site.btaMedia Review: October 11

HEADLINES

Friday’s media are dominated by the news of acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov being nominated for election to the post of top prosecutor as the only candidate. Sarafov was nominated Thursday at the last of four meetings of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) at which candidates could be named.

Duma’s top story is headlined “Sarafov as Sole Candidate for Role of Prosecutor General”.

On its front page, 24 Chasa says that life expectancy increases may have hit their limit. The daily cites data from a study conducted by the University of Illinois in the United States and nine regions with the highest life expectancies: Japan, South Korea, Australia, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, and Hong Kong. The analysis shows that despite medical advances, the rapid rises achieved in the 20th century have slowed significantly.

Trud leads on a story about a strong geomagnetic storm that reached the Earth on Thursday. The daily quotes the Deputy Director of the National Institute in Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Petya Trifonova, as saying that the storm has the potential to last through Saturday. She adds that it can cause discomfort and headaches in people and disrupt the body’s heart rate. People with chronic diseases are most sensitive to magnetic storms, Trifornova says.

Telegraph’s leading article says that schools have their hands tied when it comes to punishing bullies because the anti-bullying mechanism in place works in favor of the aggressor rather than the victim. The number of children with aggressive behaviour is growing every year, the head of the Regional Department of Education in Stara Zagora, Milena Yoldova-Stoyanova, tells the daily.

Capital leads with the headline “Wages Are Going Up but the Model Is Broken”. Incomes are growing faster than labor productivity, signaling the end of the cheap labor model. The country needs an alternative approach but lacks the means to attract a different type of investor. Additionally, the state is distorting the market with its public income policies and minimum wage regulations, Capital writes.

BORISLAV SARAFOV’S NOMINATION

Lawyer Velislav Velichkov and former Sofia City prosecutor Nikolay Kokinov were guests at Nova TV’s morning show, where they discussed why Borislav Sarafov had emerged as the only candidate for the role of Prosecutor General and what the impact of the lack of competition for the post would be. This segment of the programme was titled “The judiciary caught in the snare of the political crisis”.

Commenting on the topic on bTV’s morning show, Atanaska Disheva, judge and member of the Judicial College of the Supreme Judicial Council, said that “Sarafov’s model already resembles his predecessor’s. She said that the composition of the SJC that made Sarafov’s nomination remains largely the same as it was when Geshev was named the only candidate for the post back in 2019. “There are slight changes. It has been reduced by five members,” Disheva added. "These are the same people in the Prosecutors' College who suddenly changed their attitude towards Ivan Geshev, switching from calling him the best prosecutor general to ‘a person who cannot carry on with his job as the top prosecutor'," she said.

Interviewed on bTV’s morning show, constitutional law expert and lecturer at Sofia University Orlin Kolev said that SJC is the only body that can stop the procedure for electing a new prosecutor general. Kolev recalled that President Rumen Radev refused to appoint Geshev in 2019, arguing that there was no competition. However, the SJC re-elected him, and Radev was obliged by the Constitution to decree his appointment, he added.

POLITICS

Duma and Telegraph write about Thursday’s ruling of the Sofia Appellate Court (SAC) to leave MP Dzheyhan Ibryamov, who had been charged with influence peddling, in custody. Ibryamov, the top-of-the-list candidate of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms coalition in Shumen for the October 27 snap parliamentary elections, was detained on October 2 with marked banknotes totalling BGN 100,000. He was accused of promising to lobby for public contracts in the Defence Ministry in exchange for money intended for vote-buying. Trud and 24 Chasa also cover the topic with a focus on the testimony of one of the key witnesses in the case, Miroslav Todorov, who said that Movement for Rights and Freedoms honorary chair Ahmed Dogan had intended to kill one of the party's two chairs, Delyan Peevski. The developments follow a rift in the party amid what appears to be a battle over the control of the MRF between Peevski and Dogan. The MRF split into two warring factions, which sought separate registrations for the snap elections. The one behind Peevski will be running in the MRF-New Beginning coalition, Dogan's faction in the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms coalition. 

***

On bTV’s morning show, GERB-UDF’s Toma Bikov, who will stand as an MP in the upcoming elections, said that he believes there are no significant obstacles preventing Bulgaria from having a regular government after the elections. It should be clear who the ministers are and which party bears the political responsibility, he said. Bikov stressed that the government should include people with political experience who represent different segments of society.

He said that Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria’s (CC-DB) non-partisan prime minister and government approach is more suitable for a caretaker government. "I don't think we have irreconcilable differences with CC-DB. We should make efforts to maintain the possibility for dialogue after the elections," Bikov said.

