site.btaMedia Review: August 6

THIRD ATTEMPT TO FORM GOVERNMENT FAILS. BULGARIA HEADED TO SNAP ELECTIONS

“Capital Daily” writes that There Is Such a People (TISP) returned the third mandate for forming a government to President Rumen Radev unfulfilled and this exhausted the procedure of attempts to form a ruling majority in parliament. From now on, the head of State is to hold consultations with the parliamentary political forces on the appointment of a caretaker cabinet and schedule snap elections, the seventh in three years, which will most likely be held in the second half of October.

Along with this, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria tabled amendments to the National Audit Office Act to allow the National Assembly to elect the deputy chairpersons of the audit body (the current ones have expired terms). The aim is to allow the president to have a choice of a caretaker prime minister, since the constitutional changes have made the current one, Dimitar Glavchev, practically unchangeable in the situation.

Within the space of one week, TISP used the last opportunity to form a government in an attempt to form a majority in the National Assembly, which turned out to be unsuccessful. TISP received support from the BSP, some of the independent deputies from Velichie and the MPs who left the parliamentary group of the MRF, but this proved insufficient to achieve the required minimum of 121 votes, which could provide support for an expert cabinet, as was the formula proposed by TISP.

The Movement of Rights Freedoms (MRF) group around Delyan Peevski refused to respond to their invitation for negotiations, and Peevski urged for early elections. Vazrazhdane, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and GERB too refused to support a possible expert government.

After the talks, TISP leader Slavi Trifonov blamed Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria and GERB for the failure of the third mandate. From his personal Facebook account, he said that there was a coincidence on priorities between the political forces that responded to the talks, and called the refusal of two of them "irresponsible" and "stupid". "Boyko Borissov fulfilled Delyan Peevski's wish and sent the country to another early elections," Trifonov wrote.

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Participating in the morning programme of the Bulgarian National Television, constitutional experts said that it is too late to change the procedure and the possible candidates for caretaker prime minister. The scheduling does not have to take into account the vote in the United States.

According to Nataliya Kisselova and Borislav Tsekov the 50th legislature failed because the parties were fixated on their own self-interest. "The way out was within the first few days to make an effort to first elect not only an ombudsman and his deputy, but also to renew the composition of the Audit Office or, and had it done as soon as the assembly was convened," said Kisselova, who is a professor of constitutional law.

"The calculations that the various political invoices make are in some bizarre way tied to the US elections. There's a waiting game of what's going to happen, which way the wind is going to blow, and there are factors that hope that they will be selected depending on the outcome," said Borislav Tsekov, a doctor in constitutional law. The early elections will be scheduled on either October 13 or October 20, according to them.

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It is important who the caretaker prime minister is because he will organize the vote and the voters must have fair and transparent elections. We also heard Dimitar Glavchev's opinion that he has done a decent job, but it is the citizens who give the assessment of the work of politicians. His re-election seems certain as there is no alternative, said social analyst on Nova TV.

She said that National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan has refused, because if she accepts the post of caretaker prime minister, she will not be eligible to participate in the elections.

Political analyst Tsvetanka Andreeva said that at the political level an attempt is being made to change the parliamentary majority. "The idea is to have another figure based on an anti-GERB coalition in parliament. However, this should be coordinated with President Radev, who has a political interest in Glavchev not being caretaker prime minister. Such a majority would blow up the possibility of building a pro-European government between GERB and Continue the Change in the next parliament," she said.

Darieva does not believe that a new player will appear on the political scene, but there will be new alliances, such as that of the Bulgarian Socialist Party Andreeva, however, pointed out that she was skeptical about the party's attempt to contain the erosion.

The sociologist thinks that voters should be told first what future alliances can be made in the new National Assembly. The political scientist added that the reasons why such coalitions are being made should also be made public.

BULGARIA - EU

In a 24 Chasa interview MEP and European Energy Forum President Tsvetelina Penkova says there are indications that Bulgaria may receive the energy portfolio in the future European Commission.

Penkova says: “This should not surprise us because Bulgarian experts in the field of energy have always been recognized and respected on the European stage. But apart from the experts, Bulgaria has probably the most balanced mix within the EU - 1/3 of our energy comes from nuclear power plants, 1/3 from renewable sources and 1/3 from conventional capacities based on domestic fossil fuels such as lignite. Bulgaria is also demonstrating energy security in terms of the diversification of suppliers of energy sources. And this is recognized by major European countries. All these factors, together with our key positioning in the region as the largest producer of electricity, give strong indications and prerequisites that this portfolio could indeed be for our country.”

