site.btaMedia Review: February 13

POLITICS

Most publications on Thursday focus on parliamentary squabbles regarding the appointment of heads of state control bodies and regulators. 

Mediapool explains that MPs must adopt the rules on the terms and conditions for proposing the management and members of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, the National Health Insurance Fund, a judge in the Constitutional Court from the parliamentary quota, the chair, deputy chair and members of the Commission for the Protection of Competition, members of the Supreme Judicial Council. The list also includes the election of  Fiscal Council  leadership, a deputy Bulgarian National Bank governor, Financial Supervision Commission department heads, Commission for Protection against Discrimination and National Audit Office management and the Ombudsman.
The appointments are key because they affect most of the state's regulatory mechanisms.

Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool, 24 Chasa quote GERB leader Boyko Borissov, who said that adopting the budget and Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone are GERB's main goals in the current government. Borissov also said that the current government was formed with great difficulty and so he is prepared to “maneuver” for it to continue to work. He pointed out that if filling the regulator positions is considered happening too hastily, then the procedures would slow down. He noted that the country currently does not have an active ombudsman or a deputy ombudsman. Borissov added that he was holding talks for Supreme Judicial Council candidates, but so far has been met with refusals as "they don't want to participate in the scum and get their names dirty." The GERB leader explicitly said  that he will not seek support from Continue the Change- Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) for filling the Supreme Judicial Council.

24 Chasa reports that the smallest parliamentary party MEChvwill not participate in the process of filling leadership positions in regulators and control bodies. Radostin Vassilev said that his party will wait for a stable government in the medium term to replace them. MRF- New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski has already stated that his formation will also not participate in the process, will not nominate candidates and will vote against other parties’ nominees.

Trud quotes Peevski, who said that the most important thing is to have money in the state to pay for expenses and help people, and that if restrictions and cuts in the budget are not in favour of the people, then MRF-New Beginning would not support it. He added that the situation in the state is "difficult" and it is imperative to increase the revenue side of the budget. Peevski also told the media that he expects the other parties in parliament to "wake up" and support the draft law on limiting food price increases submitted by his formation.

Sega, Mediapool write that CC-DB’s proposal to establish an ad-hoc committee to investigate the activities of Delyan Peevski and his mother Irena Krasteva and their companies did not make it to parliament’s agenda, as GERB-UDF and MRF-New Beginning opposed, 16 MPs from BSP - United Left abstained, ten MPs from CC-Db were absent. The proposal was supported by CC-DB, Vazrazhdane, There Is Such a People )TISP, MECh, and Democracy, Rights, and Freedoms–MRF.  

Trud, 24 Chasa quote GERB Deputy Floor Leader Denitsa Sacheva who said that the state budget will be submitted next week, followed by a convergence report which will be submitted to the EC. 

Trud, Mediapool report that the Union of Architects in Bulgaria has entered into a sharp confrontation with Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev and the management of the Architecture and Urban Planning department due to the procedure for selecting a new chief architect of Sofia is being delayed which causes, dozens of delayed projects by citizens and entrepreneurs, while other projects are being moved forward. The union's position was supported by Save Sofia. 

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 

Trud, Mediapool, Telegraph, 24 Chasa all quote the Foreign Ministry  which  expressed its disappointment and strongly condemned the recent statements of the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski, who questioned why the Bulgarian ethnic minority in North Macedonia should be recognized in the country's Constitution. The press release reads: "These statements not only distort reality but also undermine efforts to build goodneighbourly relations and European integration."

Sega, Mediapool, 24 Chasa report that Labour and Social Policy Minister and a candidate for the chairmanship of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), participated Wednesday in a conference organized by the Russian Embassy and the Bulgaria-Russia forum. Moscow's ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova also participated in person. The event was also attended by former Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as well as BSP MEP Christian Vigenin, as did the leader of the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABR), part of the BSP - United Left coalition, Rumen Petkov ."The fact that this conference is being held in Sofia is a very clear sign of the breath of change that is visible throughout the world," Gutsanov said at the event, quoted by the party's press center. He also said that "Bulgaria has its place in Brussels, but dialogue in the East, with Russia and China, is extremely important."

Mediapool wrote that the BSP will demand an explanation from Borislav Gutsanov for his participation in the event with the Russian ambassador.  Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov and Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov (both from BSP) commented, with Genov noting that  this participation is not right because Russia has declared Bulgaria an enemy state, but "if he has any personal sentiments not in his capacity as a minister, that is his decision”. "As far as I know, Ambassador Mitrofanova attended the conference, but the event was not at the Russian embassy, ​​nor was it biased," said Zafirov.

On the air of Nova TV on Thursday morning,  Minister Borislav Gutsanov responded to criticism after his participation in an international conference, which was also attended by the Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova. He said that he did not see anything wrong with participating a scientific conference in Sofia  on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the birth of Yevgeny Primakov, an outstanding scientist, statesman, academician. He noted that he went in his capacity as a member of the BSP-United Left.

Telegraph reports on infringement procedures filed by the European Commission against Bulgaria (and several other countries), for not introducing European rules on non-performing loans on time. The Commission also urged Bulgaria and others to introduce EU rules related to permitting procedures for renewable energy projects, as well as to complete the implementation of the rules on bank recovery and resolution. The rules concern the prudential treatment of global systemically important institutions and the loss-absorbing and recapitalisation capacity of banking groups.

