Press - Review
NW 01:10:31 26-04-2021
MY0112NW.101
101 BULGARIA - PRESS REVIEW
Press
-
Review
Sofia, April 26 (BTA) -
POLITICS - ECONOMY
24 Chassa: If a caretaker government submits the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to the European Commission (EC), it could accept it but keep its wits about it, as the next cabinet could back out of the plan, the newspaper quotes in a front-page story the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee's Chairperson, Georgi Ganev, as saying in an interview. The Committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Monday, which will be attended by outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev's team and teams from other ministries that have worked on the plan, as well as employers and trade unions, among others. According to the Democratic Bulgaria MP, the big dilemma is whether the document will be submitted before the April 30 deadline, which is the only way to guarantee that Bulgaria will get in advance 13 per cent of the total of 12 billion leva, which are designated for dealing with the crisis after the pandemic. If the plan's submission is delayed by a few weeks, which the EC said is acceptable, the plan's strategic part could be changed, and once submitted, it can no longer be touched.
***
Troud runs a front-page story about how There Is Such a People Party (TISP) leader Slavi Trifonov does not have a possible cabinet lined up. The newspaper quotes sources close to TISP as saying that their leader Trifonov is not ready to nominate a government without receiving last minute instructions from his sponsors. Troud also quotes MPs from different parliamentary groups as saying that delaying the formation of a new government is on the way of throwing this country into a political and parliamentary crisis that will be even worse than the ones from the 1990s. In addition to that, President Rumen Radev could choose a second, even less appropriate date, for the parliamentary snap elections, MPs warned. The leaders of political formations express growing concern about the formal delay of handing the exploratory cabinet-forming mandate to the second largest political force in Parliament - TISP, which in turn is giving signs that they will return the mandate. After GERB returned the mandate to the President, Radev showed that he is in no rush to meet with Trifonov's people. According to the Constitution, the head of State does not have a deadline for doing so. In reality, he could hand the mandate to TISP even after a month.
The newspaper quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as telling his Cabinet members that the Bulgarian citizens who voted in the elections can draw their conclusions as to why there is currently no Centre-right government with a clear Euro-Atlantic orientation, but instead the President is delaying the second mandate, so that behind-the-scenes dealings can go on.
***
24 Chassa has probed the attitudes of MPs from different political formations in Parliament about the possible early parliamentary elections. Most MPs are readying themselves for the possibility that the elections will be held in July or the start of August at the latest. The newspaper quotes sources as saying that President Radev has talked during the weekend with possible ministers in a caretaker government. He as assigned people from his team to discretely talk with potential candidates. Among the invited were lawyers, financial experts, doctors, who are not directly involved in politics. Some of those approached have refused to become part of a possible caretaker government, expressing concern that they may be pressured to exact revenge on the previous powerholders. Radev said on Saturday, while planting trees in Plana Mountain (near Sofia) that although there is no deadline for him to hand the exploratory mandate to the second biggest party, this cannot be delayed indefinitely. Parliament is working energetically and reviewing important bills. "We must give it a chance to do some serious work," the President said, adding that there are proposals concerning not only the Election Code.
Capital also writes that the possible names in a caretaker government are being discussed more frequently among politicians, which shows that the general expectations are for disbanding this Parliament and scheduling early elections. The 45th National Assembly seems to be on its way of becoming the shortest-lived one in this country's history. At the end of its second week, the debates in plenary seemed like election campaign canvassing, and despite the record-high number of tabled bills - 54 in total so far, there are obvious concerns about whether even the Election Code will be amended on time.
BULGARIAN ARMS MERCHANT GEBREV - RUSSIAN CONNECTION
Dnevnik writes online that Bulgarian businessman Emilian Gebrev has admitted for the first time that he was importing weapons to Ukraine after Crimea's annexation by Russia. Moscow had found out about this and pressured pro-Russian members of the Bulgarian government to block these supplies, the New York Times wrote in a broad article, quoting a letter it has received from Gebrev's company EMCO and conversations with Ukrainian officials. The article was written by the same team of journalists who were awarded a Pulitzer in 2019 for their articles about the Russian military intelligence (GRU) organization's Unit 29155 and Gebrev's poisoning.
