site.btaMedia Review: January 16

HEADLINES

The main topic in print and online media on Thursday is the draft Cabinet of GERB-UDF’s Prime Minister-designate Rosen Zhelyazkov. 

The top headline on the front page of Telegraph is a story about a head-on collision between two trains with two victims. The topic is also discussed in the morning programmes of Nova TV, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and bTV. The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) had an interview on the topic with expert Prof Simeon Ananiev. Other print media also had articles on the topic. 

POLITICS 

The front page headline in 24 Chasa reads that the draft “Cabinet signed off for full term, to replace all regulatory bodies by end of this year”. The article highlights a quote of Zhelyazkov saying that the cabinet is “not the most desired one, but the most possible one”. 

Trud’s front page headline reads that a cabinet of “apparent stability” will be voted on Thursday. The article highlights that according to fortune teller Svetlana Tilkova-Alena's forecast for Trud News the agreements between parties remain hidden. Zhelyazkov is quoted as saying that a draft state budget will be submitted when the Finance Ministry is ready. 

The front page of Duma has the main headline reading that there is a green light for a Cabinet and that Zhelyazkov had immediately returned fulfilled the government formation mandate to the President on Wednesday. The highlight is that there is an agreement for a parliamentary majority for the execution of a governance programme between the political formations GERB-UDF, BSP – United Left, and There Is Such a People (TISP). 

Mediapool.bg writes that five members of Zhelyazkov’s draft cabinet have had serious clashes with the prosecution in the past. Zhelyazkov himself in 2013, as Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, was the only defendant in the Kostinbrod case, where he was accused of trying to gain a benefit for the owner of a printing house, printing ballot papers. The case failed at first instance and the prosecution never appealed, which put an end to the trial. The other names of prosecuted members of the draft cabinet are Daniel Mitov, candidate for Interior Minister, Miroslav Borshosh, candidate for Tourism Minister, Manol Genov, candidate for Environment Minister, and Borislav Gutsanov, candidate for Social Policy and Labour Minister. 

The morning programmes of the BNT, bTV, and Nova TV featured live coverage of MPs gathering at the National Assembly to vote on the draft Cabinet of Rosen Zhelyazkov. The vote is also attended by other state officials and diplomatic figures.  

JUSTICE 

BNT and bTV reported on the topic of the election of a Prosecutor General. Experts on the morning programme of bTV said that the Supreme Judicial Council, which is meeting on Thursday, can delay the election process and have it at a future meeting. On Wednesday MPs voted and stopped the final election of Borislav Sarafov to the post. However, the decision must be published in the State Gazette. Until this is done, the procedure for his election can take place. The candidate Borislav Sarafov, who currently serves as acting Prosecutor General, must receive at least 13 votes to be proposed for appointment by the President, BNT highlighted.

A headline in 24 Chasa reads that Sarafov will remain in his position until July. 

ECONOMY 

Caretaker Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova told BNT at entering the National Assembly that Bulgaria is expected to enter the eurozone on January 1, 2026. She also said that the designate for Finance Minister was a perfect choice as she herself had worked with Temenuzhka Petkova for many years. 

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Trud writes that Bulgaria’s inflation rate is 0.1% above the criterion for entering the eurozone. Bulgaria does not meet the price stability criterion for joining the euro area by the end of December, Stoyan Panchev from the Expert Club for Economics and Politics (ECEP) told Trud news. Inflation for 2024 is 0.1% above the threshold for joining the euro area, he calculated, with the disclaimer that Eurostat's express inflation estimates for euro area countries were used. When the final figures are announced, there could be some change. Even if we meet the euro area criterion after the final Eurostat data, it does not matter much, Stoyan Panchev says. Parliament obliged the Government to submit to the European Commission a request for an assessment of Bulgaria's readiness to adopt the euro within 15 days after meeting the euro area criteria. Even if the criterion is formally met and Bulgaria submits documents, their examination and the final report will not be ready before March, according to Panchev. The assessment of price stability is not only looking at a temporary moment, but at a longer period of time and what the prospects are. Panchev notes that already in January 2025, inflation in Bulgaria will be higher than in December, and the country will move away from meeting the euro area criterion.

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A headline on the front page of 24 Chasa reads that if the municipality does not give a green light for a solar panel on the roof then it agrees to it. 

RAILWAY COLLISION 

Railway transport expert Prof Simeon Ananiev told BNR that the main thesis is that the system either didn't work, may or may not have been broken, and as a consequence I don't see how a train driver would go on a red signal without being told that he could go. According to him, there are control bodies, however, whether quality control is carried out is another question. He stressed that the system is very modern. "It has not worked. These are computer systems connecting the locomotives with the infrastructure, with information, something like GPS-systems with feedback. My advice is to look at what systems are in place and how well these safety and security systems work," Ananiev said. He also expressed his concern that money to modernize the systems are utilized in the wrong ways and called for control on their spending too.

Another expert on the morning programme of bTV Mihail Rangelov said that the incident could have been prevented externally by the central dispatch. “Most likely it is human error. This section is on central dispatch. It is not controlled by the neighbouring stations, but directly by the dispatchers,” Rangelov noted. 

Regional Mayor Lilia Donkova told Nova TV that there is no danger of radiation from the burning of the scrap carried by one of the trains. There is no air pollution due to the incident, she said. 

HEALTHCARE

Nikolay Kostov, chairman of the Association of Pharmacy Owners, told BNR that currently there are 388 medicines missing in pharmacies and that the phenomenon had become a trend. In 2024 there were 400 missing medicines. He also commented on what mechanism should be put in place to protect patients from lack of medicines and gave Germany as an example.

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Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kunchev told the morning programme of Nova TV that several regions have already reached pre-epidemic levels of influenza - Pazardzhik, Silistra, Yambol, Vidin. In the rest the incidence is still low - about 100 infected per 10,000 population. Approaching 200-220 people, an epidemic is already clear. Burgas, Blagoevgrad and Varna are around the average. A person with the virus is most contagious a few hours before symptoms appear, Kunchev noted.

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Dr Ralitsa Yordanova told bTV that the cases of respiratory infections and flu are on the rise across the country. Influenza A and influenza B are the most prevalent at the moment. There are also coronaviruses, rhinoviruses and adenoviruses.