site.btaMedia Review: September 16

POLITICS

Political expert Petar Cholakov said in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) the votes of no confidence are carried out by the opposition to demonstrate that something is being done. He said: "I believe there is an ongoing capture state. The question is, are these the people who will liberate it and make it democratic and good?", referring to Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), MECh, and the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, who submitted the motion. Cholakov added that a government controlled by GERB leader Boyko Borissov and Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan Peevski could not be particularly appealing.

The expert stated that Bulgarian politics is extremely unprincipled, as there are no impossible coalitions. He continued: "Let's say the no-confidence vote succeeds. What happens next? It's such a hodgepodge of political forces, they are so different. What kind of governing formula could they construct?"

Cholakov was adamant that those in power will not resign because of inflation or the protests, because President Rumen Radev is "waiting for them around the corner with his new political project or the threat of such a project". The expert added: "Presidential elections are also coming up, in which [Vice President Iliana] Iotova will surely run and has a good chance of performing very strongly. To split up in the face of such a strong enemy would be very short-sighted."

EUROPEAN UNION

Bulgarian MEP Ivaylo Valchev (There Is Such a People/European Conservatives and Reformists Group) stated in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) that the European Union is facing a crisis that is rarely seen on the public stage, since while the world is moving at an accelerated pace, "Europe continues to discuss, negotiate, and seek consensus." He argued that the consensus model hinders quick decisions and added that the right of veto guarantees protection for all parties but also slows down the Union's response. The MEP argued that Europe lacks clear leadership and direction.

Valchev believes that the crisis is not limited to individual countries but affects the entire Union, with the lack of a unified policy being particularly evident in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. He added: "It is unclear whether Europe as a whole will stand behind Ukraine or whether individual countries will act according to their own interests."

Valchev also criticized the deals between the EU and the US, saying: "America takes a pragmatic approach—it is ready to negotiate according to its interests. Europe has tried to remain united, but internal differences complicate the process."

ECONOMY

Violeta Ivanova, Deputy Director of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria's (CITUB) Institute of Social and Trade Union Research, told BNR that there are scandalous differences between the prices announced by the Commodity Exchange and Wholesale Markets State Commission and the final prices for consumers. The difference in some cases is as high as 100%. The difference in yogurt prices is 30%, while for cheese it is around 70%, said the union representative.

Ivanova said that artificially inflated prices is a classic sign of a cartel and added that "unfair, non-market behaviour" in Bulgaria has been going on for years. There is a 12 to 13% difference in prices between large and small retail outlets, with higher prices charged in the large ones. Regional differences are also in play.

CITUB monitors 21 essential goods, 20 of which are food products. In June this year, there was an increase of over 10% in the prices of basic foods compared to the same period in 2024. In July, there was a slight slowdown, which is typical for the summer season.

Over the past two years, the union has been monitoring prices in Bulgaria and other EU Member States. The price of milk, cheese, and eggs in Bulgaria is 26% higher than the European average, Ivanova reported.

In Bulgaria, the national minimum wage can purchase a small consumer basket of 20 items 9.7 times, compared to 32 times in Germany, 22 times in Spain, and 17 times in Romania. Ivanova warned that three out of ten Bulgarians are at risk of poverty.

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Against a monthly inflation rate of 0.1% in August and an annual inflation rate of 5.3% reported by the National Statistical Institute, Sofia Commodity Exchange Director Vasil Simov said on Nova TV's morning programme that global markets, as well as the market in Bulgaria, are not affected by the fact that Bulgaria will adopt the euro in 2026. Rather, the dollar-euro ratio in some markets is more significant. Simov said that the main factors determining commodity prices are still production, climatic conditions, and geopolitical conflicts around the world. He specified that sugar is the commodity that "calms everyone down", as the trend is firmly downward. In one year, the price of raw unrefined sugar has dropped by about 20%, while the price of refined sugar has decreased by about 10% on the New York and London markets. The main reason is stable production and lack of growth in global consumption.

The opposite trend can be seen for oilseed sunflower. Simov reported that In Russia and Ukraine, which are the main producers, the price has increased by between 30% and 50% in one year. In France, the increase is around 25%. The latest prices exceed USD 600-640 per tonne, compared to USD 400-480 a year earlier.

