarian authorities should considering closing down the Culture Centre.  

A signed commentary titled “Foreign Policy for Personal Needs” in Duma says that foreign policy is widely used for personal needs in Bulgaria and mentions several recent examples. One is the signing “of an odd declaration in support of the family” by President Rumen Radev together with his counterparts of Serbia and Hungary in what the author believes to have pursued solely a PR effect. Another example is the resolve of Continue the Change to get the Foreign Minister’s position after the government rotation in March to make sure they will be on the family photos with the world leaders. For the same reason Boyko Borissov headed the foreign policy committee in Parliament. “Bulgarian foreign policy has reached its absolute low: political leaders are crawling before embassy interns, sign all kinds of ridiculous declarations and anti-Bulgarian deals and betray the national economy for their personal interests,” the author concludes. 

In its foreign policy pages, Duma offers a rundown of the Tucker Carlson interview with Vladimir Putin, titled “Putin’s Message in Tucket Carlson’s Interview: A Strategic Defeat of Russia Is Impossible”. On the same page, the paper reproduces an article from The National Interest on the weaknesses of the US foreign policy. A third story says that Joe Biden is mentally unit for President of the United States. 

MORE ECONOMY

24 Chasa writes that the National Revenue Agency claims to have tightened control over gambling operators. A recent change in the taxing of gambling businesses will increase budget revenues, according to Alexander Popov, a head of directorate at the National revenue Agency. Most importantly, the revisions put on level playing field offline and online gambling operators. Until December 2023, the two groups of operators were treated differently for tax purposes. The story recalls that in a declaration in Parliament last week, There Is Such a People warned that the revisions essentially offer a tax break for gambling operators.

BOROVETS AVALANCHE

All media outlets report a deadly avalanche in the Borovets skiing resort on Monday. It killed one skier in a party with two snowboarders who went into the backcountry to take some beauty shots. BNR quotes sources of the Mountain Rescue Service as saying that the skiers actually caused the avalanche by skiing outside the ski runs in areas with heightened avalanche hazard. The three were buried in the snow but two managed to dig themselves out. The one who did not, was without an avalanche beacon. The avalanche was 150 m long and 30 m wide. The rescue operation lasted five hours and was joined by 25 rescuers with four dogs. 

BNR and other media outlets say that the avalanche hazard remains on Tuesday as well. The Mountain Rescue Service warns skiers to avoid northern, northeastern and eastern slopes.

CULTURE

BNR had a report about The Artist's Daughter, an animated film by Dimitar „Animiter“ Dimitrov, which is the first Bulgarian animated film based on AI-generated images. It has already been successfully shown at festivals around the world with an international premiere at the Animateka festival in Slovenia, Piccolo Fest in Italy, and was selected for the Bulgarian Short Film Competition at the 28th International Sofia Film Fest 2024. The film‘s director has won the Artist-Director Award at the 27th Bulgarian Documentary and Animation Film Festival Golden Rhyton 2023, BNR reported.

HOME AFFAIRS

24 Chasa carries a full-page interview with Ljubomir Nikolov, Director of the Sofia Directorate of the Interior. He dismisses criticism against the work of police and says that they have solved five contract killings and have been investigating Martin “the Notary” Bozhanov since 2022. Bozhanov was shot dead in a gated complex in a Sofia suburb on the evening of January 31. According to media reports, Bozhanov was a large-scale fixer of people's problems with the judiciary. He has been implicated in building a network of connections with prosecutors and judges whom he allegedly bribed, threatened, blackmailed or otherwise pressured to treat his "clients" favourably. Nikolov quotes foreign chief prosecutors as saying that Sofia is one of the safest capitals in Bulgaria. In 2023, Sofia police received 390 complaints for domestic violence and only 54 of the victims were men.