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| 29 Feb 2012, Issue 3332 · USD: 1.45372 EUR: 1.95583 · Sofia: min -6°, max 2° Varna: min -3°, max 3° · |
| BUSINESS POLITICS WORLD SOCIETY SPORTS FORUM |
Bulgaria's Business Climate Sees Slight Decrease Febr 2012
 Bulgaria's
total business climate index has registered a 2,4% decrease in February
2012 as compared with the previous month, according to the country's
National Statistical Institute.
read |
EU Scolds Bulgaria over Judiciary, Crime, Corruption
 Bulgaria
should undertake stronger actions to reform its judicial system and
show concrete results in combating organized crime and high-profile
corruption, according to the EU General Affairs Council.
read |
Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Mogul Labels Price Drop Political PR
 Lowering
medication prices by 50% and more is political advertisement, says
Ognyan Donev, boss of the pharmaceutical company Sopharma, and alleged
monopolist in Bulgaria.
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WIKILEAKS/STRATFOR: CORRUPTION IN BULGARIA IS PART OF SOCIETY
Corruption throughout Bulgarian government and police is virtually under no threat of prosecution and is part of society, according to an analysis of the private US intelligence company Stratfor. The report was prepared in 2008 and last updated in June, 2009. It was released Tuesday by the whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks and its official partner for Bulgaria – the site for investigative journalism Bivol.bg. On Monday February 27, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. The company maintains and periodically updates assessments for countries that represent interest to investors – one such study is the document in question, dating from 2008, which has the form of a questionnaire with a five-point scale. The Stratfor reports have 7 parts: Terrorism and Insurrection, Crime, Political and Regulatory Environment, Labor Unrest and Action, Natural Disasters, International Frictions, and Nongovernmental Organizations The most chocking information on Bulgaria is found under the Crime section where Bulgaria is labeled a hub for prostitution, human trafficking and drug rings; a country where organized criminal groups are active and influential. From it, the potential investor learns that: Organized crime is invasive and plays a strong role in government, and business operations. Port, land transportation and cargo security is inexistent, and continual smuggling and other crimes, are virtually unreported or unaddressed with cargo theft, occurring frequently, almost always including violence, and being considered a significant disruptive problem for the supply chain. Corruption throughout Bulgarian government and police is virtually under no threat of prosecution and is part of society. Organized crime controls all or complete segments of the supply chain. Foreign assets are targeted regularly (ie. at least monthly) in the form of robberies, extortion rackets, negative PR campaigns, physical attacks against company and/or its employees According to the summary of the report, the political environment is relatively stable, but the governing coalition often contends with uncooperative nationalist parties. The regulatory environment is highly bureaucratic and lacks transparency, which encourages corruption. The analyst writes that Bulgaria joined the European Union at the beginning of 2007 and reformed its judicial and regulatory sectors in anticipation of membership, but much work remains to be done -- and just because changes have been adopted does not mean they will actually be implemented. Investors can find some good news in the sections Terrorism and Insurrection, Natural Disasters, and International Frictions - the threat of terrorism and insurrection is low; flooding along the Danube remains the greatest natural risk and has been known to cause severe property damage; earthquakes occur, though infrequently, and Bulgaria has little potential for friction with neighbors and other countries. However, the report stresses that transportation and disaster-response infrastructure need modernizing; as do energy supplies, and maritime, river, road and railroad communications. Labor unions are not expected to create problems with approximately 19 percent of the labor force being unionized, and a membership that continues to decline. The unions prefer to negotiate and to lobby. Strikes are infrequent, and key public employees are prohibited from striking. However, the financial crisis and the subsequent budgetary cuts could prompt a dramatic increase in labor unrest and action over the next year. NGOs tend to focus on economic and development issues, as well as funding transparency. Though they are active, they do not wield much power in politics or the regulatory environment. Financial crisis could also precipitate greater NGO activity, particularly among the ones that place anti-globalization issues high on their agenda. The overall impression from the report is that Bulgaria is a country with Third World infrastructure, a State structure that benefits bureaucrats and corrupt politicians, ruled by the mafia, without an active civic society, and some advantages such as lack of wars, terrorism, and earthquakes, Bivol concludes. The original Stratfor documents can be found HERE. 
BULGARIA'S BUSINESS CLIMATE SEES SLIGHT DECREASE FEBR 2012 Bulgaria's total business climate index has registered a 2,4% decrease in February 2012 as compared with the previous month, according to the country's National Statistical Institute. A worsening business climate has been observed in the Bulgarian construction, retail trade and service sectors. The business climate in industry has preserved its level from the previous months despite a decrease in production activity. The main factor limiting the activity of the enterprises remains the uncertain economic environment, even though its negative impact has decreased over the last month. In February, Bulgaria's business climate in the construction sector decreased by 2.3% as compared with January. The uncertain economic environment and financial problems continue to be the main factors limiting the activity in the construction branch, followed by insufficient demand. Construction activity forecasts for the next 3 months are more favorable. The business climate in retail trade decreased by 1.9% in February. However, retailers have expressed optimism in their prognosis for the next three months. February saw a 7.6% decrease in Bulgaria's service sector business climate. The Institute's survey shows a decreased demand for services over the last 3 months and relatively moderate expectations for the next 3 months BULGARIAN PHARMACEUTICAL MOGUL LABELS PRICE DROP POLITICAL PR Lowering medication prices by 50% and more is political advertisement, says Ognyan Donev, boss of the pharmaceutical company Sopharma, and alleged monopolist in Bulgaria. As Chairman of the Confederation of Employers and Industrials in Bulgaria, KRIB, Donev is part of the Bulgarian business delegation, accompanying Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, who is on an official visit to Tunisia. At the beginning of last week, Bulgaria's parliamentary health commission said it is about to launch a probe into Sopharma over suspicions of monopoly. The move came following an investigation by TV 7 channel, which showed that Sopharma sells its medicines to Bulgarian patients and hospitals at higher prices than in Turkey or Serbia. The investigation also showed that the pharmaceutical boss, who recently turned into a media mogul as well, will lose about BGN 0.5 B if health authorities decide to put their house in order. Earlier this month