site.btaMedia Review: August 7

POLITICS

The members of Parliament will consider the Memorandum of Understanding on cross-border airspace security operations with Turkiye on Wednesday, the national radio reports. The proposal is on the agenda of the National Assembly for this week.

Bulgaria and Turkiye signed the Memorandum on cross-border operations in February during Nikolay Denkov's regular cabinet. The document sets out the basic principles, procedures and conditions for conducting airspace security operations.

It also contains assurances of respect for the national sovereignty of both countries. Bulgaria has similar memoranda with Romania and Greece. Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov told MPs on the relevant committee that the document with Turkiye stipulates that the countries will not use weapons.

Eftimov assured the MPs that the Mig-29 is still on combat duty to protect this country. The machines have returned to the base near Graf Ignatyevo, which until recently was under repair because of the expected new F-16s.

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Caretaker Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov admitted that some petrol stations may have fuel with manipulated quality, Dnevnik reports. The reason for his comments were new regulations on annual motor vehicle inspections, which came into force on July 22 and caused chaos, as it turned out that even new cars hardly cover the new requirements. All this led to the replacement of the head of the Executive Agency Road Transport Administration.

Gvozdeykov said that the only thing different after the changes is the improved quality control of the service. According to him, any car that is not maintained can turn out to be a big polluter and fail to meet the criteria of technical inspections. Apart from poor maintenance of vehicles, he also pointed to fuel as another major problem.

"You shouldn’t compromise on fuel, car maintenance and oil. Whether the car is 5 or 15 years old doesn't matter, because it can get dirty in the same way. The more we pay attention to the technical condition of the car, the fewer problems we will have during annual inspections. Bulgarians often look for the best price for fuel, but this does not guarantee good quality. There are risks of fuel manipulation. I would urge drivers not always to choose the cheap fuel, because there are unscrupulous companies. Fill up at normal petrol stations, the price difference is not so big," Gvozdeykov advised.

HEALTH

Lithuanian tourists paid BGN 1,450 for a visit to a doctor at the sea, Nova TV reports. The mother of the sick child said that after the child maintained a fever for 4 days and complained of sore throat, ear and nose, they had to visit a doctor. The pharmacy from which they bought the medicines recommended them to see Dr. Zdravko Damyanov, who works in a hotel in the Golden Sands resort. The doctor examined the child, said they should come back in two days. The amount to be paid after the two visits was BGN 1,450.

The child's father said that they liked Bulgaria very much, but after the case with the doctor they will never come back. He added that the child is now well.

Another case, from the same place, shows an English tourist who paid EUR 600.

Medical law lawyer Maria Sharkova said that every year such cases arise on the Black Sea coast, but nothing is being done. "When medical centres operate without a contract with the National Health Insurance Fund, they can set whatever prices they want. There is no regulation in the legislation on how prices are formed, and there is no ceiling," she said. 

Sharkova pointed out that in a medical centre prices should be posted in a public place. She added that patients have the right to be informed in an understandable way about the cost of the service so that they can make an account of whether they can afford the “luxury”. She added that medical services must actually be performed, and that there cannot be two price lists - for Bulgarians and foreigners.

24 Chasa says that the Health Ministry and the Regional Health Inspectorate are looking into the matter.

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Dnevnik reports that with full unanimity (185 votes in favour), Parliament adopted a decision obliging the Minister of Health to propose within 60 days a strategy to increase the number of nurses and midwives by at least 30% by 2030. It was supported despite the objections of trade unions, employers' organizations and the ministries of health and education, which were presented to the relevant committees a week earlier.

The proposal, submitted by Lena Borislavova and MPs from Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, envisages the strategy in question to include measures for: improving access to higher education and opening more State funded courses; State funding of student fees, dormitories and scholarships for students in the field of health care ensuring a minimum basic salary for nurses of BGN 2,000 and for midwives of BGN 2,500; organizing information campaigns to popularize the nursing and midwifery professions, etc.

The explanatory memorandum to the draft decision states that the decline in the number of nurses over the last 30 years has been over 30,000 or 1,000 per year. Currently, there is a significant shortage of nurses in Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian Association of Health Professionals, the real shortage of nurses is around 30,000 people, with the number of nurses employed in hospital care currently around 22,000.

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24 Chasa runs an interview with Prof. Dr. Heinz Roettinger, a world-renowned specialist and pioneer in minimally invasive orthopaedic surgery. He is a long-time head of leading orthopaedic clinics in Germany and Bahrain. In 2004, he patented his own method of hip arthroplasty. This procedure has aroused enormous interest in the orthopaedic community and set new standards in arthroplasty for hip replacement. Thanks to the long-term collaboration of Prof. Roettinger with the orthopaedic departments of the “Heart and Brain” hospital in Pleven and Burgas, hundreds of Bulgarians have gained access to the most modern methods of treatment for joint, knee surgeries and endoprosthetics.

“For many years I have been in friendly contact with many Bulgarian colleagues at “Heart and Brain”, I have often visited them and we have worked together. I have always appreciated their professional discussions, well-founded positions and advanced knowledge. When the high-tech hospital complexes in Pleven and later in Burgas, started work, I was very impressed by the high standard of technical equipment. The increasingly intensive exchange of knowledge and experience in our common work necessitated regular travels to Bulgaria. This developed into a long-term process of combining practical with scientific activity in this country. It is a pleasure to operate together with surgeons at “Heart and Brain” and I am proud to be able to pass on my experience to the new Bulgarian generation,” Prof. Roettinger said.

WILDFIRES

The situation in the towns of Harmanli and Topolovgrad remains dire after a major fire broke out on Tuesday, BNT reports. Fire brigade crews, a helicopter, heavy chain equipment and a 30-tonne water carrier have been fighting the fire. So far, there is no danger to populated areas.

The fight against the fire on the Bulgarian-Greek border continues for the 20th day. A new fire front has been advancing from Greece for two days. Efforts are now focused on fencing it off with the help of clearings.

Wind and high temperatures continue to fan outbreaks on the fire's eastern front, and more people are expected to join the ground firefight on Wednesday. Water dousing of the fire by air will also continue. There is still no danger for the settlements, however, around the villages of Petrovo and Goleshevo clearings are being made preventively.

 “The major effort to build a long water line in the Slavyanka Mountain is now a fact, giving some freedom and peace of mind to our colleagues,” said former chief commissioner and director of the General Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection Nikolay Nikolov, who is currently an advisor to the Minister of the Interior.

He expects two planes from Spain and a helicopter from the Air Force to join the fight against the fire on the Bulgarian-Greek border.

“This support is invaluable given the difficult conditions. Since 1995, there has been a protocol for cooperation in similar situations, and we are also members of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, so the channels are in place,” he said.

According to Nikolov, the fire in the municipalities of Harmanli and Topolovgrad is contained at about 80%, and should be extinguished within two or three days.