site.btaMedia Review: December 16

HEADLINES

On its front page, Trud writes that higher electricity bills for households are planned to help offset part of the state budget deficit for 2025. The daily cites a report from the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, which indicates that electricity prices for households will go up by an average of 8.99% starting January 1, 2025. Water prices for households are also expected to rise by up to 19%. The topic is also covered by other dailies.

In its lead story, Telegraph writes that experts in Bulgaria are advocating for the introduction of a driving license requirement for bicycles and scooters, similar to the regulations in France and Germany. The experts also propose that these vehicles should be registered and taxed.

Duma leads with a story on the National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) deciding on Sunday to hold the party’s 51st congress on February 15. The election of a new party leader is scheduled for February 23, with a possible run-off planned for a week later, the daily adds.

24 Chasa’s top story is about holiday packages available in Bulgaria's neighboring countries for Christmas and New Year's Eve. The daily notes that some 300,000 Bulgarians typically travel abroad to nearby destinations between December 20 and January 4. Turkiye emerges as the top choice for celebrating New Year's Eve, while Greece is favored for Christmas. The daily adds that New Year's Eve parties in Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia tend to be more affordable than those in Bulgaria. Although less popular, Romania is increasingly becoming a preferred holiday destination for Bulgarians, 24 Chasa adds.

POLITICS

Telegraph quotes GERB MP Raya Nazaryan as saying that forming a governing coalition would be hard but possible. She spoke on Bulgarian National Television (BNT) ahead of the start of the negotiations for the first government-forming mandate on Monday. Negotiations for a new cabinet will take place daily and are sure to result in a coalition agreement, she said. “GERB is not seeking [talks with] Continue the Change (CC), as the latter have isolated themselves from the negotiation process,” Nazaryan added.

Mediapool.bg recalls that GERB-UDF sent out invitations for talks on cabinet formation to Democratic Bulgaria (DB), BSP-United Left, and There Is Such a People (TISP) on Friday, and all of them have accepted. The GERB-UDF negotiating team includes Boyko Borissov, Rosen Zhelyazkov, Raya Nazaryan, Tomislav Donchev, and Daniel Mitov. While it remains unclear when President Rumen Radev will hand over the first exploratory mandate, it is expected to be delayed.

24 Chasa carries a story titled: “Banker or Lawyer from GERB Is Being Sought for Prime Minister”. The daily quotes Atanas Atanassov, leader of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, a partner in the DB coalition, who said that a “party-neutral banker” or “esteemed lawyer” could be chosen to lead the future cabinet. CC-DB’s Alexander Simidchiev said that the prime minister could be a member of GERB, but the individual must be an expert who “does not succumb to political pressure”. The daily adds that GERB’s Rosen Zhelyazkov has confirmed that the negotiations will continue through the end of the year and the first mandate is expected to be handed over after January 1.

Speaking on BNT’s morning programme, BSP-United Left deputy leader Kristian Vigenin said that they are “entering talks with caution and scepticism, as we are the only left-wing party in this parliament dominated by right-wing parties”. “BSP - United Left’s main motivation is to continue these negotiations,” he noted, adding that avoiding new snap elections would be preferable because the outcome is unlikely to change. “The government must have a clear programme with a set deadline. We are not talking about a political coalition, but rather joint support," Vigenin said. As key priorities, he identified addressing the demographic crisis and the Belene NPP project, among others. "There is also the issue of electing regulators through a transparent process, changes to the Judicial System Act, and suspending the procedure for the election of the prosecutor general." In his words, his political group sees eye to eye with CC-DB on these issues, and that is why they have signed the declaration for a 'sanitary cordon' around MRF-New Beginning.

On Nova TV’s morning show, BSP-United Left deputy floor leader Ivan Ivanov said that they would not support GERB leader Boyko Borissov for the role of prime minister. Asked whether they would support another GERB-UDF member for the role, Ivanov said that “anything is possible in this complex political spectacle”.

Political analysts Tatyana Burudzhieva and Daniel Smilov speculated on the outcome of the upcoming government formation negotiations on Nova TV’s morning show. PR experts Arman Babikyan and Diana Damyanova were guests on bTV's morning programme in a segment titled "Is a government under the first mandate possible, and why did GERB request an extension for negotiations?" Speaking on BNT, journalist Mira Badjeva said that DB is playing the role of the "bad cop," showing a greater willingness to engage in negotiations with GERB, while CC remains more rigid, a stance linked to their declaration. Badjeva noted that this is not a major obstacle for the coalition, though differences do exist. She predicted that the two coalitions, CC and DB, may run separately in future elections.

In a signed commentary in Trud, Haralan Aleksandrov argues that “the rift in CC-DB is irreversible.”

Also on BNT, sociologist Dimitar Ganev noted that the prosecution service’s move with CC co-leader Kiril Petkov's immunity “had a negative impact on the negotiation process”. Ganev argued that “the prosecution service has not played a constructive role, and the timing was poorly chosen.”