it emerged that the European Commission is about to launch an investigation into Sopharma over suspicions of monopoly as unethical as in an African country. Sopharma, controlled by Ognyan Donev, who until a year ago was a member of the supervisory board of the National Health Insurance Fund, NZOK, has managed to supply more than 70% of the medicines required by (state) hospitals and more than 50% of prescribed medicines, according to media reports. The other key person in the scheme is believed to be the fired Bulgarian Deputy Health Minister, Gergana Pavlova, said to have been a former high-ranking employee of Sopharma. According to a New Europe publication the European Commission is already in Bulgaria, investigating the case 'sur place'. The Commission for Protection of Competition also announced they will probe Sopharma for monopoly situation. In the aftermath, Health Minister, Stefan Konstantinov, said that if prices are lowered too much, some pharmaceutical companies could withdraw from the Bulgarian market, but that he is firm they must go down. Konstantinov is beginning Wednesday negotiations with these companies to secure some discounts. According to him, this can be done in 3 ways – forcing the manufacturers to lower prices, lower the Value Added Tax, VAT, on medications, and connecting electronically all pharmacies with the National Revenue Agency so that their profits can be monitored. However, both Borisov and his Deputy, Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, rejected the idea of lowering VAT. Donev, cited by Darik radio, said Tuesday that lowering prices of medications by 50% was impossible and what could be done is for the new management of NZOK to create strict rules with which the public resource spent on medications would be limited. According to him, everything is a matter of State policy, and the medications market is overly regulated with cabinet decrees and orders for forming prices. Ognyan Donev and Lyubomir Pavlov became partners and media moguls in April last year after acquiring WAZ Mediengruppe assets amid accusations of an attempted corporate mini-coup. The transaction included Trud and 24 Hours daily newspapers, 168 Hours weekly newspaper, Trud weekly, a few magazines, eight regional newspapers, a printing house, the distribution company Strela (Arrow) and ZGB's headquarters in downtown Sofia and across the country. Donev and Pavlov are at war with the other large media group in Bulgaria, and TV7 is part of their enemies. BULGARIA TO START MASSIVE MENDING OF WINTER POTHOLES Bulgaria will start an urgent and all-out filling of potholes formed due to winter conditions, starting two months from now. This was announced by Bulgarian Minister of Regional Development Lilyana Pavlova, who said that the process has already started where absolutely needed. She added that some BGN 400,000 of fines from snow-cleaning companies have already been invested in pothole filling. Pavlova explained that the current filing is temporary, using cold covering, while the permanent mending of wholes can begin after two months. The Regional Development Minister said that the states has some BGN 20 M in store for road mending and rehabilitation. BULGARIAN FURNITURE MAKERS WARN OF LOOMING 40% PRICE SPIKE Prices of wooden furniture made in Bulgaria may jump by 40%, according to Hristo Yovchevski, a member of the the Bulgarian Branch Chamber of Woodworking and Furniture Industries. "There will be a price spike if the several companies which bought all of the timber sold on the commodity exchange decide to sell it at a triple markup, which is very much expected to happen," Yovchevski said in an interview on Tuesday. February 17 was the first day when timber was traded on the Sofia Commodity Exchange. Representatives of the wood processing industry started voicing their disagreement as soon as the launch of the discussions of the ordinance which introduces it. The idea of timber sales through the commodity exchange is also strongly opposed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which has blamed Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov for what is sees as a flawed practice. On Wednesday, employees and owners of small and medium-sized companies in the wood processing sector will stage a protest in Sofia. The rally will start in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and will end in front of the Parliament building, where the protesters will try to communicate their claims. Wood industry entrepreneurs are adamant that the sale of timber on the commodity exchange must stop. They demand a new ordinance regulating logging operations, the establishment of a timber commodity exchange, a ban on long-term contracts for timber sales, a ban on the export of unprocessed timber and the establishment of a tripartite council for the development of the forest sector. S&P DOWNGRADES GREECE RATING TO 'SELECTIVE DEFAULT' Debt-crisis stricken Greece has seen its credit rating by Standard & Poor's slump from CC to SD, or selective default, meaning it allegedly cannot service some of its debts. According to Standard & Poor's, a credit rating of SD means some parts of debt are serviced, while others are left unserviceable. In a characteristic move, the downgrade by S&P comes just days after EU Finance Ministers and Greek cabinet representatives negotiated the second, EUR 130 B rescue plan package for Greece. The credit rating agency quotes an alleged "colossal growth of sovereign debt" in conditions of a global crisis and a "wrong fiscal policy" as grounds for the downgrade. Greek vice-PM and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, however, dismissed the move as irrelevant and already taken into account. "The downgrade will have no effect on the Greek banking system, as the Central Bank of Greece and the European Financial Stability Facility have foreseen it and taken all precautions in case of such pressure on liquidity", says a statement by the Greek Ministry of Finance. All the same, S&P also downgraded its outlook for the EFSF from developing to negative, retaining its credit rating of AA+. SALES OF LOCAL CIGARETTE BRANDS SLUMP IN BULGARIA In January 2012, the sales of Bulgarian-made cigarettes have registered a drastic collapse, compared to January 2011, according to the records of "Bulgartabac" and "Kings Tobacco." The information was reported by the Bulgarian "Capital" daily Tuesday. "Bulgartabac" Holding, which was privatized in September 2011, has shown a steady trend of shrinking of its market share – from over 74% in 2007 to 37% at the end of 2010, but the data for "Kings Tobacco" is a surprise, according to "Capital." The Plovdiv-based company was acquired in 2009 by a business close to the "Vinprom Peshtera" alcohol distillery and maker, and in the first year reached a 6% market share, going all the way up to 15% in 2011, but it had recently lost 2% from them. Experts say a possible reason could be that "Kings Tobacco" are no longer much interested in developing their brands since indirectly they are part of the new ownership of "Bulgartabac"- a claim that remains unconfirmed and is denied by the Plovdiv company. "Our production is mainly for export, but still this slump is alarming and we are taking measures against it," Milen Shterev, Marketing Manager of "Kings Tobacco" told "Capital." The decrease of "Bulgartabac" is now under the critical 34% registered in September 2011, and currently 80% of its revenues come from export all while sales of foreign-manufactured cigarettes in Bulgaria are growing – led by Philip Morris, followed by the Greek Karelia. Legal sales of cigarettes in Bulgaria are estimated at BGN 2 B for 2011, while contraband ones have about 22% of the market. 
