site.btaMedia Review: September 15

OVERVIEW

The first day of school, September 15, is a topic that is present in all media.

ECONOMY

The daily Trud reports that the government does not plan to provide compensation to citizens or businesses for the high fuel prices. This transpired during Monday's sitting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation in a discussion between employers, trade unions, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev. The article notes that the previous compensation programme for low-income individuals, designed to address high fuel prices, expired at the end of June. It applied to people whose monthly income for the previous year was less than twice the poverty line, i.e. less than EUR 652 a month. The assistance amounted to EUR 20 per month and was intended to be paid during months in which the average price of gasoline or diesel exceeded EUR 1.60 per litre for at least three days.

Fuel prices today are significantly above this threshold, but there are no plans to provide compensation even for those with the lowest incomes. The average price of gasoline is EUR 1.64 per litre, and that of diesel is EUR 1.89 per litre. Throughout the entire period since July 16, the price of diesel has been above EUR 1.60 per litre. The situation with gasoline is slightly better, however, the 1.60-euro-per-litre threshold was crossed on September 4, and the price has remained higher ever since.

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Dnevnik.bg cites an interview with the head of the Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association, Svetoslav Benchev, aired on Nova TV, in which he shared his expectations that fuel prices will likely continue to rise gradually, particularly for diesel. A sudden price spike is not expected at this stage. Benchev said: "There is a shortage in Europe, and there is a shortage worldwide as well. There is also a shortage of diesel in the US. When situations like this arise, it is only natural that prices go up." He added that the strain is clearly visible on international markets as well. On the spot market, diesel for immediate delivery is about 20% more expensive than diesel for delivery in two months.

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An article in Mediapool.bg warns that the project to install new reactors to the Kozloduy NPP might face new challenges. The text reads:

"The critically low water level of the Danube River, which in August forced the shutdown or reduction of nuclear power generation in Hungary, Romania, and even at the Kozloduy NPP (albeit to a small extent and for a short time), has revealed an unusual problem for the project to build the two new Bulgarian AP1000 reactors. Options are being explored to resolve this issue. One of them could lead to higher construction costs – a price that has not yet been announced, but which experts say is unlikely to be less than EUR 20 billion and will likely be much higher. The other option would result in higher ongoing operating costs for the two future units. [...]

"The point is that the current reactor design calls for them to use the nuclear power plant's existing cooling canals. There are two such canals, designed to cool the six units – four VVER-440 (water-water energetic reactor) reactors, which have been shut down and are being decommissioned, and two operating VVER-1000 reactors. However, one of the canals is undergoing major repairs and is effectively out of service. This is precisely what necessitated reducing the output of one of the VVER-1000 units for some time due to the low water level of the Danube.

"The project currently being developed under the engineering contract with the American company Westinghouse and Hyundai calls for a complete reconstruction and modernization of the non-operational cooling canal and for the pumps at its onshore station to be lowered to a greater depth. Recently, however – amid the crisis regarding the Danube's water level – those involved in the project have expressed doubts as to whether this is a sufficiently sound technical solution. Consequently, Kozloduy NPP - New Build EAD is now considering an option to build cooling towers for the two units. This would cost less than repairing the canal, but the subsequent maintenance of the coolant in the towers would be significantly more expensive, and these costs would alter the long-term cost of electricity, according to sources familiar with the matter.

"Furthermore, the inclusion of cooling towers in the construction plan alters the technical design that has been under consideration thus far, which means revising its existing parameters and causing further delays in the licensing and implementation of the construction project.

"According to a schedule for the construction of the new reactors approved back in 2023 by the parliament at that time, Unit 7 of the nuclear power plant was slated to be commissioned in 2034. There is already informal talk of a more realistic deadline in 2038, and in early September, Energy Minister Iva Petrova told the relevant parliamentary committee that there is an updated financial model for the project, a new roadmap, and schedules for the construction of the reactors. These will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval, but Petrova did not disclose the new estimates regarding the reactors."

