site.btaMedia Review: April 15

Wednesday’s Bulgarian media coverage is dominated by the April 19 parliamentary elections, with outlets focusing on coalition arithmetic, vote-buying and the possibility that the Hemus Motorway tunnel blockage was a political provocation. Energy security also remains high on the agenda after Washington extended a licence allowing Lukoil’s Bulgarian companies to keep operating.

ELECTIONS

Dnevnik reports that, five days before the April 19 vote, a debate organized by "Izvan Efir" shifted the focus to the 160-vote majority needed to renew the Supreme Judicial Council. GERB-UDF says it is ready to work for such a majority and will not govern again with Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – New Beginning. Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) rules out a governing deal with GERB-UDF and MRF – New Beginning, but does not exclude parliamentary coordination, including with Vazrazhdane, on the Council. BSP says talks on the Council should proceed in parallel with coalition negotiations.

Dnevnik notes that the sharpest divisions remain over foreign policy, with Progressive Bulgaria representatives giving no clear answer on whether Vladimir Putin is the aggressor in Ukraine or whether Crimea belongs to Ukraine. 24 Chasa adds that the debate, which lasted more than two hours, generated more theatre than substance, although the moderator corrected false claims and showed no visible bias toward either side.

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Capital writes that, in an interview ahead of the April 19 vote, Continue the Change (CC) chair Assen Vassilev says the two main tasks after the election are dismantling the Borissov-Peevski model and protecting citizens from the next crisis. He says judicial reform must come first, with a new Supreme Judicial Council elected without the participation of GERB-UDF and MRF, and argues that a reform majority should come from “everyone except GERB-UDF and MRF”. He leaves open the possibility of limited overlap with Progressive Bulgaria on court reform, but said a government led by Rumen Radev is “difficult at best, and impossible at worst” because of differences over economic policy and geopolitics. Vassilev also backs a broad anti-crisis package, a cap on electricity prices for business, stronger support for young working families and a full ban on outdoor gambling advertising.

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Capital published a separate interview with Yes, Bulgaria co-chair Ivaylo Mirchev, who says CC-DB’s first priority after the vote is dismantling the Borissov-Peevski model, which he links to corruption, captured regulators, judicial blockages and distorted elections. He says the coalition has around 30 reform measures, including a new Judiciary Act, changes to the regulators, machine voting, a stronger anti-corruption programme, digitization and administrative reform, and argues that these steps would show whether there is a genuine reform majority in the next parliament. “Borissov and Peevski are one and the same thing,” Mirchev said. He adds that cooperation with Progressive Bulgaria is possible only if it backs those reforms and Bulgaria’s Euro-Atlantic orientation, and warned that if Radev tries to become “a new Orban” or “Putin’s Trojan horse in Europe”, CC-DB will not support that course. Mirchev also says low turnout would only preserve the current model and argues that protest energy must be turned into votes.

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In an interview with bTV, BSP leader Krum Zarkov said the party expects to win seats in the next parliament and ruled out coalition talks with MRF – New Beginning and GERB-UDF. “We will not hold talks on governing with MRF – New Beginning and GERB-UDF,” Zarkov said.

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Capital notes that the latest polls by four agencies still put former president Rumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria in first place, followed by GERB-UDF and CC-DB, with MRF and Vazrazhdane also projected to enter parliament and BSP hovering near the threshold. Turnout is expected to be slightly higher than in the most recent elections, but still unremarkable, while the share of undecided voters remains unusually high.

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In an interview with Capital, German historian Christoph Lorke says the April 19 election is unlikely to end the cycle of weak coalitions and repeat votes. “The oligarchic model in Bulgaria is not a metaphor, but a structural reality,” Lorke says.

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Trud reports that caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev said the lorry that blocked the Vitinya tunnel on the Hemus Motorway belongs to a company owned by a party activist and former Section Election Commission member. “I cannot rule out the possibility that the truck was part of a political provocation,” Dechev said, adding that the aim may have been to discredit the caretaker government and benefit specific parties.

He also said police were checking information that a large amount of counterfeit euros was being prepared for vote-buying and noted that more than 100 election-related reports were being received every day.

Trud adds that Dechev points to disputed actions by the prosecution in the Kardzhali post-office case and to slow progress in other vote-buying investigations.

Telegraph also reports on the tunnel case, saying the driver remains in custody after refusing free towing and insisting his employer would pay only if the vehicle was removed by a specific firm from another part of the country.

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Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported that police in Kaolinovo, Shumen Region, seized nearly EUR 15,000 and lists of names in an operation against the violation of voting rights, with three people detained.

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BNT also reported that several polling stations in Kyustendil Region may be unable to livestream ballot counting because of weak mobile coverage in small mountain settlements, with the recordings to be uploaded later.

JUSTICE

Trud writes that constitutional law professor Plamen Kirov views the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Sarafov case as a narrowly legal finding, not a solution to the dispute over acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov. Kirov said the Court merely upheld the constitutionality of the relevant provision of the Judiciary Act and did not rule on whether Sarafov’s term has expired.