BULGARIAN MIN 'HOPES' BLACK SEA WATER, BEACHES WILL BE CLEAN The Bulgarian government is implementing a full-scale program to ensure the safe disposal of sewage waters along the Black Sea coast, assured Bulgaria’s Minister of Regional Development Lilyana Pavlova. Tuesday Pavlova presented at a press conference the project for safe sewage disposal for the largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea, Varna (third-largest in Bulgaria). The project is worth BGN 8.8 M and will guarantee a proper disposal of all waste waters from the city. Similar projects are being carried out in other towns along the Black Sea coast, such as Sozopol and Ravda. Just this Monday, an incident at Ravda due to extreme winter weather caused sewage spilling on the local beach. EU SCOLDS BULGARIA OVER JUDICIARY, CRIME, CORRUPTION Bulgaria should undertake stronger actions to reform its judicial system and show concrete results in combating organized crime and high-profile corruption, according to the EU General Affairs Council. The Balkan country should also adopt an effective legislation on asset forfeiture and create more support for its newly-created institutions. On Tuesday, the General Affairs Council today adopted its conclusions on the European Commission Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) progress reports on Bulgaria and Romania. The conclusions emphasize the importance of a strong and sustained political will to take the actions necessary in accordance with the mechanism, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has declared in a press release. The conclusions highlight the good communication between the two countries and the European Commission. The interim CVM report released by Brussels on February 8 focused on the technical implementation of recommendations made in the annual report in July. Even though it did not contain political assessments, it was widely believed to be negative for Bulgaria. The Commission's reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) are published twice a year. The reports are based on contributions from the Bulgarian Government, the Commission services, Member States and NGOs. PES FIRMLY BEHIND SERBIAâ��S EU CANDIDACY The Party of European Socialists (PES) has declared its support for Serbia's EU candidacy stratus. "We reckon that Serbia has fulfilled its requirements and should now be granted a EU candidate status," PES interim leader Sergey Stanishev told the Bulgarian BGNES news agency on Tuesday. Last week, Stanishev and Socialists and Democrats Group leader Hannes Swoboda met with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister of Serbia Mirko Cvetkovic in Belgrade. The delegation praised the domestic achievements of Tadic's government and the strong push towards European integration. On Tuesday, Stanishev reiterated that Serbia has achieved serious results in fighting organized crime and coping with other key required aspects. On Monday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe announced that Serbia was set to be granted European Union candidate status this week. The decision much awaited by Serbia is expected to be formally taken by the ministers responsible for EU affairs on Tuesday and endorsed by EU leaders at a summit at the end of the week. Meanwhile, Romania is still said to oppose Serbia's EU candidacy because of the country's alleged discrimination against the Vlach minority. OLIGARCHS PLOT TO OUST BULGARIAN PM FROM POWER - ANALYST Powerful actors in Bulgaria are at present conspiring behind the curtains to block center-right GERB party of PM Boyko Borisov from getting a second term in power, commented political analyst Ognyan Minchev. Tuesday the well-known Bulgarian political commentator gave an interview for Nova TV, saying that influential groups of what he described as "oligarchs" would not like to see a second term by Borisov following general elections in 2013. "In Bulgaria surprises are being prepared by some 200 families from the oligarchy," said Minchev. He clarified that such actors would like to see a coalition government to facilitate abuses with power and illegal benefits. Minchev also said that as part of the plot, a new powerful political movement might well be constructed to take the lead from GERB. Speaking for Nova TV, other influential political comentators said that Bulgarians are poised to face impoverishment in the following months leading into elections in the summer of 2013. They also concurred that the situation is ripe for a new political movement or party that could change the configuration of power in the country. Ognyan Minchev is associate professor of Political Science at Bulgaria's Sofia University and one of the respected comentators of Bulgarian political life at home and abroad. EX BULGARIAN CABINET GAVE BGN 734 000 IN BONUSES IN 2007 Ministers, deputy ministers and other senior officials in Bulgaria's previous Three-Way Coalition government have received in 2007 BGN 733 625 in bonuses. The data was reported Tuesday by the Deputy Chairman of the parliamentary group of the ruling, center right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, Dimitar Glavchev. The amount comes from information of the National Audit Office, NAO, after a request from GERB. The bonuses stem from participation of those officials in the Boards of State companies. They were given to 4 ministers, 22 deputy ministers, and 11 members of political cabinets. Glavchev explained that bonuses for 2008 and 2009 are protected by some unspecified by him classified tax information. Among ministers and deputy ministers – Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Burhan Abazov got BGN 30 000, Energy Minister, Rumen Ovcharov – BGN 63 000, Deputy Regional Minister, Dimcho Mihalevski – over BGN 30 000, Deputy Economy Minister, Anna Yaneva – BGN 46 000; Deputy Defense Minister, Radoslav Bozadzhiev – BGN 98 000; Deputy Minister of Transport, Vesela Gospodinova and Georgi Petarneychev – 42 000 and 33 000, respectively, Deputy Minister of Finance, Dimitar Ivanovski – BGN 32 000, and Deputy Health Minister, Atanas Dodov – BGN 23 000. For 11 senior officials NAO found that they failed to declare bonuses in the total amount of BGN 315 470. BULGARIA'S DISMISSED REGISTRY AGENCY HEAD: MY WORK WAS WORTHY OF RESPECT Violeta Nikolova, the former Executive Director of the Registry Agency, gave a press conference Tuesday to alleviate social tensions surrounding the disclosure of hefty bonus payments awarded at the institution despite its poor track record in servicing the Trade Register. In her Tuesday statement, Nikolova said that she had learned only recently that receiving bonuses was socially reprehensible. Stressing that her work was "worthy of respect", she added that her achievements were the result of long hours of overtime, rather than 8-hour workdays. Nikolova was dismissed last week over the poor results of the audit of the institution and the substantial financial incentives she had awarded to herself. It was revealed that she had received a total of