site.btaMedia Review: June 30

Monday's news media are dominated by the topics of the euro's potential effect on prices, the corruption scandal in the Continue the Change party, and the search for the large feline predator on the loose in Northern Bulgaria.

ECONOMY

Trud has an interview with financial expert Daniela Vezieva about the upcoming introduction of the euro in Bulgaria, following the recent checks by the National Revenue Agency showing prices of a number of basic food items rising in many places in the country in just two weeks. She thinks there are grounds for that increase based on the prices of energy products and excise duties going up as well as the unstable geopolitical situation making traders take precautions. This process has been ongoing for months now, but the sharp increase by 25% to even 83% for some products lately is partially speculative. Bulgarian State institutions have powers and duties, as is the case across the EU, but those rather do not work in practice due to the poor quality of control, she argues when asked if the State can do something. "If all the rigour of laws and regulations were applied, speculation would be reduced. At the same time, there are many acts, both laws and regulations, which duplicate or transfer powers to and between institutions, making the implementation of the measure either impossible or reducing its impact," the expert says. According to her, there should be a policy on market regulation of prices of basic products. 

In an analysis on the same topic, Petar Ganev of the Institute for Market Economics tells Trud what he expects to happen until the end of the year: the hysterics around food prices will continue, kept going by lots of media and social media talk as well as State institutions demonstrating exercise of control; that will be used for anti-euro talks; there will be issues with the state budget due to the high deficit, making an increase in taxes and VAT inevitable while stopping automatic pay rises in the public sector; politicians' power ambitions might cause snap elections.

Telegraph interviews about the euro Lyuboslav Kostov, head of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Studies with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria. According to Kostov, the long transition period is a good environment for speculation. 

On Bulgarian National Radio, Dimitar Margaritov, former chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission and former deputy minister of economy and industry, as well as candidate for ombudsman, commented on the issue of prices, the introduction of the euro and control. Margaritov considers it "commendable that the institutions are cooperating" and these actions should continue, including "with more compacted teams, and why not joint ones", but acknowledges the distrust of users in institutional efficiency. With a hundred people in the field for the whole country, effective control cannot be maintained, he noted. There is a need to touch the legal framework and to arm consumers with a micro-weapon, Margaritov argued. In his words, this would mean adopting legislation that would enable people to influence the market and prevent attempts by unscrupulous traders. "You sanction through consumer behaviour," he specified. "There is a very general prohibition in the Euro Act, which is not backed by a sanction," he clarified in relation to speculative price rises. Asked how the conflicting messages - about zero inflation and, at the same time, about price increases - resonate with the public, Margaritov pointed out that there is truth in each. "On the one hand, it is true that we are without much inflation but, on the other hand, that is not true with regard to specific goods," he said.

On bTV's morning show, financial expert Levon Hampartzoumian commented on housing loans granted by banks growing by 26.7% in a year and consumer loans by 14%, according to the latest data of the Bulgarian National Bank. According to the expert, that means people feel secure enough to take loans; if one is not confident about their future income, they would not take out a loan. In his words, the economic optimism is the result of people's expectations of better and more stable incomes with the eurozone entry. "All of the active part of the population, who do not roll in the squares, but work and produce new wealth, feel optimistic and take out loans," he said.

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Segabg.com reports that housing prices in major cities continue to grow at the high rates of last year. For the first quarter of 2025, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) registered a 15.1% average increase compared to the same quarter of 2024. For the whole of 2024, the real estate market recorded price growth of 16.5% and it was one of the highest in the EU. The NSI monitors real estate prices in the six largest cities in the country (with a population of over 120,000 inhabitants): Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, and Stara Zagora. Residential property prices in Ruse rose the most in the first quarter of the year (25.4%), with this growth entirely due to transactions with existing construction, as there is no data on those with newly built properties. Next are Varna (18.4%), Plovdiv (17.9%), Sofia (14.1%), and Burgas (10.6%).

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24 Chasa writes on its front page that as of July 1, pensions will increase based on the Swiss rule, but half a million pensioners will still remain below the poverty line.

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Capital.bg writes that there is no sector in Bulgaria's economy with more investments and dynamic development than the energy sector. For the 2024 and 2025 period, a total of BGN 7.3 billion will be invested in it, and this is without even counting the cost of preparing the project for new units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, which is several hundred million more. Such a massive change in the energy sector has not happened for decades, and the effects of these investments are yet to be felt. The challenge is that the vast majority of these funds are directed towards photovoltaic plants and energy storage systems. Only about 6% of the money has gone to improving and expanding the grid. Investment in other capacities - such as wind turbines and hydroelectric power plants - is almost completely lacking. But this could change very soon - several large wind farms are already in an advanced design phase and are expected to start being built within a year or two, and the National Electricity Company is already actively working on projects for new pump-storage hydroelectric facilities in the Rhodopes, and Bulgarian Energy Holding has managed to attract financing for their start-up.