He added that the deadlock stems from the expired mandate of the Supreme Judicial Council and poorly drafted legislative amendments, and dismissed Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Caretaker Minister of Justice Andrey Yankulov’s latest ideas for temporary replacements as far-fetched. Kirov also said Caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov cannot serve another caretaker term because he has already been released from the Bulgarian National Bank.

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Mediapool.bg reports that publisher Ivo Prokopiev has been awarded nearly BGN 150,000 in damages from the prosecution over the EVN case. The site notes that the Supreme Court of Cassation found that the complex criminal proceedings required highly qualified defence and that the legal fees challenged by the prosecution were justified.

Mediapool.bg adds that the original case ended in acquittals for all defendants, with the court finding that the State had suffered no loss from the sale.

ECONOMY

24 Chasa and other outlets report that the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a new general licence allowing Lukoil’s Bulgarian companies to continue operating until October 29, 2026. The new licence replaces the previous one issued on November 14, 2025 and does not apply to other blocked persons or unnamed Lukoil affiliates. The move follows a similar extension by the UK and is intended to prevent disruption to fuel supplies and critical infrastructure in Bulgaria.

In a video statement, Caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov said the decision was “very good news” and added that the special manager must now secure supplies so that the Burgas refinery can operate at full capacity and the market sees no shortages.

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Dnevnik reports that Bulgaria will channel another EUR 210 million under the JEREMIE initiative to companies in strategic sectors following a meeting between Gurov, European Investment Bank Vice-President Marek Mora and European Investment Fund chief executive Marjut Falkstedt. The paper notes that Bulgaria has already supported nearly 500 start-ups and says the main shortfall is access to later-stage capital.

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Mediapool.bg reports that the final dismantling of Kozloduy NPP’s first four reactors will be put out to tender for an external contractor with relevant experience, as the State body in charge of decommissioning lacks the capacity to carry out the work on its own. The remaining reactor work is valued at EUR 70 million, and the main decommissioning tasks are still scheduled for completion by 2030.

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Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) aired an interview with Institute for Market Economics senior economist Zornitsa Slavova, who said Bulgarian municipalities remain heavily reliant on central government, with only about 25% of their revenue coming from their own sources. She said this gives the finance minister significant political leverage and leaves mayors dependent on discretionary funding from the centre. “That is why the investment programme was criticized, because it favoured some mayors from certain parties and not others,” Slavova said.

Slavova added that greater fiscal autonomy would reduce that dependence and give local authorities stronger incentives to attract investment. She said calculations show that if 2 percentage points of the 10% personal income tax were retained by municipalities, even the smallest one, Treklyano, would increase its own-source revenue by 25% to 26%.

She noted that only about 1% of Bulgaria’s GDP passes through municipalities, compared with far higher levels in the EU and more than 10% in the Nordic countries. Slavova also said that nearly 100 of Bulgaria’s 265 municipalities no longer meet the criteria of 6,000 residents and positive demographic trends, adding that decentralization has been absent from the election campaign.

SOCIETY

Trud reports that the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency blocked more than 370 tonnes of food at the EU’s external borders between early March and April 5 after inspectors found pesticide residues, toxins or incomplete documentation in 51 consignments, most of them at Kapitan Andreevo. The rejected shipments included tomatoes, tangerines, sweet peppers, dried figs and hazelnuts. The paper notes that 38 alerts were entered into the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed.

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Telegraph reports that the National Social Security Institute has uncovered a scheme in Targovishte involving dozens of fictitious employees registered by a company with negligible real activity. The paper says 32 people were recorded in various jobs over several years, while more than BGN 55,000 in unemployment, maternity and childcare benefits was paid out. Inspectors found that the purported employees had performed no real work and ordered the insurance records of all 32 to be erased.

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bTV reported that Pirogov is treating a rising number of children with serious injuries from electric scooter crashes as the weather warms, including some aged just 8 or 9. Doctors said the injuries are comparable to those seen in motorcycle accidents, often involve severe fractures and can be life-threatening when riders are not wearing helmets. The report said about 100,000 people in Bulgaria are officially registered as electric scooter users, while Interior Ministry data show more than 400 serious accidents in 2025, leaving 467 injured and four dead. Medical staff and road safety experts said stricter enforcement must be matched by better cycling infrastructure.

HEALTHCARE

In an interview with BNR, Varna GP Nikolay Hristov said a draft telemedicine ordinance prepared by the Health Ministry risks crippling routine medical advice by phone. He said the text wrongly treats telemedicine as a separate, heavily regulated field of medicine and would require doctors to use certified software, fixed schedules, prior written consent and additional procedures even for basic remote consultations. “We will simply switch off our phones,” Hristov said, if the ordinance is published in its current form.

BNR added that Hristov called the draft a bureaucratic outrage that could overwhelm the system, as it does not specify how the new activity would be funded and because general practitioners’ objections have not been taken into account. He appealed to Caretaker Health Minister Michail Okoliyski to stop the ordinance before it is promulgated in the State Gazette.