BGN 73 000 in bonus payments for 2011, BGN 25 000 of which had arrived after an order by Margaritra Popova, then-Justice Minister, while the remaining BGN 48 000 had been ordered by Nikolova in person. On Tuesday, Nikolova confirmed the amount of her bonus payments for 2011, noting that the Justice Minister had stopped signing orders for additional financial incentives at the Registry Agency in July 2011 for some unknown reason. She went on to explain that an ordinance regulating the rules of procedure at the Registry Agency allowed the Executive Director to award bonuses at their discretion whenever there were extra money. Niklolova insisted that she had received the sum of BGN 48 000 for the period July-December 2011 in line with the said provision. She further specified that the 600 employees of the Registry Agency had received a total of BGN 166 000 in bonus payments per month and a total of BGN 199 000 in bonuses for the last two months of the year. "Speaking about bonuses, we must take into consideration the work that gets done," she declared, adding that the job of front desk assistants was different from that of an executive director. "When I signed orders for awarding additional financial incentives my main consideration was the fact that the Registry Agency channeled BGN 70 M into the state budget during my term in office. What is more, it is in the top three of revenue administrations together with the National Revenue Agency (NRA) and the Customs Agency," Nikolova stated. Prior to last week's disclosures, the former Executive Director of the Registry Agency had steadfastly refused to announce the amount of bonuses she had received, citing phone threats. During Tuesday's press conference, she firmly rejected allegations that she had BGN 100 000 in her bank account and that she had taken advantage of donations. Shortly after Nikolova's dismissal, it was reported that Bulgaria was facing a fine of EUR 800 000 by the European Commission over a delay in the introduction of new software at the Registry Agency. "The new software would have allowed the online registration of European companies in the Registry Agency's data base," Deputy Justice Minister Denitsa Valkova explained in an interview on Monday. "At present, European companies can not register online in Bulgaria's Trade Register. The public procurement tender for the software was launched in March 2010 only to get suspended three months later due to a funding shortage," she added. BULGARIA'S ETHNIC TURKISH PARTY ALERTS ABOUT NEW CASE OF POLICE BRUTALITY Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party has raised the alarm about a new case of police brutality. DPS MP Lyutvi Mestan said Tuesday that he had received a tip-off from Nurai Myumyun, 33, from the southeastern town of Pavel Banya, who complained that he had been been beaten up at a police department. The man said he had been summoned to the police station for an inquiry at the end of last week. Upon entering the building, the police officers had asked him if he had anything to tell them. He had asked them to be more specific, only to get taken down to the ground by three officers, one in uniform and two in plain clothes, and had been hit with an electric baton. The injuries were confirmed by a medical expert. According to the medical report, the hematoma and the swelling agree with the man's description of the events because the injuries have been caused by solid, blunt objects with a cylindrical shape. "This is yet another beating of people who have not even been officially charged," Mestan commented. Representatives of the ethnic Turkish party vowed to look into the matter and to ask Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov for an explanation. They also said that they were considering a tip-off to the the prosecuting authority. VICE-MIN BECOMES ADVISER TO BULGARIAN PRESIDENT Deyana Kostadinova, who up to now has been Bulgarian Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, will be adviser to newly-elected Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev. Unsurprisingly, Kostadinova will advise Plevneliev in matters relating to social affairs. A lawyer by profession, she assumed the position of Vice-Minister in June 2011. Before that she was social adviser to Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov. Since 2004 Kostadinova has served in managing positions in the State Agency for Child Protection and the Ministry of Regional Development. GERMAN PROBE: EX BULGARIAN SAPARD CEO NEVER STUDIED IN BERLIN Kalina Ilieva, former CEO of the Bulgarian Agriculture Fund, never took any classes and never went to any lectures at the University for Engineering and Economics in Berlin. The result of the probe of the German prosecutor was just received in Bulgaria, the largest private TV channel bTV reported. The probe was executed on the request of the Bulgarian prosecutor's office which is investigating Ilieva's forged university diploma. According to German authorities, the ex CEO of the Fund, dealing with payments from the EU SAPARD program in Bulgaria, was listed as a student at the Berlin school, but never attended even a single class. Klaina Ilieva was dismissed from the post at the beginning of October 2010, after it became clear she tried to conceal her pregnancy from her superiors. Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, said at the time she lied to him she had a tumor in order to explain her gaining weight while Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, announced she told him she was going to Germany to undergo surgery, only to learn days later she had given birth. In the aftermath, it was also revealed that Ilieva's university diploma from Germany was forged and the German prosecutor began a probe against her. The German investigation was halted after it became clear the diploma had not been forged on German territory. Ilieva, however, faces a law suit in Bulgaria on forgery charges. STABBED MMA FIGHTER BLAGOI IVANOV STABILIZED, STILL IN DANGER The condition of Bulgarian MMA fighter Blagoi Ivanov who was recently stabbed has been stabilized but his life is still in danger, according to doctors. Ivanov is still under artificial aspiration, the BGNES news agency has reported. He has undergone a 6-hour-long surgical intervention in Sofia's Pirogov hospital and complications are expected as a result of his severe wound. A 23-year-old man with a police record has been suspected for the assault and has been apprehended by local police authorities. Sunday night Ivanov and two of his friends had just occupied their places in a bar on Graf Ignatiev Str., when a group of 8 persons armed with bats and knives, including the suspect, allegedly came in and attacked them. At 5.10 am police came in to find the attackers escaped and Ivanov with a deep stab wound under his armpit. Ivanov's two companions have suffered only light wounds and bruises and have been discharged by the hospital. BRAVE BULGARIAN CAPTAIN AWARDED FOR SAVING 116 LIVES Vladimir Gargov, the Bulgarian sea captain who rescued116 people in the beginning of February, was officially awarded by Bulgaria's Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski on Tuesday. 