The article concludes at this point, there are still many technical uncertainties surrounding Units 7 and 8 of the Kozloduy NPP that need to be resolved before significant progress can even be on the agenda, let alone financing, despite the promises made by the US and South Korean export banks to provide USD 8 billion in loans each for the participation of Westinghouse and Hyundai. And on the horizon is the political maneuvering surrounding the possibility of yet another revival of the Belene NPP, which could completely change the "nuclear landscape" in Bulgaria.

TRAFFIC

The daily 24 Chasa cites an interview with Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev that Nova TV aired on Tuesday morning in which the Minister discussed planned measures to boost road safety. Peev reported that his Ministry plans to install electronic signs along the roads to identify who is violating the rules. He added: "The information will be fed into the system and will indicate to police officers whom to stop, allowing them to target specific violators rather than conducting blanket enforcement campaigns, as has been the case so far." Information from this system will be forwarded to the National Revenue Agency and the National Customs Agency. Peev reported: "The Ministry of the Interior will be in charge of road operations, while the digital hub to be established will be housed at the Ministry of Transport. Currently, a number of agencies have the technical capabilities for tracking. The idea is to gather the information in one place, to process it, create risk profiles, and, based on those profiles, to route the information to the appropriate institutions."

EDUCATION

Bulgarian National Television and bTV report that before the first day of school, the Social Assistance Agency has granted a one-time payment of EUR 153 to more than 127,000 children in grades one through four and in grade eight. The aid is paid in two instalments – at the beginning of the school year and at the end of the first term. To receive the second instalment, the child must attend school regularly. Nearly 50,000 children have already received the first instalment.

The support is provided unconditionally, regardless of the family's income or financial status, to all students enrolled in first and eighth grade or continuing their education in second, third, and fourth grade. The type of school – whether public, municipal, or private – also does not affect eligibility.

To date, over EUR 3.7 million has been disbursed. The families of approximately 260,000 children are eligible for this support. The deadline for applications is October 15.

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Dnevnik.bg cites an analysis that was originally published by Zornitsa Slavova of the Institute for Market Economics (IME) under the name "What does the Bulgarian classroom look like according to PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] 2025?". The text reads:

"Bulgarian students' scores on the 2025 PISA assessment are once again well below the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] average. Bulgarian 15-year-olds scored 421 points in science, 405 in mathematics, and 387 in reading. Compared to 2022, the score in science remains virtually unchanged, while the score in math has decreased by 12 points, and the score in reading by 18. Nearly 60% are functionally illiterate (failing to reach the basic proficiency level in reading), and 42% of students fail to reach the basic proficiency level in all three areas simultaneously – a proportion more than twice as high as the OECD average. [...]

"In science classes, 47% of Bulgarian students say their classmates do not listen to what the teacher says, compared to an OECD average of 29%; 41% report noise and disruption in most or every class, compared to 31% for the OECD. And 34% say that students cannot work quietly in class – nearly twice the OECD average of 19%.

"Digital distractions have now been added to traditional ones. Nearly 42% of Bulgarian students say their classmates are distracted by phones and other digital devices during most or every class, compared to an OECD average of 28%. Bulgarian students spend an average of 2.2 hours a day at school using digital devices for entertainment – twice the OECD average.

"It is important to distinguish between using technology for learning and using it for entertainment. In the former case, moderate use is associated with better results. In the latter case, the picture is reversed: after about one hour of daily recreational use at school, performance begins to decline as screen time increases. In other words, the problem is not technology in schools per se, but the school's inability to manage when and for what purposes it is used.

"The problem is also evident beyond classroom discipline. Nearly 48% of Bulgarian students missed at least one full school day in the two weeks leading up to the test, compared to an OECD average of 22%, and 42% missed at least one class period, compared to an average of 24%.

"And when students do work on a task, there is another unusual indicator. In 22.3% of their reading responses, so-called 'hasty responses' – answers that are both very quick and incorrect – are observed, compared to an OECD average of just 8.9%. This does not necessarily mean that the student did not read the text, but it is an indicator of rushing through the task rather than working on it carefully.

"Added to this are attitudes toward learning. Bulgarian students score below the OECD average in curiosity and persistence, and the proportion of those who say they put in extra effort when a task becomes difficult has decreased by about 11 percentage points compared to the previous study in 2022.