The author, Michael Schwirtz, who cooperated with Boryana Dzhambazova from Sofia and Hana de Goeij from Prague, writes that he met Gebrev around 18 months ago in Bulgaria, when the latter claimed that he had stopped exporting munitions to Ukraine after the conflict there erupted. In an earlier e-mail, Gebrev said that the weapons stored in the Czech arms depot, which exploded, were not destined for Ukraine. On Friday, however, Gebrev acknowledged that his company has signed a contract with "authorized Ukrainian companies" at the end of 2014. After the publication, EMCO circulated a position, in which they claim that there is no link between the explosions in Czechia and EMCO's business dealings with Ukraine. The company has also invited the author to acquaint himself with all the available documentation pertaining to the case.
HOME SCENE - EASTER HOLIDAYS
The Easter meal would cost at least 70 leva to a four-member household, Monitor writes in a front-page story. Half of this money would go towards buying the traditional lamb, around a third would go for Easter bread, while the remainder would be spent on eggs, salads, wine and other sweets for the children. A week before the Easter holidays, large retailers are trying to attract customers with attractive prices of the most saught-after products.
***
Douma front-pages a story about the price of eggs, which has doubled in the past year because of the more expensive chicken feed. The price of eggs increased by over 50 per cent by the time it reaches the end consumer, the newspaper quotes producers as saying. Eggs from Poland are less expensive, because the Catholic Easter is before the Orthodox Easter and unsold eggs are exported to Bulgaria.
***
"3,000 Less Abortions during the Pandemic," reads Telegraf's front-page headline. The newspaper quotes data from the Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, according to which voluntary abortions have dropped during the pandemic by 3,000 in 2020, compared to the previous year. Last year, a total of 10,630 women have decided to terminate their pregnancies. Abortions totalled 13,189 in 2019 and 14,024 in 2018. This decrease is observed across all age groups. According to psychiatrist Dr. Vesselin Gerev, many have reconsidered their priorities during the pandemic. The first lockdown had a favourable affect, as many people stayed home, relaxed and started having sex. It did not take a while for them, however, to realize that things are serious and emotions, like fear, concern and insecurity started prevailing. People became more cautions, which likely impacted their sexual contacts. According to him, the fact that entertainment establishments were closed, could have contributed less one-night stands, which are one of the reasons for abortions. MY
/МЙ/
MY0112NW.101
101 BULGARIA - PRESS REVIEW
Press
-
Review
Sofia, April 26 (BTA) -
POLITICS - ECONOMY
24 Chassa: If a caretaker government submits the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to the European Commission (EC), it could accept it but keep its wits about it, as the next cabinet could back out of the plan, the newspaper quotes in a front-page story the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee's Chairperson, Georgi Ganev, as saying in an interview. The Committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Monday, which will be attended by outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev's team and teams from other ministries that have worked on the plan, as well as employers and trade unions, among others. According to the Democratic Bulgaria MP, the big dilemma is whether the document will be submitted before the April 30 deadline, which is the only way to guarantee that Bulgaria will get in advance 13 per cent of the total of 12 billion leva, which are designated for dealing with the crisis after the pandemic. If the plan's submission is delayed by a few weeks, which the EC said is acceptable, the plan's strategic part could be changed, and once submitted, it can no longer be touched.
***
Troud runs a front-page story about how There Is Such a People Party (TISP) leader Slavi Trifonov does not have a possible cabinet lined up. The newspaper quotes sources close to TISP as saying that their leader Trifonov is not ready to nominate a government without receiving last minute instructions from his sponsors. Troud also quotes MPs from different parliamentary groups as saying that delaying the formation of a new government is on the way of throwing this country into a political and parliamentary crisis that will be even worse than the ones from the 1990s. In addition to that, President Rumen Radev could choose a second, even less appropriate date, for the parliamentary snap elections, MPs warned. The leaders of political formations express growing concern about the formal delay of handing the exploratory cabinet-forming mandate to the second largest political force in Parliament - TISP, which in turn is giving signs that they will return the mandate. After GERB returned the mandate to the President, Radev showed that he is in no rush to meet with Trifonov's people. According to the Constitution, the head of State does not have a deadline for doing so. In reality, he could hand the mandate to TISP even after a month.
The newspaper quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as telling his Cabinet members that the Bulgarian citizens who voted in the elections can draw their conclusions as to why there is currently no Centre-right government with a clear Euro-Atlantic orientation, but instead the President is delaying the second mandate, so that behind-the-scenes dealings can go on.