38-year-old Vladimir Gargov was the captain of a cargo ship which first responded to a distress alert.on February 02 when the MV Rabaul Queen ferry sank off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The distressed vessel foundered some16 kilometers off the coast at Cape Fortification, near Finschhafen. Gargov's vessel, MOL Summer, managed to rescue 116 survivors. A total of 243 people were plucked from the ocean alive by the first five vessels which arrived. The search-and-rescue operation was conducted with eight ships and three helicopters. BULGARIA'S COUNCIL FOR ELECTRONIC MEDIA UNBOTHERED BY NEWSPAPER BASHING ON AIR Bulgaria's Council for Electronic Media (SEM) reviewed on Tuesday the case of Nikolay Barekov, a TV host who tore up an edition of Trud daily during Friday's morning broadcast of TV7, calling the newspaper "a rug" and saying that it would cease to exist. Barekov staged the provocation to demonstrate his attitude towards Bulgaria's policy in the pharmaceutical sector, which came under fire after publications claiming that Sopharma, a major Bulgarian drug maker, was selling its products way cheaper in Turkey, Serbia and Poland. Ognyan Donev, majority owner of Sopharma, is a co-owner of Trud daily. On Tuesday, SEM announced that Barekov's newspaper-bashing did not constitute a violation of the the Radio and Television Act. Representatives of the watchdog said TV7 would receive a letter expressing SEM's stance on the matter. SEM explained that the issue was within the competence of the Ethics Committee for Electronic Media. "This case triggered a spike in public interest but it cannot summon enough social energy to sustain this reaction, this level of interest, for a long time. This is an unacceptable gesture for Bulgarian society," SEM Chair Georgi Lozanov commented. "Regarding the alleged breach of the Radio and Television Act, at this stage I will abstain from sharing my definitive comments because the issue is on the agenda of Tuesday's sitting of SEM, and the watchdog is a collegial body. As far as I am concerned, no provision of the Radio and Television Act has been violated. The issue rather belongs to the sphere of professional ethics, of the rules of professional conduct in journalism, which are not regulated by the Radio and Television Act," Lozanov added. According to Alexander Kashamov from the Ethics Committee for Electronic Media, the Code of Ethics of Bulgarian Media has a provision related to the matter, which says that media outlets ought to treat each other with respect and must not engage in unfair competition. "To tell you the truth, I am finding it difficult to evaluate the occurrence because, as it regularly happens in Bulgaria, it is quite unique. To me, what happened is a symptom of a crisis, rather than a real ethical problem. The real problem on the agenda of media outlets is the coverage they provide for important matters, rather than tampering with personal or collective rights beyond proportion," Kashamov stated. According to Orlin Spasov, a senor lecturer in journalism "the Hitler analogy was exaggerated, it was yet another form of over-reaction". Spasov termed Barekov's act "professionally immature". "Barekov tried to introduce the mode of excess into the profession, to ultimately blur the boundaries between information and entertainment," Spasov stated. YOUTH, HORSE RISK LIVES TO AID SNOWED-IN VILLAGERS IN BULGARIA A young man, helped by his horse, waded miles in deep snow to bring supplies to fellow villagers in a remote region of southwestern Bulgaria during the February harsh winter spell. 22-year-old Lyuben Kastrev embarked on life-saving missions multiple times over the month, reports the Bulgarian News Agency, quoting local mayor Krasimira Mutafchiyska. Mutafchiyska is mayor of the Tsarvishte and Frolosh villages, located in a mountainous section of Kocherinovo Municipality, in Bulgaria's Kyustendil Region, along the border with Macedonia. "This was the only way. If it were not for Lyuben and his horse, those people could have not lasted the winter," said Mutafchiyska. She recalled how one evening she received a disaster call from one of the remote villages she mayors, and upon calling 112 she was told that there is no way the village can be accessed. She assembled fellow villagers and they asked Lyuben to volunteer going with his horse and the mayor. Lyuben went alone with the horse in the evening, carrying food and medicines through snow drifts 1 m deep. The next weeks brought in more snow in the harsh winter spell that caught most of Europe and North Africa, and the young man serviced the spread-out houses of the nearby villages. He was chosen just because he was best fit for the task, and there was no forthcoming help from authorities. Every day Lyuben and his horse, risking their lives, had to wade drifts of some 2 m of snow in hazardous conditions to bring food and other supplies to villagers, most of them elderly people. "They asked me, there was no other way the job could be done, so we tackled it with my horse. Now people are happy," simply commented the youth. He was not formally hired by the mayor, as the village mayor could pay him no money, and performed the rescues as a volunteer. Regularly, the young man works as a worker for the mayor, getting little over EUR 20 per month for 14 half working days. Lyuben told the Bulgarian News Agency that although life in his area is hard, he likes the place and its people. "In cities no one helps anyone," reflected the youth. BULGARIA, ROMANIA MULL BLASTING DANUBE ICE The level of the Danube river at the Bulgarian port of Silistra has continued to rise, with ice starting to float again overnight. Bulgarian authorities have said they will ask their Romanian counterparts to blow up ice that has covered the great river some 30 km downstream in Romania to free the movement of waters. Overnight the level of the Danube at Silistra has risen by 14 cm to 648 cm, with the critical level being 777 cm. No new damages have been recorded on Bulgarian territory due to ice on the river, which has nevertheless caused this far considerable damages to port facilities and boats. The Danube at Silistra and further downstream is still completely frozen over. The Silistra port facilities underwent massive damage Sunday overnight when ice started moving downstream and crashed into piers and pontoons. ROMANIA STARTS BLASTING DANUBE ICE Romanian authorities have launched the controlled blasting of ice in Romania's Danube territorial waters near Kalarasi in order to prevent floods and free the movement of waters. The controlled explosions are carried out by Romanian military forces some 40 km from the Bulgarian Danube town of Silistra, the Bulgarian National Radio has informed. The Danube water level at Silistra has increased by 16 cm since Monday evening, reaching 650 cm. The river is under constant supervision, with water