site.btaMedia Review: March 28

RUSSIAN NATURAL GAS 

In a Sunday interview for Nova TV, Finance Minister Assen Vassilev commented on Russia’s decision that Europe pay for the Russian gas in rubles: “Bulgaria will not pay in rubles. We have a contract that is being observed. From an economic point of view, logic can be sought in this decision, as far as rubles are being bought at the official exchange rate, and not on the black market as is currently happening in Russia.” In his words, the EU is negotiating with Gazprom for common gas purchasing, and not for the purpose of helping Bulgaria out. “Bigger contracts mean better prices,” Vassilev added. He also said that Insaoil owner Georgi Samuilov had informed him in a tête-à-tête meeting last summer, back when Vassilev was caretaker finance minister, that Samuilov had been pressured by then prime minister Boyko Borissov and Delyan Peevki MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms into making operations with the State reserve; Samuilov had to redirect big sums to Borissov and Peevski. “It is based on that information that we submitted an alert to the State Agency for National Security to launch an investigation, there are services that need to determine the truth,” Vassilev told Nova TV.

Trud quotes GERB Deputy Chair Daniel Mitov as writing on his Facebook page that a day ago, he heard Prime Minister Kiril Petkov boasting about some huge success achieved by Petkov in Brussels – that the European Commission has committed to negotiate on behalf of all Member States on the supply of Russian natural gas. “This is an idea from as early as 2014. Apparently, the Prime Minister has a memory similar to that of those sea turtles who remember solely what the last thing they ate was,” Mitov’s post reads. He also wrote that it is in Bulgaria’s national interest to help Ukraine with weapons and to respond firmly to Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova.

Duma publishes an interview with Socialist leader and Economy Minister Korneliya Ninova in which she says it is good that the big in Europe are hearing the call against an embargo on Russian gas and oil supplies. Such an embargo would have a devastating impact on economies, she argues. Asked to comment on Finance Minister Vassilev’s recent statement that Bulgaria will not negotiate at all with Gazprom on gas import, Ninova says: “The negotiations have not began yet. We have a contract until the end of the year. Our [the coalition government’s’] categorical opinion is that Bulgaria is currently not ready with alternative gas supplies [that would allow it] to stop those from Russia.”

In an interview for Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Monday, Centre for the Study of Democracy Programme Director Rouslan Stefanov commented that Bulgaria is a relatively small gas consumer, so now this consumption can to a large extent be replaced, unlike back in 2009. “Alternatives should be sought when it comes to nuclear fuel supplies, such scenarios have been in development for years. From that point of view, very often in Bulgaria this dependence is overestimated,” he argued. The instrument for common purchase of energy on the part of the EU is aimed at greater consumption, lower prices and more favourable contract conditions, he also said.

In a Sunday interview for bTV, Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said that he considers there are enough reasons for changes in the Supervisory Board of the State-owned gas operator Bulgartransgaz. In his words, there are many irregularities and unexplainable facts in the construction of the Balkan Stream gas pipeline that cannot be explained rationally, meaning “there is something behind it, and that something is most often called corruption”. “Good or bad, the price has been paid; it can easily be compared to that of other infrastructure projects. However, the problem remains and it lies in the fact that the payment for this infrastructure depends solely on a single supplier: Gazprom.” He goes on to say that the way the contract was signed shows to what extent Bulgaria’s interest was observed. 

BULGARIA-RUSSIA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

24 Chasa quotes Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova as saying in an interview for pogled.info that a task has clearly been set [before the Bulgarian Government] that the relations between Bulgaria and Russia be made complicated. Commenting on the proposed removal of the Soviet Army monument from Sofia’s city centre, she said that were it not for the USSR, Bulgaria would have remained within the territory of Sofia Region, because when the matter of Bulgaria’s division was raised following World War Two, only the Soviet Union did not allow that division and, furthermore, left Dobroudzha to Bulgaria. “Therefore, as complex as the [bilateral] relations might be, a more objective view on history is needed,” she argued. 