Petkov gave up his immunity as an MP on December 10, shortly after the prosecution requested that Parliament strip him of his immunity on suspicions that he had overstepped his powers during the March 2022 arrest of GERB leader and former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. A few days later, the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office asked the acting Prosecutor General to move for stripping of immunity CC-DB MP Lena Borislavova in connection with a case involving an environmental protection group.

Former interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev appeared on bTV’s morning programme, where he said that “the prosecution service often turns out to be a participant in political processes, and its activity is worrying”. “The prosecution service is currently focusing on CC representatives but is not dealing with all the others”. “It becomes very sensitive when someone asks for accountability, but it oftentimes clearly intervenes in political processes and predetermines situations,” he added.

Trud has an interview with former caretaker prime minister Prof. Ognyan Gerdzhikov, who criticizes the constitutional amendments that limit the President's powers to appoint a caretaker cabinet, calling the restriction on the choice of a potential caretaker prime minister to a specific pool of candidates “a sheer Bulgarian folly.” He added that “Bulgaria is a record holder for changes in legislation that do not improve our regulations.

ECONOMY

Telegraph features a story about restaurants imposing a “sanitary cordon” on MPs from four political groups – CC-DB, TISP, the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, and Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) - who support increasing VAT on restaurants. So far, 4,000 establishments have joined the initiative opposing the change. The daily recalls that the Finance Ministry has proposed raising VAT for restaurants from 9% to 20%, effective January 1, 2025, with the issue set to be debated in Parliament.

Trud reports on an increase in retirement benefits for state school teachers in Sofia. This change follows the inclusion of new provisions in the Collective Labour Agreement for school and pre-school education in the capital, which has been signed between the social partners and Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev. Teachers in Sofia will now receive nine and a half salaries upon retirement, compared to the eight and a half salaries currently provided at the national level.

24 Chasa runs an extensive interview with former finance minister Vladislav Goranov, who comments on the caretaker finance ministry’s 2025 state budget bill, inflation in Bulgaria, and the prospects for forming a regular government.

Speaking on Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Bulgarian Association of Software Companies Advisory Board Chair Dobroslav Dimitrov said that the IT industry in Bulgaria is growing at a pace that seems unattainable for other sectors of the economy. The software industry is having a better year than expected. With 12% growth projected for 2023, the sector ended last year with a 16.5% growth rate and anticipates an increase of 10-12% in 2024. The number of software companies in the country has increased by nearly 400, with some 2,600 people newly employed.

ENVIRONMENT

Telegraph runs a two-page interview with caretaker Environment and Water Minister Petar Dimitrov, in which he addresses the ongoing water shortage crisis across the country and potential solutions. A massive amount of water is being wasted, he says, adding that 75% of Bulgaria's soil is permanently dry. Dimitrov pointed out that water management is currently divided among various structures and institutions, adding that these efforts must be consolidated.

BETL PYRAMID SCHEME

Telegraph quotes UK-based expert Radoslav Dimitrov, who suggests that the BETL pyramid scheme, in which thousands of Bulgarians lost their money recently, may be linked to a Dubai-based scheme called HyperFund. Dimitrov claims that thousands of Bulgarians were defrauded of millions in the HyperFund scheme a year and a half ago. The scheme was reportedly founded by Chinese national Sam Lee. Dimitrov’s hypothesis is based on the similarities between the two schemes and the involvement of many Bulgarians in the HyperFund pyramid, which collapsed in 2022.

Trud daily previously reported that nearly 30,000 Bulgarians have become victims of the BETL pyramid scheme by investing their money. The company, established less than a year ago in the UK, has opened numerous offices in Sofia and across the country, promising quick profits in cryptocurrency to everyone who becomes an owner of their products - public charging stations for mobile phones. The company has not been registered in Bulgaria's Trade Register.

BNR has an interview with Kalin Georgiev, who is believed to be one of the managers of BETL in Bulgaria. He said that he cannot disclose his location, as an investigation is currently underway by the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. “They are aware of everything that is happening to us,” he said. “People think we have taken their money, which is a sheer lie. The same thing happened in Serbia, the same thing is happening in Turkiye. There is no way we are involved in other countries where the same thing is unfolding," Georgiev said. He said that the people he had been in contact with, who were higher in the company hierarchy, had stopped communicating with them and had their accounts deleted. “We used to keep in touch with them by writing several times a week, as did all the other partners, all those 30,000 people who were scammed like us,” he said, adding that no one could specify the amount invested in the scheme.

24 Chasa features an analysis on the topic made by legal expert Ivan Todorov, who says that “more than 250,000 Bulgarians have been tricked out of over EUR 10 billion in pyramid schemes during the incomplete transition [to democracy] in Bulgaria,” which began in 1989.