level inspections carried out every hour. The Silistra port facilities underwent massive damage Sunday overnight when ice started moving downstream and crashed into piers and pontoons. SOFIA FILM FEST PREVIEW OPENS WITH RUSSIAN 'STOKER' The early program of the 16th edition of the Sofia Film Fest opens with the movie "Stoker" of famous Russian Director, Aleksey Balabanov. The film will be shown on Friday, March 2 at the "Cinema House" in Bulgaria's capital. The official opening of the festival is scheduled for the evening of March 9 at the National Palace of Culture in downtown Sofia, with the movie "Ave" of Bulgarian Director, Konstantin Bozhanov. For his film Brother (1997) Russian director, screenwriter and producer Balabanov received the Special Jury award at Cottbus. He was awarded with the best director award at Gijon film festival for Cargo 200 (2007) and in Istanbul the jury gave a special award to the film Of Freaks and men (1998). "Stoker" has received the "White Elephant" award for best movie, director and music in Russia in 2010, and the "Golden Lilly" award from the festival in Wiesbaden. "The movie tells the story of Yakut stoker Ivan Skriabin (Mikhail Skriabin), who had a stellar military career: he had been a sapper in the Afghan war, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a Major with a chest full of medals. Now, retired from the military with a severe concussion, abandoned by his wife, and barely supported by an uncertain paycheck, he lives alone in his workplace, a vast factory basement where he keeps the furnaces running day and night. He spends his leisure moments sitting on his cot, typing out what he believes to be his own tale of good and evil. The original story, entitled "Khailakh," had been written many decades earlier by Polish ethnographer Wacław Sieroszewski. It is a story that Skriabin had once heard, but now mistakes for his own story, all the more so as it eerily anticipates Skriabin's circumstances, a tale of Russian banditry and Yakut sacrifice. Skriabin has a beloved adult daughter, Sasha. She co-owns a Yakut fur outlet with Masha, Russian daughter of Sergeant, a veteran-turned-gangster. One additional character completes the main cast. Bison, Sergeant's fellow gangster, is Sasha's boyfriend, or so she believes. In fact, Bison is the lover of both women, though neither knows of the other's liaison. Balabanov is often considered a divisive figure. I belong to those who consider him a genius, but it is not my primary intent here to plead that case. The film may reasonably be described in two incompatible ways. It is a gory crime drama, post-Tarantino cinema, fixated on the most horrific aspects of human bestiality, rendered in excruciating detail by the same director who had earlier graced us with Cargo 200, and before that Blind Man's Bluff, Brother, and Brother 2. As in previous films, the setting is a deteriorated, late twentieth-century Russia. As ever, a feral masculinity dominates the dialogue, plot, and visual detail. As ever, the main supporting actor is the corpse. At the same time, however, a second interpretation would quite adequately describe Stoker as tender-hearted to the point of sentimentality, Balabanov's most lyrical film to date. Infused with fairytale humor and childlike simplicity, the film exudes innocence in its wide-eyed account of two scary stories: the one that is screened and the one that is typed," film critic Nancy Condee writes. In addition to "Stoker," the early program of Bulgaria's largest film event includes Bulgarian movies, key movies from the so-called Romanian new wave cinema and from the special movie festival of the European Parliament LUX. Sofia Film Fest closes on March 18th. The main organizer is Stefan Kitanov with Art Fest. The event is held under the patronage of the Sofia City Hall in partnership with the Culture Ministry, the National Film Center and the National Palace of Culture. BULGARIAN TV CELEBRITY PASSES AWAY AT 47 Dim Dukov, a Bulgarian hairdresser and TV celebrity, has passed away at the age of 47. Dukov suffered from severe stomach problems and underwent two surgical interventions in January. His condition was temporarily stabilized but he succumbed early on Tuesday. Dim Dukov started his career as a hairdresser and rose to prominence with his participation in various TV shows. He became a monk in 1999 before returning to public life several years later. In 2006, he finished 6th in Bulgaria's first VIP Brother. Dukov was openly homosexual. BULGARIA'S GRAVE ORGANIZED CRIME 'DECREASED', TOP COP CLAIMS Bulgaria's serious organized crime has decreased over the last three years, according to the country's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. On Tuesday, Tsvetanov pointed out that the culprit of Sunday's assault against MMA fighter Blagoi Ivanov has been discovered just hours after the attack. The Interior Minister referred to the 23-year-old suspect nicknamed "The Dumbbell" who was arrested after the stabbing of Ivanov. Tsvetanov's comment that organized crime has diminished in the country under the rule of his centrist-right GERB government comes only four days after the notorious murder of a businessman in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna. Fish trader Yordan Harasimov was blown up in his car at a major downtown Varna crossroad on Friday. "Needless to say, no one can appear in front of you and say that there will be no crime from now on. But it is crucial that we mobilize all our resources in each and every case so that the most important and immediate actions could be undertaken in order to solve these crimes," Tsvetan Tsvetanov added on Tuesday, as cited by dnevnik.bg. SINGER KIRKOROV MOVES TO DISPROVE BULGARIAN COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS The lawyers of Bulgarian-born Russian singer and producer Philipp Kirkorov have allegedly discovered documents proving that he had the right to perform four songs written by Bulgarian composers. The composers in question - Alexander Saveliev, Dimitar Penev, Ivan Peev, and Nayden Andreev – recently claimed copyright damages from Kirkorov, who did not pay royalties for their songs. The Bulgarian composers claim that Bulgarian pop songs have been performed, reproduced, distributed, and broadcast online and in the music stores in Bulgaria, Russia, and the EU by Philipp Kirkorov without the consent of their authors as required under Bulgaria's Copyright Act. "Philipp's lawyers found contracts in the archives that confirm his rights to perform these composer's songs," Kirkorov's spokesperson Olga Alexeyeva has told Itar-Tass, as cited by the Bulgarian BGNES. She added that the singer is yet to receive a subpoena. Alexeyeva has pointed out that Kirkorov has not performed the four Bulgarian composers' songs over the last 20 years. She stated that the royalties from CD recordings should be paid Melodiya record company SUSPECT ARRESTED IN STABBING OF BULGARIAN MMA CHAMP The main suspect in the stabbing of Bulgarian MMA fighter, Blagoi Ivanov AKA Bagata, - 23-year-old D.S. known as Dampela, is been kept behind bars for 72 hours. The news was reported Tuesday by the Interior Ministry's press center. The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has charged Dampela with premeditated murder. The arrest came in the aftermath of Monday police raids and collection of evidence. The investigative team includes criminal policemen from 1st Sofia Police Precinct and from the Main Directorate Criminal Police. 