Telegraph writes in an inside-page article that associations are being formed for solar energy as a means to reduce electricity bills.

POLITICS

In an interview for 24 Chasa, Prof. Rosen Stoyanov, political expert and head of the Political Analyses and Forecasts department at the Gallup International Balkan polling agency, comments on the corruption scandal in the Continue the Change (CC) party [which began after two borough mayors in Sofia said they were quitting CC over corruption pressure by the party's leadership]. According to Prof. Stoyanov, coalition partner Democratic Bulgaria was too hasty in backing CC when it is unclear whether Continue the Change will still exist in a few days. He described CC co-leader Kiril Petkov's resignation as a bizarre, hasty and emotional action as well as a strategically bad decision, given that the one to bear responsibility for the scandal in Sofia should have been at the municipal level, and not the party leadership. According to Prof. Stoyanov, CC never managed to become a real party, remaining a para-party organization with many leaders and speakers and acting like a startup, which is why the scandal will not make CC stronger. Prof. Stoyanov does not expect CC to attract the unsure voters in the presidential elections next year.

Mediapool. bg reports that in a statement on Sunday evening, Assen Vassilev, who remains CC's only chair after co-chair Petkov's resignation, described the rumors of the party's collapse as "quite exaggerated" and announced that since June 23, there have been 68 applications for termination of membership in CC, as well as 40 applications for new membership. By comparison, CC has more than 6,000 members who pay membership fee each month, he said. "Continue the Change was founded with one main goal: a prosperous Bulgaria at the heart of the European Union. So far, for the past almost three years, Bulgaria has managed to achieve things we have been awaiting for decades - our accession to Schengen, the eurozone, the exemption of Bulgarian businesses from the Russia tax in the energy sector, better incomes for Bulgarian citizens," he reported. Vassilev described as "a precedent in Bulgaria's recent history" the assumption of political responsibility by Kiril Petkov and his resignation as party leader. In Vassilev's words, with this Petkov has shown that the cause of Bulgaria is more important than the posts. Vassilev described as "absolutely groundless" the allegations of the representatives of the local government in Sofia who have resigned from CC, about corruption pressure from the party's leadership.

On bTV's morning show, sociologist Evelina Slavkova and political expert Daniel Smilov commented on the scandal. Dragomir Ivanov, one of the Sofia municipal councillors who quit CC over the scandal, told bTV that Kiril Petkov taking all the blame on himself was not very correct, because if he does not know at all about the corruption scheme, he has empowered people who allow themselves illegal corrupt practices. "I expected those who are in the whole corruption organisation to take personal responsibility, not the CC Chairman. They could have at least taken a step back. The entire CC Executive Council could have taken a step back while the investigation is ongoing, and then to go back if there are no grounds or no wrongdoing," Ivanov argued. According to Ivanov, Sofia Deputy Mayor Nikola Barbutov certainly did not act on his own, as Ivanov said Assen Vassilev tried to present the situation. "Those who exert influence on a deputy mayor of Sofia Municipality are certainly not from the broad leadership or lower levels. These are people who are very close to the leadership. I hope the competent authorities do their job. I also urge my colleagues, if they consider it, to refer the matter to the European Public Prosecutor's Office," Ivanov added. 

On Nova TV's morning show, the topic was discussed by political analyst Kristian Shkvarek and journalist Vesselin Stoynev. According to Shkvarek, the corruption scandal will die out after Petkov's resignation. According to him, however, anti-corruption campaigns should be led by parties that have not directly participated in the government. "Resigning at a time like this, especially if the case is directly related to the leadership, would only legitimise people's suspicions," he argued. According to Stoynev, CC are in isolation in Parliament, unless one counts Vazrazhdane, with whom CC often vote together along anti-corruption lines. They waved the flag in a very particular way - behaving like apostles fighting for the cause. When it was tarnished, it came to the resignation of Petkov, and this made the situation even worse," the journalist argued. In his words, however, the development of such a situation in the government is not a precedent, recalling last year's resignation of the leader of Yes, Bulgaria, member of the Democratic Bulgaria coalition that currently shares a parliamentary group with CC. Therefore, the new circumstances are not actually new, and Stoyanov does not expect the situation to develop in any way. Both him and Shkvarek agreed that the scandal will not affect CC and would not cost it voters. 

