site.btaMedia Review: October 15

HEADLINES

Not a single topic dominates the front pages of print media on Tuesday. The morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV, and Nova TV also cover a wide variety of topics.

The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) has an interview Bogdan Milchev from the Road Safety Institute, and a report on cybersecurity in the country.

Trud leads with a story on waterbugs in the southern parts of Bulgaria. Telegraph’s main front-page headline reads that electricity is the cheapest for heating. 24 Chasa leads with a political theme – an analytical article on voter attitudes. Duma’s top headline is about the BSP – United Left Coalition and its rankings in current polls.

BNT and BNR host experts commenting on the nomination for Prosecutor General of the current acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov.

Mediapool.bg has an article on the ban on gambling advertising in the media in Bulgaria.

ECONOMY

24 Chasa writes that the price of butter has jumped by 80%, and that there is panic among European bakers before the Christmas holidays. The article reads that the trend is due to a milk deficit and a priority for the production of cheeses.

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Telegraph’s top story on heating prices reads that heating one’s home with a class A air conditioner would be the cheapest option in the coming season. The article reads that the weather will worsen after the October 27. The leading expert of the Sustainable Energy Development Agency, Lyudmil Kostadinov, is quoted as saying that firewood continues to be preferred.

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Trud has two particular pages dedicated to housing market in Bulgaria. The headlines read that tenants are looking for new and furnished homes, the profile of apartment buyers says that they have both money and children.

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Duma writes that 20% of companies are preparing for layoffs in the following six months. Some 32% do not expect to see any changes in their staff composition. The daily quotes research by the Bulgarian Employment Confederation among nearly 1,200 companies in the country. The article highlights that over half of employers do not expect to employ new staff.

POLITICS

24 Chasa leads with a title reading that 61% of Bulgarians think that a “colourless” Prime Minister is just a “silly idea”. The daily uses data collected by its own website among 1,384 respondents. According to 24 Chasa’s findings, some 20% think that such a Prime Minister would be insulted by inconvenient “cousins”. Some 40% have expressed confidence that each person in the executive power should be backed by a majority will should bear the responsibility.

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Trud has a corner on its frontpage where there is GERB leader Boyko Borissov, who says that a Prime Minister who is equally distant from all political formations in the next Parliament means another “assemblage”, which according to Borissov which will be even worse than the previous one. “Assemblage” is the name politicians use to refer to the governments backed by opposing parties, such was the Nikolay Denkov Cabinet.

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The leading story on the front page of Duma reads that voter support for the BSP – United Left Coalition is increasing, according to recent polls, the daily writes. The article quotes research of Mediana.

JUSTICE

The morning programme of BNT hosted a discussion with prosecutor Nikolay Kokinov and lawyer Emil Georgiev on the nomination of acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov for the position Prosecutor General. Sarafov is the only proposal for a new Prosecutor General. According to Georgiev, the Minister of Justice did not make use of their power to name another candidate, which is a heavy indication of legal uncertainty and a legal dispute - to what extent the current composition of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), has the right to hold elections for a new prosecutor general and for the head of the Supreme Administrative Court. Georgiev noted that: "In connection with the ruling of the Constitutional Court on the most recent amendments to the Constitution, in the judiciary section, there is a transitional and final provision that prevents the incumbent SJC from conducting these elections. This transitional and final provision is in force, it continues to be part of the Constitution." According to Georgiev, the circumstance indicates legal uncertainty and legal dispute, which should be removed before any choice is made for the top positions in the judiciary. For Kokinov, a former Sofia city prosecutor, there is no drama because: "The Constitutional Court upheld the provision in question, which allows the SJC to initiate these procedures. It is not the fault of the SJC that for two years MPs did not deign to elect new representatives and renew this body. The normal thing to happen is for it to continue functioning as we cannot wait for a few more years for somebody to force a change in this SJC."