17 people – participants in the brawl, eyewitnesses, and waiters from the Sofia bar where the incident occurred have been interrogated. Police have also examined CCTV records. The questioning has led to the conclusion that the crime was due to the consumption of very large amount of alcohol. Police is on the lookout for other participants in the fight. Dampela has a criminal record for extortion, drug possession and distribution, and fake car registration documents. Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, declared this is a purely criminal case triggered by drunken rage. It was reported meanwhile that Bagata has been upgraded from critical to stable condition in the Sofia emergency Pirogov hospital. Sunday night Ivanov and two of his friends had just occupied their places in a bar on Graf Ignatiev Str., in downtown Sofia, when a group of 8 persons armed with bats and knives allegedly came in and attacked them. At 5.10 am police came in to find the attackers escaped and Ivanov with a deep stab wound under his armpit. Ivanov's two companions have suffered only light wounds and bruises and have been discharged by the hospital. Many of the witnesses of the brawl were inebriated at the time, which has made the work of police harder. Blagoi Ivanov aka Bagata won the gold medal in the 2008 World Sambo Championships and the bronze in the 2006 world contest. He is known in Bulgaria for organizing and participating in so-called "free fights," in which the audience bet on the outcome. EUROPOL: ANONYMOUS HACKER SERVERS HOSTED IN BULGARIA Four people have been arrested in Spain though to be alleged "hacktivists" from the Anonymous group. The information was reported by the European Police Office Europol. Europol had coordinated the joint operation with the Spanish police. The operation, codenamed Thunder, was the result of an 8-month-long investigation against a group of hackers, believed to be responsible for attacks on sites and servers and for releasing on the internet personal data of Spanish police officers. According to an article of Public Service Europe, one of the suspects arrested, nicknamed "Thunder", was allegedly responsible for the administration of some of the secure communication channels used by Anonymous. The servers used for this purpose were hosted by companies located in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, although they were remotely controlled from Spain, Europol says. Once the links with other member states were discovered, investigators from the Spanish National Police cybercrime unit contacted the Europol cybercrime center in order to coordinate the actions. An Europol spokesman is quoted saying: "Immediately, after the first contact from the Spanish police authorities, Europol acted as a hub of information; facilitating the exchange of communications among the police investigators assigned to this case in their respective countries. This direct and quick response allowed in a very short period of time, the retention of the data contained in the servers hosted in Bulgaria and Czech Republic. Once the judicial authorities in these countries had approved the seizure of the servers, experts from Europol were deployed to Bulgaria and to Spain to provide on-the-spot support with the simultaneous arrests, house searches and disruption of the servers." BULGARIAN DEPUTY CHIEF PROSECUTOR APOLOGIZES FOR OUTRAGEOUS COMMENTS Valeri Parvanov, Bulgaria's Deputy Chief Prosecutor, came up with an unconvincing excuse for his recent comments that outraged families of traffic accident victims and the general public. Last week, Parvanov claimed that Prosecutors were not seeking harsher penalties for road killers and agree to plea bargains "because Bulgarian prisons are overcrowded." "Children die in other circumstances too, and there are other parents in your situation," Parvanov told the mother of a 20-year-old girl who got run over at a zebra crossing in the Black Sea city of Varna. On Tuesday, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor apologized to the parents of children killed in traffic accidents, claiming he "was misunderstood." "I am sorry that my words were misunderstood, it is my fault that I did not express myself better," Parvanov said in a statement. "As a human and a father, I fully sympathize with the tragedy of the affected families. Needless to say, I do not find it normal and acceptable for children or people in general to perish in such circumstances," he declared. In the beginning of his statement, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor admitted that his apology has been triggered by the public reaction to his previous comments. On Monday, parents of Bulgarian children killed in road accidents sent an open letter to the President, the Prime Minister, the Ombudsman, the Chief Prosecutor and the Minister of Justice demanding Parvanov's resignation over what he said last week. NOAH ON FACEBOOK A rhinoceros is asking a dinosaur, "Dude, has Noah added you as friend on Facebook?" "Actually, no." "Too bad..." FRENCH COURT REPEALS 'ARMENIAN GENOCIDE' LAW France's Constitutional Council repealed Tuesday a law criminalizing the denial of the Ottoman Empire's genocide of Armenians in 1915. The declaration of the law's unconstitutionality was welcomed by Turkey, which insists that the 1915 killings of some 1.5 million Armenians was not the result of a systematic campaign against them. Meanwhile, President Nicolas Sarkozy came up with a statement calling for a new version of the law. "The president believes that genocide denial is intolerable and must be punished in this regard," the press release of Sarkozy's office said, as cited by CNN. Tuesday's ruling of France's highest judicial body notes that the law, which would have imposed a penalty of one year of imprisonment and/or a fine of up to EUR 45 000 for the denial of the "Armenian genocide", runs against the principle of freedom of expression stipulated in the constitution. Relations between France and Turkey have been strained since December, when the law was passed by the lower house of the French parliament. Infuriated by the step, Turkey recalled its Ambassador from France. On January 23, France's Senate approved the controversial legislation in a 127-86 vote. Denying the Holocaust in France is already a crime punishable by a year in prison and a fine of EUR 45 000. RUSSIAN TANKER BURNS IN CASPIAN, AT LEAST 1 DEAD The oil tanker Engineer Nazarov is aflame in the Caspian Sea and its crew is being evacuated, reports RIA Novosti. Six persons have already been rendered to safety, but at least one has tragically