Sofia Municipal Council head Tsvetomir Petrov told Nova TV that none of the mayors and municipal councillors who quit CC had talked to him about being pressured. He added that the scandal is a big blow to CC because their understanding is precisely zero tolerance for corruption. He thanked Kiril Petkov for resigning over the scandal and "showing why CC is different from all other parties." "For other formations at higher levels there were not only doubts, but also evidence, and no one resigned", Petrov added. According to him, CC has a future without Petkov because the cause is the community's, not the leader's. "We will prepare a change of the party's statute, we will make new control bodies so that this type of events will not happen anymore," Petrov added.

Bulgarian National Television's morning show is dedicated to the scandal shaking CC. According to PR expert Diana Damyanova, Continue the Change are not very good at PR and actions amid a conflict, but in this particular case they are doing very well because, by praising Kiril Petkov's resignation, it is expected that the question who the corruption's head is would stop being raised. Political expert Petar Cholakov commented that when you claim to be fighting corruption and there are such big expectations of you, it is only natural for everything you do to be put under the microscope. Sofia's Kremikovtski Borough Mayor, Liliya Donkova of CC, commented that in all likelihood, there is something true in the corruption claims made by her colleagues who quit CC. "Although, on Sunday Kuzmov, the Mayor of Oborishte Borough, and I were talking that most likely we are from another municipality, we are not from the same municipality, because we also work with these people and such a thing has never happened to us," she added. "We are visited daily by people who want to corrupt someone. And if we do not uphold what we do on the ground where we are, there is nothing to comment on. There isn't a mayor who hasn't had this kind of thing suggested to them, even by citizens on different occasions, everyone thinks their issue is the most important. The question is how we stand by our principles and whether we have them," she argued.

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Duma quotes Kristian Vigenin, head of the Bulgarian Socialists' delegation in the European Parliament and member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party Executive Board, as saying on Bulgarian National Television that there is a strategic problem with NATO's decisions. "There is an overall movement of the world towards weaponization, but the more you prepare for a potential war, the more the possibility of it happening increases. It is better for NATO countries to use their economic, financial and political resources to bring down tensions, not for an arms race," he is quoted as saying. "The 5% of GDP for armaments, which Bulgaria agreed to at the NATO Summit in The Hague, is a very high share and it should be reached within 10 years. Our country should not rush. Some member countries have not even reached 2% of GDP yet," Vigenin recalled. He explained that 3.5% of the approved 5% is for hard defence and the rest is for building infrastructure. "Security also includes health systems, the ability to respond to health crises in an emergency, so let's make an effort to protect investment in social and healthcare," the MEP said. He also stressed that the funds that Bulgaria will allocate for rearmament should remain predominantly in the Bulgarian defence industry.

HOME AFFAIRS

Trud's front-page article is dedicated to the latest developments in the case of a big feline predator on the lose near Shumen (Northeastern Bulgaria). The search for what is now believed to be a black leopard continues, but citizens are now allowed to visit the Shumen Plateau Nature Park since the predator is no longer there. Still, warning signs and the large bear trap installed for the cat will remain in place, in case the leopard returns. The decisions come after a citizen filmed the cat with his phone in the nature park on June 19, but residents of nearby villages and even in the Razgrad area (some 30 km away from the wildlife experts' search area) have since reported seeing it. The experts believe the large cat might not have been kept by an owner in Shumen but elsewhere in Northeastern Bulgaria, or even in another country, since such an animal was spotted in the wild in Hungary and Serbia in 2021.

On bTV's morning show, WWF senior wildlife expert Alexandar Dutsov commented that there is always a risk of encountering a wild animal, but they avoid people because they know humans are a threat. A piece of evidence about the leopard's existence in the wild - a paw print - more likely belongs to a large dog, he commented. A leopard has a very big perimeter of movement; it can cover between 50 and 100 km a day. 

On Nova TV's morning show, Assoc. Prof. Stoyan Lazarov, a zoologist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, too argued that the paw print belongs to a dog. He voiced doubt that there actually is a leopard on the loose. In his words, to not be able to prove for such a long time that the animal is in the Shumen Plateau Nature Park or that it even exists, is a bit strange. He doubts the authenticity of the video footage made public on June 19. According to him, if the animal was kept in domestic conditions, it is not trained to hunt game and is thus more likely to seek food near populated areas where there is access to chickens, stray dogs, and cats. "This animal has grown up around people. It makes no sense to hide in dense forests, it will look for easy food," the zoologist explained.

Bulgarian National Television's team got in touch with traders to show how easy it is to buy a monkey despite the ban. Internet offers "trained and cute monkeys" with passport, vaccines and home delivery. But behind the pretty words is an illegal trade that circumvents the law.