site.btaMedia Review: March 11

ECONOMY 

Capital: Industrial production is declining, economic activity is also slowing down and logically, according to economists, the labour market is gradually heading towards stagnation - unemployment is low, but along with that new job openings are also decreasing. In view of this, in the last quarter of last year, average wage increased by 13% compared to a year earlier, while GDP per employee lagged behind with a 3.9% growth at current prices, national statistics show.

Over the past fifteen years, wages have traditionally outpaced labour productivity in Bulgaria. The reasons lie in the shortage of people and in the process of catching up to the income levels in the more developed European economies. This trend reversed during the COVID-19 pandemic due to staff cuts in some sectors, but as economic activity recovered, wages started to grow at one of the highest rates in the EU.

In real terms, if inflation is removed, productivity per employee in the economy in the final three months of 2023 increased by just 0.7% year-on-year, the statistics show. By comparison, real growth in average wages is around 7.7%. For the whole of last year, GDP per employee increased by just 0.9% in real terms. This result is still not so bad compared to the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. Eurostat data show that labour productivity was even negative in most EU countries last year. At the same time, incomes in Bulgaria continue to be the lowest in the EU, and average labour costs in the economy are the same.

POLITICS

The media covered the ongoing consultations on forming a cabinet after the rotation between GERB-UDF and Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, which went on over the weekend behind closed doors and news of which were absent as of Monday. 

Mediapool reported that President Rumen Radev started consultations with the largest political force in Parliament – GERB-UDF, before he is obliged to present them with the exploratory government-forming mandate. He is later on scheduled to hold consultations with Continue the CC-DB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which are the next biggest political forces. 

On Tuesday, the talks continue with the other parliamentary political forces - Vazrazhdane, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and There Is Such a People. 

The head of State will then decide when he will hand over the first exploratory mandate to form a government to GERB-UDF's nominee for the post of prime minister.

There is no deadline provided for this in the Constitution.

The first possible date on which the head of State can hand over an exploratory mandate to the prime minister-designate of the first parliamentary force is Wednesday, 13 March.

"I am also doing consultations on this issue of when the first mandate should be handed over," Radev said.

MIGRANTS – INCIDENTS 

Former interior minister Filip Gunev commented on Bulgarian National Radio the few recent incidents involving foreigners, which were the reason for a protest that took place Sunday night in front of the Interior Ministry, demanding to limit the access of migrants to this country.

The problem of "migration and crime" does not exist in Bulgaria at this stage, Gunev said.

On Monday, the Interior Minister is scheduled to meet with representatives of the restaurant business who are concerned that such incidents are taking place near restaurants.

The issue is being exaggeraeted, according to Gunev. The incidents are not related. Politicians have very cleverly managed to link them, including the President whose comments are in tune with the nationalist Vazrazhdane and VMRO parties. Fears are spreading among people that Bulgaria is turning into a huge refugee camp, Gunev warned. 

However, the problem of crime and migration is real in Western Europe, the expert commented.

"There, migrants are in some unintegrated communities that have few opportunities for education and work, and turn to crime. In large European countries, about a third of crime is committed by migrants. However, this is not the case in Bulgaria." 

Most migrants pass through this country in transit, he stressed.

"They do not settle here and become part of such marginalised communities. The incidents we have seen fit into the category of teenage problems," he said.

"People are being scared that migrants will just flood in and drown us. The measures we are tightening are mostly on the Bulgarian-Turkish border so that there is no illegal entry. No matter how hard we try to tighten them on the Bulgarian-Serbian border to keep refugees out, it is very difficult. Most of this border does not have a signaling security system, he said.

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bTV reports that GERB leader Boyko Borissov and MRF co-leader Delyan Peevski have proposed radical measures for “dealing with  he security crisis related to migrants”.

Two bills have been submitted to Parliament, which increase the Border Police’s capacity by 1,264 new job openings, which are aimed to improve border protection and security at asylum centres, where migrants are accommodated. These openings are needed to ensure the normal functioning of all structural units. The amendments to the Interior Ministry Act and the Administration Act provide for securing and mobilizing police forces so that the safety and public order can be guaranteed, the two political formations said.

 "The tensions that have arisen in the last week, as well as the increased clashes between Bulgarian citizens and foreigners, require decisive measures by the National Assembly as the supreme legislative body.  These security measures will ensure the inclusion of as many people as possible and will do everything possible to ensure the security of citizens, their health and property, which is an irrevocable commitment of the rule of law," the parties said.

"Notwithstanding the political instability associated with the transitional period of the rotation, it is our will that the State fulfils its core mission - the protection of its citizens.

These are the most decisive but also the most fair measures taken in terms of human security in relation to migrant flow. And since the issue of refugees is one of the most sensitive topics related to the security and peace of people, the increase in the number of staff makes it possible to effectively carry out the functions of the Ministry of Interior," the released statement added.

WAR IN UKRAINE

The media report on the dismissal of  Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. Admiral Alexander Moiseev will replace him, Russian news media are quoted as saying.

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Trud leads with a story about how Russia is producing three times more artillery shells than Europe and the US. The newspaper quotes CNN as reporting that Russia is producing about 250,000 artillery munitions per month, or about 3 million a year, according to NATO intelligence estimates of Russian defense production shared with CNN, as well as sources familiar with Western efforts to arm Ukraine. Collectively, the US and Europe have the capacity to generate only about 1.2 million munitions annually to send to Kyiv, a senior European intelligence official told CNN, Trud writes.

OSCARS

The Oscar awards are covered extensively by all media outlets on Tuesday.

Dnevnik: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood presented its awards, also known as the Oscars, for the 96th time. Interest was heightened because 2023 will be remembered for a prolonged actors' and writers' strike, first worries about the advent of artificial intelligence and the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon - films released simultaneously with a combined box office of USD 2.4 billion. "Oppenheimer" triumphed with seven awards, while "Barbie" walked away with only one - for Billy Eilish's song.