site.btaMedia Review: February 3

BOTOX WOES

Eleven women have suffered adverse reactions to injections of botulinum toxin, commonly called Botox, Aesthetic Medicine Patients Association (AMPA) Vice President Neli Geogieva said, as quoted in the main story in Trud. After the cosmetic procedure, one of the women, Diana, was afflicted with sight loss in one eye, a droopy eyelid and fatigue which was so severe that she was unable to perform any physical activities. Georgieva told the daily that the women were drawn by advertisements of discounts on Botox-based procedures offered by two cosmetic centres in Sofia. Both centres employ a woman of non-Bulgarian origin who claims to be a dermatologist, but a check found that she was not in the register, Georgieva said. According to her, three of the patients are in more serious condition, and a fourth one had a checkup at Sofia's Military Medical Academy. The affected ladies plan to alert the police and the prosecution service.

The recent spate of Botox-related incidents is covered in other media as well. A report in 24 Chasa says that a Russian or Ukrainian woman who starred in a reality TV beauty show has been extensively advertising her services on social media. She says she is a doctor, although she has no medical education, the daily says. She is on a wanted persons list in Bulgaria. The woman is believed to be responsible for the condition of seven Botox patients who sought emergency medical care after cosmetic procedures, according to Neli Georgieva, the AMPA Vice President.

Interviewed on the morning talk show of Nova TV, one of the affected Botox patients, Denitsa Kaimakamova, said the substance was injected to her by Arina Osipova, also known as Dr. Goodz. "I think she is not a doctor but acts as if she were," Kaimakamova said. She visited Osipova's studio last April and received swellings on the face in June. She spent the months until November trying to deal with the consequences. "I had pain and swellings on the forehead and under the eyes. I felt sick for months. I was unable to move my facial muscles, my face felt frozen."

Bulgarian National Radio interviewed medical lawyer Maria Sharkova, who said: "Many aesthetic services, which are medical in nature because they involve injection and use medical products, are provided by people without medical education, or people who claim they received medical education in a third country. Botulinum toxin is a medical product. Its short description says that it should only be used by medical prescription, meaning it cannot be applied by cosmeticians in beauty parlours." Sharkova accused the health authorities of failing to react adequately to earlier alerts. She called for regular checks on a random basis, not post factum. As a lawyer, she has come upon cases of disfigurement after the use of injectable fillers.

ECONOMY

"Riot in the Balkans," caps the main story in 24 Chasa. It says that inflation in the Western Balkans may have sparked protests among the local population, but if there is a Balkan country in which the people can be rightfully outraged by skyrocketing prices and boycott local stores, it is Turkiye. By the middle of 2024, annual inflation in Turkiye reached 71%. Only after President Recep Erdogan mandated Turkiye's central bank to repair the damage, the base interest rate was increased so steeply that loan rates currently stand at about 50%. Inflation did ease. The latest data show that it dropped to 44.4% in December, says the author, Hristo Nikolov.

An annual inflation rate of 44.4% is many times higher than the 4% to 6% reported in Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, the story goes. But unlike in the Western Balkans, no one in Tuyrkiye has urged the people to stop buying things. The argument that inflation in Croatia and North Macedonia only seems low but in the case of food prices it is twice higher, does not explain the shop boycott. In Bulgaria, food prices have risen by 80% in 10 years while in Croatia they have increased by 50%, the author notes.

* * *

Holders of lev-denominated deposits in Bulgaria have lost almost half of their value in seven years, Duma says on page one. Deposit rates average a mere 0.31% as at December 2024, the lowest level in seven years. Accumulated inflation was 43.9% over that period. Banks in Bulgaria reported a profit of BGN 3.7 billion in 2024, setting a high record again. It was 8.1% higher than in 2023, the daily says, quoting the Bulgarian National Bank. Deposits increased by BGN 9.2 billion in a year, reaching BGN 191.6 billion as at December 2024, the data show.