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Experts reported on Nova TV's morning segment that Bulgarians are in a rush to purchase real estate. One driver for that is concerns about price spikes after the adoption of the euro. According to credit consultant Elena Mihaylova, these concerns are unjustified, as previous adopters of the euro registered an expected increase in property prices of between 8% and 12% but not a sudden spike.

The expert described as unreasonable investments that are made at any cost just to ensure that the deal goes through before the end of the year. An example of this would be the purchase of a third property with 100% financing, without any personal contribution, even to cover the costs of the transaction. She said: "Rushed purchases carry a high risk of not being able to pay your loan regularly. This is an investment for a period of 30 years. It can be repaid in a shorter period of time when the customer has done their math well, has made a larger down payment, and their instalment is no more than 30% of their net income."

Commenting on a possible real estate bubble, Atanas Katsarchev, economy expert of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation, said that while it is true that prices are indeed inflated, there are many and complex factors behind this. He continued: "The anticipation of the euro is only one reason – and in itself, this brings even more investment and will likely create a need for even more real estate for various purposes. Against this backdrop, the vast majority of people cannot afford to buy their own home with their personal income." According to Katsarchev, the methodology for calculating the market and tax value of a given property needs to be updated.

The economist believes that investing in real estate is a good choice when the market is highly capitalized.

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An article in 24 Chasa reports that employees at Varna and Burgas airports are staging symbolic protests. The reason is the failure to meet their demands for bonus payments for the last three months, when the workload was significantly increased. The workers are also demanding pay rises. The daily quotes Georgi Nikolov, Chair of the Federation of Transport Workers at the Podkrepa Labour Confederation, who said in an interview for BNT that 77% of the staff at Varna Airport have signed the petition for the protest.

TRAFFIC

Trud wrote that the Road Safety Institute (RSI) demanded the resignation of Malina Krumova, head of the State Agency Road Safety. The RSI argued that for six years now, the agency has been failing to perform its main function—to be the coordinating and leading body for road safety. The Institute also pointed to the case of a 12-year-old girl who died in car crash on March 31, which triggered protests across the country. According to the Institute, the State Agency refuses to take responsibility for cases such as this one and opts to transfer it to other institutions instead.

The demand for resignation has been signed by 14 NGOs and sent to Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.

WAR IN UKRAINE

Political expert Martin Tabakov stated on Nova TV's morning programme that the recent incidents involving Russian drones entering the airspace of Poland and Romania are a clear sign of the failure of NATO's prevention policy. He said: "We have failed in our policy of prevention. In other words, we have failed to impose conditions on the Russian Federation that would make it clear that if it engages in such provocations, it will pay a disproportionately high price. What Russia is doing is the policy of a lecher – first he will ask to caress your hand, then he will ask to caress your leg."

Ivaylo Ivanov of the Association of the Officers in the Reserve “Atlantic” opined that NATO should have acted much more quickly and decisively. He stated: "After the second and third incidents, Russia should have been clearly told that NATO would not tolerate such violations of the airspace of its member states and that from now on, any object entering the territory of a NATO member state would be immediately shot down. [If that had taken place,] we would not have been in this situation at all."

Journalist Angel Petrov told Nova TV: "The attack on Poland showed that, as much as we may not like it, Europe still has many issues to resolve regarding its own security." He added that at present, signs coming from the US are particularly contradictory, with the most noticeable being the conditional tone of President Donald Trump.

Another journalist, Petar Pountchev, stated: "President Trump's words that Europe is not tough and consistent enough, that it does not act in a way that achieves results, are unfortunately true. And above all, that Europe is divided – it is clear that there are more than one or two Trojan horses within our alliances." The journalist added that it is possible that the general uncertainty in Europe will deepen and concluded: "We will continue to live in anxiety – at the very least we saw that Trump's loud statements that he would end the war in 24 hours did not happen."

WORLD

24 Chasa reports that Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin has been arrested in Sofia. Grechushkin was the owner of a cargo ship linked to a supply of ammonium nitrate at the centre of the massive explosion that shook the Port of Beirut back in 2020. The daily quotes Euronews, which learned that papers are prepared to request the transfer of Grechushkin to Lebanon for questioning. If he is not handed over, Lebanese investigators could travel to Bulgaria to question him here. The businessman was arrested at Sofia Airport after arriving on a flight from Cyprus.