HOME AFFAIRS

Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool, 24 Chasa report that MPs unanimously adopted at first reading measures to prevent and ban the marketing, supply and sale of products containing narcotic substances, precursors or their analogues. 24-hour monitoring should be implemented by the Interior Ministry to control the marketing, supply and sale of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and products, including electronic cigarettes, electronic vape devices, chewing gum, candy, chocolates and others containing narcotic substances, precursors or their analogues on the Internet and to inform the competent authorities to take appropriate action. The amendments also make amendments to the Child Protection Act, introducing a ban on the use, offer and sale to children of all products containing nicotine, including  energy drinks.

Sociologist Genoveva Petrova from Alfa Research noted  however, there is a risk that after the ban on the legal sale of vapes, the current unregulated online trade will flourish, which actually creates problems, and devices with undetermined and dangerous content will continue to be sold to children via the Internet or other channels.

24 Chasa quotes the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, which stated that the complete ban on legal electronic devices will not prevent the spread of risky vaping products, which are of unclear origin and quality and often contain ingredients hazardous to health. 

Sega, Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool, 24 Chasa report that Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov demanded that personnel changes in the management of the National Toll Administration be undertaken as a matter of urgency. The aim is to make it work fully and not to harm the budget, the government press service said Wednesday after the Cabinet meeting.

Trud reports that after An incident involving a drone detected in the airspace around Sofia Airport that caused landing on February 7, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov met with  representatives of airport operators in the country on Wednesday and agreed that All international airports in Bulgaria will be equipped with anti-drone systems.

Trud writes that the National Taxi Union will appeal to the European Commission and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)  for refusing to impose regulatory measures to increase the premiums for compulsory third party liability insurance for taxis in Bulgaria. 
The organization notes that a month ago EIOPA criticized the Financial Supervision Commission for its supervision of a bankruptcy case of a Bulgarian-owned insurance company in Romania, which caused turmoil in the local insurance market. On December 20, taxi drivers participated in a protest march in the centre of Sofia against the increase in the prices of compulsory third party liability insurance.

ECONOMY

On Thursday morning, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV and Nova TV reported that a nationwide boycott of grocery chains will take place during the day. The discontent is provoked by the high prices of essential goods.

National Association of Milk Processors Chair Vladislav Mihailov said on the air of BNT that “over 50% of the entire income from the sale of dairy products, and most food products, remains with retailers”. He noted that dairy products have a markup of over 80-100%. Former caretaker Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev said on the air of bTV that the media is an extremely good regulator when there are no others. If they keep the topic, then the prices will be regulated. “Society is sensitive to this topic, over 40% and more of the family budget goes to food,” he commented. Former Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev sain on Nova TV that there must be control over markups, because a trader can liquidate a producer through markups. The producer then puts out a lower quality product out of necessity and is shamed by retail chains, he said.

Sega, Telegraph report that, a day before a planned boycott of retail chains in protest of high prices, the Competition Protection Commission (CPC) said it will begin a preliminary study of all data and factors that influence the rise in food prices. The CPC competence does not include the possibility of price regulation and  its powers also do not include the identification and sanctioning of speculation by traders, respectively, control of inflationary processes. The CPC could intervene only if the price change was a result of concerted or coordinated behavior of market participants or anti-competitive practices of an enterprise with a dominant or monopolistic position, the CPC explained.

Trud, Mediapool write that, a day before the boycott, against high prices in stores, the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) and the National Association of Dairy Processors (NADP) called for action by the state to protect Bulgarian producers, processors and consumers. “Over the past year, serious, disturbing and extremely unpleasant trends of artificial price increases have been established, especially in the dairy product category, where the markup on final sales prices reaches 100% and over 100%,” Athe organizations said, pointing out that in Bulgaria the prices of basic food products are higher than in Austria and Germany. They called for legislative measures against unjustified increases and speculative practices.

Mediapool quotes CC-DB Co-chair Kiril Petkov who said that antimonopoly commissions in the EU have imposed fines of hundreds of millions of euros for cartels in the food market, while the Bulgarian CPC does not detect any such cartels on the market, which indicates corruption. He pointed out that CC-DD,, in its capacity as opposition, will fight for open competitions and indicated that it will not allow Delyan Peevski to take over the CPC again. From Petkov's words, it became clear that PP-DB has information that a person close to Peevski's MRF-New Beginning is preparing to take over the regulator. Mediapool learned from two of its sources that the name of a head of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) is being considered for the position.

ENERGY

Trud and Mediapool report that the Kozloduy NPP-New Builds is expected to submit an application for site selection for the construction of Unit 8 at Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) by late February or early March. Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) Chair Tsanko Bachiyski also said during a presentation on the agency's activities for 2024 on Wednesday, that the site for Unit 7 has already been approved, but since a new nuclear unit is planned there, a separate site selection application must be submitted to confirm the feasibility of adding another facility. Regarding Unit 7, Bachiyski expects Kozloduy NPP-New Builds to apply for design approval next year. If the issue of the construction of the Belene NPP is raised again, then an analysis of modern safety requirements will have to be made again. The Belene NPP project was updated several years ago, including in the part on the technical documentation and additional changes in the regulatory requirements. However, the process was stopped at the stage of approving the project due to a decision of the Council of Ministers, Bachiyski said.

Trud also reports that the Varzarzhdane parliamentary group will submit a draft decision to suspend negotiations on the sale to Ukraine of the two Russian reactors, initially purchased by Bulgaria for the Belene NPP construction project, which will be used to expand the Ukrainian Khmelnytskyi NPP. The formation insists that the construction of the Belene NPP be continued. d with the reactors. “The Belene NPP is at an advanced stage compared to other such projects in Europe, and we can be one of the first to have the opportunity to resume and expand our nuclear capacity,” the party stressed.