In Monday’s morning show on bTV, international relations expert and former National Intelligence Service head Dimo Gyaurov commented that the Russian Ambassador’s statements over the past weeks should be reviewed in the context of the last one to two years, during which there has been constant tension in the bilateral relations. According to him, Bulgaria declaring ten Russian diplomats personae non gratae was a serious measure but it came too late. In his words, it has been known for a long time what these people do; they are no diplomats but intelligence officers.

On Nova TV’s morning show, former ambassador to the UN Stefan Tafrov commented on videos published by the Russian Embassy in Sofia showing a demonstration of a rocket complex’s destruction. “Mrs Mitrofanova’s behaviour has crossed all lines and it is time she left. Her personal behaviour is eroding the Bulgarian State’s dignity. We cannot allow a foreign ambassador to behave in such a way towards Bulgarian state institutions,” he said. “There is no need to close the embassy: we will simply bring the [bilateral] contacts to the lowest level,” he noted.

WAR IN UKRAINE 

In an interview for Nova TV on Sunday afternoon, the head of the crisis headquarters for the refugees from Ukraine, Colonel Valeri Rachev, said that since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, some 116,000 people from Ukraine have come here and approximately 54,000 of them have stayed, the majority mothers with children. “We are considering scenarios where 50,000, 100,000 or 200,000 more people come to Bulgaria,” he specified, adding that if more than that number come, Bulgaria can always seek support from other EU Member States as the process is managed within the Union.

In an interview for 24 Chasa, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit talks about the need to allocate EU resources for providing Ukrainian children with education. 

The bTV correspondent in Ukraine, Tanya Staneva, said on Monday’s morning show that people in Ukraine are starting to get used to the war and no longer run to hide when they hear the air raid sirens. The business is gradually recovering, with ever more coffee shops, parks and zoos reopening.

During the morning show on Bulgarian National Television (BNT), the three special correspondents in Odessa reported that phone alerts received on Sunday evening followed by sirens caused panic among the locals that the threat is near, but this morning the city woke up calm. Journalist Yavor Siderov commented on the continuing diplomatic attempts to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine. He argued that Bulgaria’s initial shock – both that of people here and of institutions - from the huge influx of Ukrainian refugees has passed; there is now a more coordinated response to the refugee crisis.

On Nova TV’s morning show, Ukrainian pop star Ekateryna Buzhynska told the story of how she, her husband and three children managed to escape from Ukraine to Bulgaria.

***

Following Sunday’s news conference where relatives of the 17 Bulgarian crew members on board the Tsarevna bulk carrier, blocked in the port of Mariupol since February 24, demanded an emergency evacuation, BNT contacted the Confederation of European Shipmasters' Associations (CESMA) to ask about the right moves in this situation. The CESMA replied that what the State can undertake based on its diplomatic channels through the international organizations it is a member of - the UN, the EU - is to take joint actions and through diplomatic measures to ensure the safety of the crew. The ship’s owner can also undertake the corresponding actions based on their contracts with the seamen, but the most important first step is to provide provisions and food for the crew. The Tsarevna’s owner is a foreign private company; the firm that hired the crew commented for BNT that the vessel cannot reach the humanitarian corridor because the channel leading there has been mined by the Ukrainian forces. 

The news of the blocked Tsarevna bulk carrier is frontpaged by Trud under the headline, “Ukrainian Military Holding Our Seamen as Living Shield”.

Duma writes that according to the chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Centre, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, as quoted by TASS, 67 foreign ships remain blocked in Ukrainian ports due to the threat of mines and of being fired upon. Russia opens a humanitarian corridor in the southwestern direction from 8 am to 7 pm daily, but Ukraine has thus far failed to show the will to provide safe passage for foreign ships, he said. He called on the International Maritime Organization to influence the authorities in Kyev and to take effective measures to guarantee the safe departure of foreign ships from Ukrainian ports.

CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR ELECTION 

Trud writes that the There is Such a People parliamentary group’s candidate for Governor of Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), Lyubomir Karimanski, will seek the support of two other parties in the ruling coalition – the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Democratic Bulgaria. His election by Parliament, however, will depend on the opposition, because even if he gets supported by these two coalition partners, in the best-case scenario he would receive the same number of votes (67) as Andrey Gurov, the nominee of the other coalition partner, Continue the Change. The BSP and Democratic Bulgaria have not yet decided who they will vote for; the decision is expected to be taken this week but unofficially, they support Karimanski. For now, Gurov is backed only by Continue the Change. The opposition GERB-UDF will not support either of the two nominees over doubts in their qualities, GERB Floor Leader Dessislava Atanassov told Trud, but specified that an official decision has not been taken yet.

Approached for comment by Bulgarian National Radio, political experts Svetoslav Malinov and Milen Lyubenov talked about the ruling coalition. According to Lyubenov, the differences within the coalition do not seem like a threat to the coalition but are not sending a good signal to society; they are one of the reasons for the certain erosion of the trust in the Government. The ruling coalition not having a single candidate for BNB Governor is a very bad signal, he argued. According to Malinov, the ruling coalition will be temporarily strengthened by the crises and the tension, but that will last only until the local elections. Malinov said that people should judge the Government not based on whether if fulfills its promises but on how it handles the crises. In this sense, the Government is partially managing some things (the war in Ukraine), managing other things quite well (the COVID crisis), and completely rejecting a third group of things (the judicial reform). 

ECONOMY - RISING PRICES

The front-page article in Duma reads that a month before Easter, a kilo of lamb meat costs 27 leva; it costs less if it has been imported, for example from North Macedonia and even from New Zealand. During the Easter holiday, some 160 tonnes of lamb meat are sold in Bulgaria. According to official data on wholesale prices, in the last week alone greenhouse tomatoes appreciated by 16.1 per cent and sunflower oil sold at a record-high price (4.75 lv/l compared to 4.45 lv/l a week earlier).

Nova TV’s morning show warned of a scheme where fake traders offer sunflower oil at attractive prices on social media. The interested buyers are told they have to send part of the sum for the product or pay the delivery costs in advance via a bank transfer, but afterwards the sellers stop picking up the phone and the consumers are left empty-handed.

On bTV’s morning show, former labour and social policy minister Bisser Petkov commented that the planned 9.2 per cent increase of the minimum wage has to some extent already been “eaten” by the inflation. He forecast that the share of working poor will increase unless the minimum wage keeps up with the inflation rate.

HEALTHCARE

24 Chasa frontpages the Government’s ideas for a healthcare reform at the end of 2022, including the introduction of an electronic health file for patients and patients not being tied to a single GP. 

All print media have an article about the planned lift of all anti-epidemic measures as of April 1, with comments by specialists on whether this idea of the Government is good or not. On BNT’s morning show, prof. Todor Kantardzhiev, former head of the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, commented that the number of COVID cases and fatalities is dropping, but the Health Minister should give a news conference jointly with experts to explain what will be done after April 1. Masks should remain compulsory on public transport, he argued. On Nova TV’s morning show, parliamentary Health Committee Deputy Chair Alexander Simidchiev warned that the pandemic appears to be subsiding but given the recent high number of new cases in neighbouring countries with high vaccination rates, Bulgaria would have a problem because less than 30 per cent of the population having been vaccinated. Talking on BNR, Simidchiev argued that masks should remain compulsory in indoor spaces, because that measure does not damage the economy while having many benefits.

Segabg.com quotes National Social Security Institute data showing that 20,704 pensioners will receive an extra 75 leva with their pension for having gotten fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or having gotten a booster shot in February. The third payment of this vaccination bonus, introduced as part of a government campaign to promote the COVID vaccines among the older Bulgarians, will be made on April 1. This brings the total number of pensioners to receive 75 leva since the start of the campaign to 47,000, far below the set target of 300,000 pensioners.