Asked whether GERB-UDF would partner with Delyan Peevski, Bikov recalled that in 2019 his party decided against forming coalitions with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

In an interview with 24 Chasa, former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov says that there are plenty of options to form a government after the elections. He notes that a two-party coalition is possible, adding that it is key to have a prime minister that is equally distant from all parties. “There are such people no matter if they are a tad closer to GERB or they are independent. Electing someone who is completely ignorant when it comes to the executive power”.

Trud has a two-page interview with Plamen Kirov, professor of constitutional law at Sofia University, who comments on the breakdown of public trust in elections, people’s reluctance to vote, the amendments to the Constitution adopted last December and their implications, among others. He slams the revisions to the basic law, saying that “changes to the Constitution should not be made by ignorant people”. Kirov also discusses vote-buying and the “I do not support anyone” option on the ballot introduced when voting was made compulsory.

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraph cites the mayor of Sofia’s Vitosha residential district, Zarko Klinkov, as saying that “no centre for refugee children will be opened”. His statement comes after a protest was staged in Knyazhevo neighbourhood Wednesday evening against a July decision of the Sofia Municipal Council to open a centre for unaccompanied refugee children in the old building housing the borough mayor’s office. Klinkov said that he had taken into account the public's opinion, and would present this position to the Sofia Municipal Council, which will need to vote on a report submitted by GERB-UDF. The report proposes to reverse the July decision that approved the construction of refugee centers in the Oborishte and Vitosha districts.

Meanwhile, it has transpired that a protest has been scheduled to take place in Oborishte next week.

***

Capital writes that the Road Infrastructure Agency has spent nearly BGN 4 billion on contracts for road and highway maintenance and repair over the period from 2019 to 2024. The media outlet identifies four major issues with the misuse of funds through these contracts: no one knows exactly what is being repaired; there is no clear strategy for deciding which roads should be prioritized for repair; the law is being bypassed; public contracts are consistently awarded to the same companies. Capital adds that the districts with the worst roads - Montana, Dobrich, and Kardzhali - receive the least funding for repairs.

HOUSING

Speaking on the Bulgarian National Radio, Dobromir Ganev of the National Real Estate Association said that a drastic drop in housing prices is not to be expected given the rising incomes, low supply, and affordable mortgage rates. He noted that there were significant price increases in several major cities across the country in the second quarter. "On average, the growth is between 5% and 15%, with Sofia experiencing a rise of about 13%. The seven main cities, which make up 40% of the market, are Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, and Nessebar. The southern Black Sea coast is one of the largest markets in the country," he said.

EDUCATION, SCIENCE

A meeting of the Council of Rectors of higher educational establishments in Bulgaria held at the St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo on Thursday is given front page prominence in Trud. The daily says that the Council has agreed that private universities should receive state funding for scientific research.

***

In an interview with Telegraph, Director of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute Prof. Christo Pimpirev says that at least 50 people will participate in the 33rd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition that will take place between November 2024 and April 2025. He comments on the preparation for the voyage, the key tasks ahead of scientists in the new polar season, and the ongoing construction of a new science laboratory of the Bulgarian Antarctic Base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island. Asked about upcoming projects the team has in store, Pimpirev says that two scientists will study the birds' flight, tracking migration and examining species as they fly the route from the Black Sea city of Varna to Livingstone Island.

CRIME

On its front page, Trud says that phone scammers in Bulgaria have tricked people out of BGN 2 million since January 2024. The largest number of phone scam attempts were in the regions of Sofia, Varna, and Burgas. The topic is covered by other dailies.

Interviewed on the Bulgarian National Television, caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov comments on the developments following the scandal involving siphoning off state funds in theaters in the country. The Minister revealed fresh details about the ongoing investigations. He added that two individuals within the Ministry of Culture are known to have facilitated the scheme. Mediapool also cover the story, recalling that the scandal came to light in September after Levon Manukyan, now former head of the Razgrad Philharmonic, was detained on suspicion of being involved in a scheme to siphon off budget funds through fictitious employee appointments, with some receiving bonuses well above the usual standards for theatre staff. Charges were also filed against the director of the theatre in Smolyan, Rumen Bechev, who was shortly dismissed.

HURRICANE MILTON

All print media report on the Hurricane Milton that moved across the Florida peninsula on Thursday. Headlines paint a grim picture of the aftermath of the disaster: “Winds of 200 Kph Leave 3 Mln People in Florida without Power” (24 Chasa), “Hurricane Milton Could Cause Up to USD 100 Bln in Insured Losses” (Trud), “Six Dead, Three Million without Power after Milton Plowed across Florida” (Telegraph). Duma’s story is headlined: “Hurricane Kirk Devastates Western Europe”, with a subheading “Milton Strikes the US State of Florida”. A Bulgarian living in Sarasota shared his first-hand account of the hurricane on the Nova TV morning show. The programme also featured climatologist Simeon Matev, who said that the tail-end of Storm Kirk is expected to reach Bulgaria on Friday.