"Thus, the poor PISA results appear less like an isolated problem with the mastery of specific academic content and more like a problem with the effectiveness of the learning process itself – whether students are present, whether they can work in a calm environment, whether they manage to maintain their attention, and whether they continue to think when a task becomes difficult."

The analysis concludes that PISA reveals correlations, not necessarily cause-and-effect relationships. Its findings do however draw attention to something that is often overlooked in Bulgarian education policy, and that is what is actually happening in the classroom. Slavova stated that the first challenge is not necessarily more class time or more learning material but rather making better use of the time already available. If a significant portion of the students are not listening, cannot work in peace, or are distracted by their phones, adding more class hours is unlikely to yield results.

Equally important is the teaching method itself. In an environment marked by a lack of consistency and a tendency to rush through answers, schools must create more opportunities for students to read carefully, solve problems on their own, make mistakes, and try again. This is also one of the OECD's key recommendations: less rushing through a large volume of content and more teaching of core knowledge and skills.

In an interview for Bulgarian National Radio, translator and activist Irina Manusheva shared her concern with the fact that only 26% of adolescents in Bulgaria realize that they need to rely on scientific data and verify their sources when forming an argument. That number in China is 75%, it is 64% in South Korea and Italy, 53% in Turkiye. Zambia and Cambodia are also ahead of Bulgaria with 33 and 32% respectively, compared to an average rate of 46% estimated by the OECD. The low rate in Bulgaria suggests that fake news can easily be spread and accepted as the truth. Manusheva was adamant that Bulgaria's poor results should be attributed to the educational system in place rather than the individual students.

HEALTHCARE

An article in Trud entitled "They are pumping us full of antibiotics through the meat" cites Emma Keuleyan, the head of the Laboratory of Microbiology, Virology, and Hospital Hygiene at Lozenets University Hospital, who warned that many Bulgarians are showing resistance to colistin – one of the life-saving antibiotics – without ever having been prescribed it or taken it. The reason is that it is frequently administered to farm animals. The frequent use of colistin on farms is due to its relatively low price. As a result, about 30% of the most dangerous bacteria that cause infections in humans are now resistant to this antibiotic medication.

Veterinarians noted that antibiotics are routinely administered to animals on farms as a preventive measure, and to be on the safe side, farmers choose the most effective ones, meaning broad-spectrum and potent antibiotics. Veterinarian Stoyan Dimov reported: "Low doses of antimicrobials kill harmful bacteria in the animals' intestines, thereby increasing their appetite and improving the absorption of nutrients. This explains their rapid weight gain and the widespread use of these substances by farmers." High doses of antibiotics serve to treat young animals and prevent infections in them. The expert acknowledged that animals develop resistance due to constant doses of antibiotics, making it necessary to switch to stronger antimicrobial drugs. Dimov added that there is a way to eliminate the drugs from the animals' bodies – by observing a withdrawal period before slaughter. He noted that every organism metabolizes and excretes drugs through the liver and kidneys, however, the necessary waiting periods are not always observed, and antibiotics remain in the meat of slaughtered animals.

Dr Dragomir Ivanov, Chair of One Health Bulgarian Association, reported that in veterinary medicine, only the import of antibiotics is recorded. After that, their distribution and prescribing remain unclear. He said that work is underway to introduce a system for regulating and prescribing antibiotics for animals as well, because human health cannot be considered in isolation from animal health and the state of the environment.

The experts noted that many farmers import strong antibiotics from Turkiye or buy them online to protect their animals.

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In an article published by 24 Chasa, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Banchev calls for the introduction of prenatal screening for thalassemia in Bulgaria. The expert noted that when two thalassemia carriers have children, there is a 25% chance with each pregnancy that the child will have a severe form of the disease, a 50% chance that the child will be a carrier, and a 25% chance that the child will not inherit the genetic mutation.

In countries such as Greece, Cyprus, and Italy, such preventive measures are already in place. Banchev reported that in Cyprus, preventive measures have led to a decline in the number of newborns with severe thalassemia from about 100 to just one or two children per year. In Bulgaria, carrier rates are estimated at about 3% of the population, but the topic is still rarely discussed in the doctor's office before the woman is already pregnant. Testing does not impose restrictions or make decisions on behalf of the parents. It enables them to understand the risks and make an informed choice.