site.btaMedia Review: April 5

POLITICS

Friday’s media report that head of State Rumen Radev appointed the Chairman of the Bulgarian National Audit Office Dimitar Glavchev as a candidate for caretaker Prime Minister.

According to the Constitution, the President, after consultations with the parliamentary groups and on the proposal of the caretaker prime minister designate, appoints a caretaker government and schedules new elections within two months.

On March 30, President Radev instructed Glavchev to propose the lineup of a caretaker government. This mandate should be fulfilled within seven days, the head of State stressed at the time and said that he would neither directly nor indirectly participate in the formation of the government

The President noted that he expects from Glavchev a cabinet that will be as politically neutral as possible, and which will work in the interest of the Bulgarian citizens and Bulgaria.

Later, the head of State pointed out that Glavchev will be ready with the composition of the caretaker cabinet by the end of the day, so Radev is inviting him and the parties to consultations on Saturday.

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Trud writes that according to IT experts and political observers, the elections in this country were bought along with the machines. The Central Election Commission (CEC) warned in a report to Parliament that voting in Bulgaria is dependent on a private company. The machines are under the control of "Ciela Norma".

Elections in Bulgaria are bought and sold along with the machines, because the state has abdicated from the electoral process, the equipment is entirely under the control of a private company, and Parliament did not change the Election Code to remove the machines.

Once again, the European elections on June 9 and the early parliamentary elections will be held with the equipment of the Smartmatic company, and Ciela Norma as its representative is the only company that deals with the software of the machines.

One year after CEC announced in a report on the elections on April 2 that "any modification of the software in various forms requires the participation of representatives of Smartmatic," which puts the Bulgarian elections "in dependence on a foreign company, which creates preconditions for distrust in the voting machines", the machines are still under the absolute control of "Ciela Norma", the article says.

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Trud runs an analysis by former Education Minister Krasimir Valchev, MP of GERB. In the period 2010-2021, the average salary grows at an average annual rate of 6.35%, and in the period 2022-2023 - by 0.89%. Nominally, the last two years wages increased more, but because of inflation there is no real increase.

2010-2021 is the period of "stable poverty" in the words of outgoing Finance Minister Assen Vassilev. The alternative he proposes is a regime of “swindling wealth”. People are told they are better off, but in fact they are being robbed. All savers are robbed. The real value of Bulgarians' savings has fallen by BGN 30 billion in the last 2.5 years, Valchev writes.

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24 Chasa publishes an interview with outgoing Social Works Minister Ivanka Shalapatova. According to her, inadequate supplements now could jeopardise the July 1 pension increase. 

The working group in charge of the minimum wage has until the summer to come up with proposals for change. The current mechanism for setting the minimum wage does not respect many of the criteria. The financial simulations have yet to be carried out, but this will have to be done by the next Cabinet, Shalapatova says.

In her opinion, people do not believe that the pension system is fair.

One of the policies with the highest returns is investment in early childhood development, she points out, adding that if there is a strong leader as Prime Minister, she would accept being a minister again.

CRIME

24 Chasa reports that cyber police stopped illegal music distribution. In the operation, carried out in coordination with Europol within the framework of EMPACT, access to twelve websites was stopped. Their owner has been identified, the police said. Officers of the Cybercrime Directorate conducted an operation to prevent illegal use of music as an object of copyright and related rights. The actions were implemented on Thursday under the supervision of the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office.

In the course of the special operation, the cyber police identified the owner of twelve websites, which he built and maintained to offer their users access to popular music in different countries. He provided the possibility to download them in .mp3 format.

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The national television says that a suspected Hamas weapons cache has been discovered in Bulgaria, according to the German publication Spiegel. Pictures of pistols and magazines were found on the mobile phone of one of four people arrested in Berlin and Rotterdam in December on suspicion of links to Hamas. Digital data in the photos led investigators to southern Bulgaria, where the weapons were buried in an envelope under a tree. Bulgarian police have confiscated the arsenal, according to Spiegel.

SPORT

Trud reports that the world chess title contenders tournament has started in Toronto, Canada. In the first round the only Bulgarian representative Nurgyul Salimova played with the black pieces against the Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk, and the game ended in a draw. In the second round on Friday Salimova will play with the white pieces against Chinese Lei Tingjie. The Bulgarian community in Canada will have the unique opportunity and pleasure to get acquainted with the young lady, of whom the whole Bulgaria is proud! Salimova will visit the Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Toronto on April 24, the mission wrote on social media.

CAPITAL WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

At first glance, the raid by the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission in the Customs Agency, in which seven people were arrested, including the head of the agency, Petya Bankova, seems to be a pre-election effort aimed at decapitating customs and controlling smuggling channels.

Interview with outgoing Defence Minister Todor Tagarev. I don't share the hypothesis that the US can leave NATO. What I expect is greater European responsibility for its own security. I am sure that whatever the next government is, Bulgaria will continue to provide political, diplomatic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. I hope it will also continue its military assistance.

A review of the case of the illegal building of Rumen Gaytanski, aka Wolf, near the Iskar dam and the attempts of the Sofia Municipality to demolish it. According to the author, the sabotage of the demolition means that the battle will not be easy and that Mayor Terziev will have to fight it alone, without help from the state. The article also highlights that the Sofia Municipality has been tied to Gaytanski for years and he is among the decision makers on garbage collection in the capital and the development of the Maria Luisa bathhouse in the Borisova Garden.

Investors' expectations for a rapid cut in interest rates proved wrong. The IMF predicts that by the end of 2028 the key interest rates in the US and the euro area will be 2.6% and 2.5% respectively, and in the UK - 4.3%. Keeping interest rates higher for longer changes the investor environment and the availability of funding across a range of lines, from bank lending to venture capital investment.