* * *

Economists Krasen Stanchev and Georgi Ganev said there is no BGN 18 billion gap in the 2025 state budget, and commented that former finance minister Assen Vassilev is being used as a scapegoat, MediaPool.bg says. The website quotes Stanchev as saying on bTV on Sunday evening: "This is simply not the case. If someone wants to know why this is not the case, they should visit the website of the Bulgarian National Bank and read the latest macroeconomic report or programme, which says that everything is OK right now and the targets are attainable." Ganev sees two possible reasons for the GERB party's accusations against Vassilev: "One of the possibilities is that the incumbent GERB-UDF has actually given up on Bulgaria's eurozone bid and needs to blame someone." The other scenario is that GERB-UDF wants to get all the credit for the country's expected eurozone entry, Ganev speculated.

* * *

The future of the Lukoil Neftohim oil refinery in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas is discussed in a comment on SegaBG.com. The author, Yuliana Boncheva, says that Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski called on the Bulgarian state to buy the refinery from its Russian-controlled owner Lukoil and suggested a price of BGN 3 billion. The proposal was supported by another parliamentary party, MECh. Their colleagues from Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria proposed that the government appoint a "special administrator" at Neftohim to keep an eye on the majority owner while looking for a buyer for the refinery. The idea is that the special administrator can find a "suitable" Western investor and thus put the refinery in "the right hands."

Politicians in and outside the National Assembly obviously forget that the government has no leverage to influence the majority owner in choosing a buyer for its assets in Bulgaria, the author comments. She recalls that in the 1990s Neftohim was a socialist dinosaur sinking ever deeper into debt and heading for bankruptcy – because it was state-owned. Privatization salvaged it.

According to Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, the price which the government would propose for the majority stake in Lukoil Neftohim is USD 2 billion, or BGN 3.8 billion (at the current exchange rate). How can the government find these billions while grappling with a huge budget deficit? – the author wonders. She goes on to say that Peevski proposed a "simple" plan. According to him, "the Bulgarian Energy Holding could provide 400-500 million, and the rest of the money could be given by all international banks." Peevksi said the investment would pay off in a few years, and then billions in profits would start pouring into the public purse. The commentator doubts it. She notes that the banks which may help fund the acquisition will expect their money back (if it is extended in the form of loans) plus interest, or will want to acquire stakes in the refinery.

The scarce information available about the bidders definitely points eastward, the comment goes. Potential buyers include KazMunayGas of Kazakhstan and MOL of Hungary, promoted personally by Prime Minister Viktor Orban. It should be noted that Lukoil is a joint stock company in which the Russian state is just one of many owners. Whether there will be a deal or not depends on who offers a price that is good enough for the shareholders of the Lukoil corporation. And, of course, it depends on a final "yes" from the Bulgarian authorities.

The Bulgarian state will have a say in the expected deal, but only after the present owner completes all formalities and asks for official approval. Regulators and other authorities in Bulgaria will watch for possible "screens" used to hide dubious capital. Noting that politicians' statements may please those voters who still hold the illusion that it is good for the government to interfere in all sorts of business matters, the author says that the debate has been used for the "higher purpose" of letting the sellers and the potential buyers know that the Bulgarian politicians can assist the deal, or they can raise barriers.

POLITICS

A total of 16,268 foreigners received Bulgarian citizenship in 2024, according to data from the Bulgarian Citizenship Committee under the Vice President, cited in 24 Chasa. The annual number of "new Bulgarians" surpassed the 16,000 mark for the first time in four years. A foreigner should be of Bulgarian descent, or have a parent who is a Bulgarian citizen, or meet the general naturalization requirements in order to become eligible to receive Bulgarian citizenship, the paper notes. At least one of these conditions was met by 11,778 people in 2024, and the remaining 4,490 had their Bulgarian citizenship reinstated.

* * *

Kaloyan Pargov, one of 16 candidates to head the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), tells Trud in an interview that peace, solidarity, justice, freedom and the family should be at the heart of the party's policies. Pargov, who has been on the BSP leadership for 12 years, comments: "Power is the most important test for a party. Being in power, not in opposition, is the most important test, because, every day, you need to make decisions which impact the lives of a huge number of citizens of this country." The BSP's participation in the new government is a great opportunity, but also a great risk, he says. Paregov advises against rushing Bulgaria's accession to the eurozone, although, he notes, the BSP's partners in the new government are trying to achieve something big, which can bring them political dividend.