site.btaPress Review: February 20

ECONOMY

Mediapool.bg writes that in response to its inquiry, the Finance Ministry said the Government's plans to build a factory for energy storage batteries near Stara Zagora (South Central Bulgaria) were presented before a series of companies in the US during last week's visit there of Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov, and the heads of State-owned energy companies. Several companies showed real interest in the project, and "quite a big" US trade delegation is expected in Bulgaria in early April. Similar meetings will be held with potential investors from the EU. The project's idea is "on the one hand, to have a guaranteed market, because the State wants to buy such batteries and, on the other hand, to direct resources under the Just Transition Fund to supporting the employment and requalification of cadres in the region," the Finance Ministry told Mediapool. No other details, such as the potential cost of such an enterprise, were provided. 
 
Segabg.com quotes Prof. Yanko Yanev, head of the Nuclear Knowledge Management Institute in Vienna, as telling Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday that according to him, nuclear energy has no alternative in Bulgaria, because this country is poor on energy resources, as stated in all analyses of the Bulgarian energy system in the last decades. He was commenting on the renewed debate on the future of the Belene N-plant project and Bulgaria's energy strategy in the context of carbonization. In the expert's words, there is nothing bad in producing batteries, but Bulgaria is among the few countries that can develop nuclear energy. The Belene N-plant site, descibed by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov as a "puddle" that Bulgaria will no longer pour resources in, has been studied by the Bulgarian science for over 40 years, has been researched, has been commented with the EU, and there is readiness to work on it, Yanev argued. He believes it will be more advantageous to build new units at Belene, which does not exclude the building of new units at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Duma.bg quotes Tourism Minister Hristo Prodanov as saying on Radio K2 on Saturday that uniting the branch and easing the visa regime for foreigners are among the main priorities in his work. There currently are over 200 branch organizations, which makes it difficult to be united and make quick and adequate decisions; uniting the branch would allow the State, businesses and tourists to look in the same direction, Prodanov said. He paid special attention to the State aid for the tourism sector, with 36 million leva expected to be distributed among over 2,000 enterprises in March. Talking about the winter season, Prodanov said it is progressing exceptionally well compared to the previous winter season, with a 50 per cent increase in the number of tourists. Most of them are Bulgarians but an increased interest from foreign guests has been observed as well, the Tourism Minister specified.

HOME AFFAIRS

Dnevnik.bg quotes Deputy Justice Minister Borislav Ganchev as saying on Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday that his Ministry will formulate new reasoning, different from that of former caretaker justice minister Yanaki Stoilov back in the summer of 2021, for its demand that Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev be removed from office. "We believe there are data on serious violations that could give grounds for this removal. More data continue to be received," Ganchev said. Dnevnik recalls that on February 8, Justice Minister Nadezhda Yordanova said her Ministry will request that the Supreme Judicial Council remove Geshev from office. Ganchev also told Bulgarian National Radio that within days the Justice Ministry will submit at the Council of Ministers a bill to amend the Judiciary Act. The planned judicial reform is divided into two groups of measures: such that require and measures that do not require constitutional majority, he explained.

Telegraf's front-page article reads that relics from the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation (1877-1878) are being sold online for pocket money. The daily has found that unique prints depicting key moments from the war, such as the battle of Shipka Pass and the seage of Pleven, can be purchased  for less than 20 US dollars. These prints, created by artists accredited to the warring sides to paint various battle scenes, were originally  published in the illustrated magazines at the time. Also on sale on platforms such as eBay are a limited number of medals that were conferred on Russian soldiers and Bulgarian fighters, as well as insignia of medics who treated the wounded and sick during the armed conflict.

24chasa.bg quotes foreign ex-minister and MP of GERB Ekaterina Zaharieva as saying on Bulgarian National Radio: "It is obvious that only one side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict intends to find a peaceful solution. The other side is preparing the grounds for an attack, and in this case that is Russia." She said she expected Russia to create ground to invade Ukraine, and "we have been watching these grounds for several days now". In her words, the Russia propaganda is working very well; to be exact, it has never stopped working.

Trud.bg quotes alkhabaralyemeni.net as reporting that a Bulgarian and four nationals of Yemen have been abducted by al-Qaeda, which is threatening to kill them unless its demands are met. A local mediator committee in Abyan, Yemen, has failed to free the UN employees because al-Qaeda increased its demands.