perished, said the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, as quoted by RIA. The tanker, owned by Russian Volgotanker company from Astrakhan, was located near the port Makhachkala, capital of Russian Republic of Dagestan. According to reports, the fire started on the upper deck, but causes are as yet unknown. Expect details. RUSSIA'S CHIEF PROSECUTOR COLLABORATED WITH STRATFOR - WIKILEAKS Russia's Chief Prosecutor, Yury Chaika may have collaborated with US intelligence company Stratfor, according to newly released data from Wikileaks. Chaika, whom Stratfor refers to RU101, is called a "key source of information on Russia" in the newly released files. Stratfor's Lauren Goodrich asks to preserve the information acquired from Chaika and speculates that Putin is "cracking down on any power player that doesn't play in his arena." She draws this conclusion after one of Chaika's emails tells her about the fate of the head of the Tambov criminal group Vladimir Barsukov, WikiLeaks says, as cited by The Voice of Russia. Marina Gridneva, spokesperson for the Chief Prosecutor, has commented that "all of these stories are a provocation," RIA Novosti informs. On Monday, WikiLeaks began releasing what it said were 5 million e-mails from the private intelligence company Stratfor. The Texas-based company has been targeted by hackers who have released private data about subscribers in recent months, prompting the company to offer its clients a year of paid identity-protection coverage. SYRIA'S NEW CONSTITUTION ENTERS INTO FORCE Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has signed Tuesday a decree with which the new Syrian constitution comes into force, after being approved by popular referendum Sunday. According to data by the Syrian Ministry of Interior quoted by ITAR-TASS, the referendum had a 57.4% turnout, 89.4% of which voted in favor of the constitution proposals. The chief innovations include the creation of a pluralistic party system replacing the one-party rule by the Baath Party, as well as a limitation on the number of the terms the president can serve to 2. Opposition leaders have dismissed the referendum as a scam on the part of Assad, calling for a boycott and a stepping down of the president. Sunday the referendum took place against the background of what agencies report as heavy bloodshed in unrestful Syrian city of Homs. Friday, representatives of Western nations, including Bulgaria, gathered in a "Friends of Syria" conference in the Tunisian capital Tunis, recognized the rebel Syrian National Council as a legimate representative of Syrians. Monday, the EU also recognized the Syrian National Council and imposed further severe sanctions on the regime in Damascus. Monday Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikolay Mladenov, who has taken a pro-active stance in events relating to the Arab Spring, said Bulgaria will host a further conference on Syria in April. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has urged Tuesday the international community to support the reformist push of the Damascus regime. "Syria has a strategic role in the region and therefore we must help Assad's government to implement the reforms," Salehi told Kofi Annan, who has been elected UN and Arab League special envoy for Syria. Salehi also stressed that any external intervention would further aggravate the situation in Syria, and called on the international community to support internal dialogue in the country. FISHING BOAT RESCUES DAMAGED LUXURY CRUISE SHIP Italian luxury cruise ship Costa Allegra has been taken on the tow by a passing French fishing ship, after it lost it engines. Costa Allegra was freely floating without steering in the Indian Ocean following a fire in the power generator compartment of the ship. The fire was extinguished, but left the engines unusable. Fortunately, no-one from the close to 1,000 passengers and crew has been injured during the dramatic events. The fishing boat will tow the cruise ship to a nearby islands, where passengers and crew will stay before being transported to the Seychelles. The Costa Allegra belongs to Costa Cruises, the company also owning the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio, capsizing and killing at least 25 of its passengers, with 7 still missing. BULGARIA HAS GOT A TIME MACHINE AND IT WORKS! History wasn't supposed to repeat itself and time machines weren't supposed to exist. However, Bulgaria seems to be ahead of the game in both items. In Bulgaria, history repeats itself constantly, and current events take you back in time. One such event that happened several days ago was the gangland murder of businessman and former wrestler Yordan Harasimov, who was blown up in his car early in the morning in downtown Varna. It's like one is back in Bulgaria in 1995. Or 1998. Or 2003. Or 2005. Or 2010. (I think the last gangland murder was that of radio host Bobi Tsankov in Sofia in 2010). There goes one more of Bulgaria's some 200 gangland murders in the past less than 20 years. And none of those cases has been resolved. According to probability theory, at least several of those were supposed to be resolved. But apparently this theory holds no truth in Bulgaria, unlike the working time machine that can get you back to any point of the recent past. And one keeps wondering why Bulgaria's Prime Minister-policeman-karate guru-firefighter-security guard Boyko Borisov and his right hand Interior Minister Tsvetanov haven't solved any of those gangland murder cases. Meanwhile, a group of MMA fighters beat a high school student in Bulgaria's Pazardzhik, and in Sofia Bulgarian MMA champion known as Bagata was stabbed in a brawl. So the Bulgarian time machine works in Sofia, Varna, Pazardzhik, and all over the place. It's like Bulgaria hasn't progressed an inch since the early 1990s. No wonder, as Bulgaria's oligarchy doesn't to have enough brains to make the society evolve towards greater civility. I mean, it can still enjoy plenty of dirty games if it so wish, just steer clear of murders and explosions! And the Bulgarian society can't organize itself to achieve anything. On the other hand, it might not be so bad that Bulgaria has a functioning time machine because it apparently has short memory. Harasimov was blown up on Friday. It's already Tuesday-Wednesday, and the incident has been forgotten by both the society and the Bulgarian authorities. The case will be delayed, pushed around, postponed, until there is a new gangland murder to "steal focus". By the way, that's exactly how Bulgaria has forgotten the incident in the village of Katunitsa from September 2011 – and the real problem that caused it – the Roma integration issue – and it will stay forgotten until some new horrific event. So in order for Bulgaria to shut off this terrifying time machine it's got, it will need a bit of brains, government goodwill and collective action in order to start solving at least some of its problems. |
Bulgaria Has Got a Time Machine and It Works!
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