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Lawyer Velislav Velichkov told BNR that the current SJC is totally compromised and has no representation, neither Parliament nor professional quotas are behind its staff. "It is abnormal and immoral" for this very composition with an expired mandate and zero public trust to elect the prosecutor general and presidents of the supreme courts, he argued. According to Velichkov, the current composition of the SJC acts under "external command and dictation" and the chaos in the judiciary threatens the foundations of statehood. Bulgaria is returning to a stable socialist model from the Soviet times, when there was always one candidate for a post who had no alternative and was indispensable, Velichkov said commenting on Sarafov's sole nomination for the position Prosecutor General. He challenged the justice minister's approach not to nominate another candidate. Velichkov noted that it is the turn of the President in the current situation. Its his decision whether he will sign the decree for the appointment of a prosecutor general. According to Velichkov, the President will have the constitutional grounds not to do so because of the expired mandate of the SJC. "Borislav Sarafov, as well as Ivan Geshev, is just a tool. He said in front of all Bulgarian citizens that he does not want to be - neither a candidate for prosecutor general, nor for acting prosecutor general, categorically stated it, repeated it twice and broke both his promises. This points to the idea that he is not behind the final decision, but someone who ordered it," Velichkov said.

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Bogdan Milchev from the Road Safety Institute commented in an interview for BNR on the penalties for irregular drivers. He said that the confiscation of vehicles has not brought about the desired change. According to him, the Interior Ministry’s operation so far has only proven how many get on the road intoxicated. Looking at the statistics, however, it will be found that deaths after such abuse are not that many. If the focus for road safety used to be on poor road infrastructure, now it is on drunk and drugged offenders, Milchev noted. According to him, the actions of state institutions are palliative, and every day a person or more dies. "Many vested interests are involved in road safety due to corrupt practices. The state administration does not want reform. The problems are caused by mismanagement of the transport system. Our research shows that among the most dangerous cities in terms of road safety are Ruse, Lovech, Varna, Montana,” Milchev said.

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BNR writes that more companies in the country, even smaller ones, will be obliged to comply with and prepare for the new European cybersecurity regulations. The deadlines for synchronizing the Cybersecurity Act with a European directive known as NIS2 are ticking. Bulgaria has started but not completed the procedure. In mid-September, amendments to the Cybersecurity Act implementing the new European regulations came up for discussion. Because of the premature end of the 50th National Assembly, the texts were not even discussed in the three committees - on internal security, European affairs, and e-government. In short, the law increases the sectors that have to comply with cybersecurity rules, for example food production and waste management, as well as the entire supply chain for already designated important sectors such as energy. Company executives and IT managers will now be held personally liable for cyber security lapses, BNR writes in its report.

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Mediapool.bg has an article on the ban on gambling advertising in the media in Bulgaria. The article reads that the chaos with the application of the supposedly banned gambling advertising in the media continues to deepen with the release of more and more new interpretations of the National Revenue Agency (NRA) of the legal texts. Because of the express vote on the changes in the National Assembly in the spring, the tax agency was left to apply extremely imprecise legal texts in an area with a solid material interest, where every comma is equivalent to millions of BGN.

At the moment, it is clear that the legislation in question is nothing but a door in a field so that gambling businesses can advertise unhindered on social networks and in online publications, as long as they are not part of a television, radio, newspaper or magazine. The situation, generally speaking, is like the arbitrary rules of the street game 'here you go, here you don't'. In this situation, it is not surprising that there are no offenders.

As of October 7, the number of violations of the almost total ban on gambling advertising introduced five months ago that have been proven beyond doubt by an enforceable act is zero. This is clear from yet another response by the NRA to a request from an unknown author under the Access to Public Information Act. In the five months, gambling advertising on TV and radio has practically almost disappeared (the NRA has received only 1 signal of illegal gambling advertising on TV or radio air), in contrast to the Internet space, where "games of fortune", albeit in a smaller volume, continue to be promoted.

HEALTHCARE

Trud has an interview with surgeon Krassimir Vassilev from the Military Medical Academy. According to Vassilev, bloodless surgeries are harder for medical specialists, but they are much better for patients than regular surgery. He is of the opinion that the National Health Insurance Fund should be decentralized and clinical pathways need to cease to exist.   

SOCIETY

Trud’s top story headline on waterbugs reads “Giant waterbugs have invaded southern Bulgaria”. The sub headline reads that the bugs are not lethal to humans, but their bite is painful. The daily has dedicated two pages to the topic with interviews with a zoologist and a doctor, and regional reports from Burgas and Plovdiv.