Asked whether Bulgaria stands a real chance, Penkova said: “Nothing is given in the European institutions unless you ask for it and put forward arguments. The deadline for submitting names for future commissioners and portfolios is August 30. And we need to be clear - if energy is our national priority and is our strategic advantage that we must use, we have a lot of work to do with our partners to be able to secure and negotiate that. Nobody is going to give us one of the key portfolios if we do not make a serious effort in this direction. However, political instability in Bulgaria and the lack of regular cabinet are a concern. And I hope that national interests will be placed above partisan interests.”

NEW TOURISM GUARANTEE FUND

According to 24 Chasa, a Tourism Guarantee Fund will pay compensation to customers when travel companies go bankrupt under amendments to the Tourism Act, published for public consultation on Monday.

Ever since he took office, interim Tourism Minister Evtim Miloshev has promised to move this important change for the industry, which will likely be considered by the next National Assembly.

In the event of a failed trip or holiday organized with the help of a tour operator, customers will now have to turn for a refund to the Tourism Guarantee Fund.

Already when the current Tourism Act was adopted, the tourism industry insisted on not paying monthly contributions to the fund, and instead for companies to take out a compulsory insurance for liability of the tour operator.

During the COVID pandemic, however, insurance companies began raising premiums and for a year and a half, tour operators and travel agencies have been asking for a guarantee fund. According to the changes, it will be under the umbrella of the tourism ministry and will take over some of its functions under the with regard to tour operators. The most important question about what contributions they will pay to the fund is missing from the text of the amendments, as this will be settled out in an ordinance.

However, people involved in the working group drafting the changes have said that the contribution will depend on the turnover of the company and will vary between BGN 80 and BGN 1,000 per month. The fund itself will start with a loan of between BGN 5 million and BGN 10 million, possibly from a bank, but the money could also be provided from the state budget. The changes do not abolish the current insurance, but it will no longer be compulsory. According to the tourism ministry's register, there are currently 1,390 travel companies operating in the country. 

ECONOMY

Fruit and vegetable producers are ready to join protests in Sofia against the ordinance on the movement of goods with high fiscal risk, Mariana Miltenova, chairwoman of the Union of Gardeners, said on Bulgarian National Radio.

At the end of last week, 14 nationally representative organizations and members of the National Food Council sent an open letter to the Prime Minister and the ministers of finance and agriculture. It concerns the conditions and procedures for the implementation of fiscal control over the movement of goods with high fiscal risk in Bulgaria. 

The organizations demand a revision of the regulation and a meeting with the Finance Minister. "We are the victims. We are trying to fight against its application to the fruit and vegetable sector because it is not working. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance don’t listen to our objections. We have had five meetings with the National Revenue Agency, but nothing has happened." “We also insist on measures the grey sector,” Miltenova said. "Fruit and vegetable production is very much affected by the grey sector. But these are not the measures and ways to solve the problem. 

We produce 20% of the fruit and vegetable consumption in our country. No attention is paid to what is brought into Bulgaria. 80% of the fruit and vegetables come in mainly from third countries. We have raised the question of why minimum quota prices are not put in place, as well as the traceability of this production. This should be the biggest fight against the grey sector - how these goods cost so much in the store." 

Miltenova explained many of the producers do not have scales in their gardens and that their produce is perishable and therefore needs to be loaded and shipped out quickly. 

"But before that you have to make a notification to the National Revenue Agency. The driver may be late. The processing plant may not take all the goods and then you have to make a new notification.

LIFESTYLE

The Bulgarian National Radio reports that a survey by Moneyepenny, quoted in Forbes, has named Sofia the best city in Europe to retire.

А new survey by business solutions company Moneypenny has ranked the best locations in Europe to retire based on a number of factors that include the average cost of living, retirement savings needed, and a variety of amenities. Moneypenny compared the 50 most populated European Union cities to come up with the ranking. Factors taken into account include retirement age, average rent cost, amount of free space, healthcare access, number of fitness clubs, number of cafes and number of gold courses.

Sofia, Bulgaria, ranks in first place as the best city to retire in Europe. The average retirement age in Sofia is lower than the other cities included in the ranking, with men typically retiring at 64, and women at 62. The city is a particularly great option for retirees looking to make their savings stretch further, with the minimum retirement savings needed to live comfortably being ЕUR 148,590 with other cities in the ranking requiring double the amount if not more.

Sofia is followed by Budapest, Zagreb, Bucharest and Rome in the ranking.