***
24 Chassa has probed the attitudes of MPs from different political formations in Parliament about the possible early parliamentary elections. Most MPs are readying themselves for the possibility that the elections will be held in July or the start of August at the latest. The newspaper quotes sources as saying that President Radev has talked during the weekend with possible ministers in a caretaker government. He as assigned people from his team to discretely talk with potential candidates. Among the invited were lawyers, financial experts, doctors, who are not directly involved in politics. Some of those approached have refused to become part of a possible caretaker government, expressing concern that they may be pressured to exact revenge on the previous powerholders. Radev said on Saturday, while planting trees in Plana Mountain (near Sofia) that although there is no deadline for him to hand the exploratory mandate to the second biggest party, this cannot be delayed indefinitely. Parliament is working energetically and reviewing important bills. "We must give it a chance to do some serious work," the President said, adding that there are proposals concerning not only the Election Code.
Capital also writes that the possible names in a caretaker government are being discussed more frequently among politicians, which shows that the general expectations are for disbanding this Parliament and scheduling early elections. The 45th National Assembly seems to be on its way of becoming the shortest-lived one in this country's history. At the end of its second week, the debates in plenary seemed like election campaign canvassing, and despite the record-high number of tabled bills - 54 in total so far, there are obvious concerns about whether even the Election Code will be amended on time.
BULGARIAN ARMS MERCHANT GEBREV - RUSSIAN CONNECTION
Dnevnik writes online that Bulgarian businessman Emilian Gebrev has admitted for the first time that he was importing weapons to Ukraine after Crimea's annexation by Russia. Moscow had found out about this and pressured pro-Russian members of the Bulgarian government to block these supplies, the New York Times wrote in a broad article, quoting a letter it has received from Gebrev's company EMCO and conversations with Ukrainian officials. The article was written by the same team of journalists who were awarded a Pulitzer in 2019 for their articles about the Russian military intelligence (GRU) organization's Unit 29155 and Gebrev's poisoning.
The author, Michael Schwirtz, who cooperated with Boryana Dzhambazova from Sofia and Hana de Goeij from Prague, writes that he met Gebrev around 18 months ago in Bulgaria, when the latter claimed that he had stopped exporting munitions to Ukraine after the conflict there erupted. In an earlier e-mail, Gebrev said that the weapons stored in the Czech arms depot, which exploded, were not destined for Ukraine. On Friday, however, Gebrev acknowledged that his company has signed a contract with "authorized Ukrainian companies" at the end of 2014. After the publication, EMCO circulated a position, in which they claim that there is no link between the explosions in Czechia and EMCO's business dealings with Ukraine. The company has also invited the author to acquaint himself with all the available documentation pertaining to the case.
HOME SCENE - EASTER HOLIDAYS
The Easter meal would cost at least 70 leva to a four-member household, Monitor writes in a front-page story. Half of this money would go towards buying the traditional lamb, around a third would go for Easter bread, while the remainder would be spent on eggs, salads, wine and other sweets for the children. A week before the Easter holidays, large retailers are trying to attract customers with attractive prices of the most saught-after products.
***
Douma front-pages a story about the price of eggs, which has doubled in the past year because of the more expensive chicken feed. The price of eggs increased by over 50 per cent by the time it reaches the end consumer, the newspaper quotes producers as saying. Eggs from Poland are less expensive, because the Catholic Easter is before the Orthodox Easter and unsold eggs are exported to Bulgaria.
***
"3,000 Less Abortions during the Pandemic," reads Telegraf's front-page headline. The newspaper quotes data from the Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, according to which voluntary abortions have dropped during the pandemic by 3,000 in 2020, compared to the previous year. Last year, a total of 10,630 women have decided to terminate their pregnancies. Abortions totalled 13,189 in 2019 and 14,024 in 2018. This decrease is observed across all age groups. According to psychiatrist Dr. Vesselin Gerev, many have reconsidered their priorities during the pandemic. The first lockdown had a favourable affect, as many people stayed home, relaxed and started having sex. It did not take a while for them, however, to realize that things are serious and emotions, like fear, concern and insecurity started prevailing. People became more cautions, which likely impacted their sexual contacts. According to him, the fact that entertainment establishments were closed, could have contributed less one-night stands, which are one of the reasons for abortions. MY
/МЙ/
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