site.btaMedia Review: July 4

POLITICS 

A main topic in news media on Friday, including in Trud, Telegraph, 24 Chasa, Mediapool and Sega, was Thursday’s debate on a vote of no confidence in the Rosen Zhelyazkov Cabinet over an alleged failure in the country's fiscal policy, as Bulgaria awaits final approval for the eurozone. The vote will take place on Friday.

Sega sums up the situation, explaining that this is the third no-confidence motion tabled by the trio Vazrazhdane, MECh and Velichie [Grandeur]. The previous two votes were over the cabinet's failures in foreign policy and the fight against corruption. This no-confidence vote is expected to be supported only by the petitioners who have 54 votes. For the cabinet to fall, at least 121 MPs are needed.

Telegraph, 24 Chasa, Mediapool all report that the opposition has no intention of giving up, as Velichie has tabled a fourth no-confidence motion already, over the failure of the Cabinet’s environmental policy.

Sega notes that on Wednesday, Democratic Bulgaria said that the current vote of no confidence was “an attempt by pro-Russian forces to derail Bulgaria's path towards the euro”. Their coalition partners from Continue the Change also said they would not support a no-confidence vote before July 8 when final decision on the eurozone is expected. GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that any vote of no confidence in the Cabinet is a waste of time for Parliament. The Democracy, Rights and Freedoms parliamentary group said that they would not participate in the vote. The Bulgarian Socialist party said that they are ready for a serious debate on the issue, but at this stage they only suspect an attempt at political destabilisation, masked behind political concerns. Toma Bikov from GERB reproached the opposition for submitting vote after vote but not saying what they would do to fix the problems they are fighting against.

In a Bulgarian National Television (BNT) interview, Deputy National Assembly Chair Atanas Atanasov said that Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB)  will not support the no-confidence vote against the Zhelyazkov cabinet and that the constant tabling of no-confidence votes is a waste of time as there is a stable majority. While CC-DB have critiques for the budget, they will refrain from participating "in events to destabilise the political situation.

Trud and Sega quote Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova who defended the financial policy and argued that the vote of no confidence was not related to the 2025 budget but to Bulgaria's accession to the eurozone.

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Trud, 24 Chasa, Telegraph, Mediapool, Sega all report that on Thursday morning the National Assembly voted on former Continue the Change (CC) co-chair Kiril Petkov's application to leave Parliament, with 197 votes in favour, no votes against and abstentions by Velchie. Vasil Stefanov from Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria will enter Parliament in Petkov’s place.

A week ago, Petkov resigned as co-chair of the political formation and announced that he was also giving up his seat as an MP. The reason was a corruption scandal with CC mayors and municipal councillors in Sofia municipality, who were accused by being pressured by the party leadership to sign public contracts with certain companies. Anonymous audio recordings have also appeared in the public domain. Now former Deputy Mayor of Sofia Nikola Barbutov was detained and charged. Petkov's resignation came as an act of taking responsibility on behalf of CC.

Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool report that Sofia's former deputy mayor Nikola Barbutov and businessman Petar Rafailov will remain in custody, as there is enough evidence that the two were involved in corruption schemes, offering bribes to district mayors in order for certain companies to win public procurement contracts.

In a political analysis published in Mediapool, Georgi Lozanov commented that the  resignation of Kiril Petkov marks the end of what he calls the “romantic-experimental” political period, which began with the anti-corruption protests of 2020. Unfortunately, after the protests, it proved to be difficult to transfer this energy to the institutions through elections, which politicians purposefully or out of vanity prevented each other from doing. Lozanov argued that the fate of the parties, the carriers of liberal democracy in this country, will determine Bulgaria’s degree of European integration in the future. The adoption of the euro is only a mandatory stepping stone on this path, behind which there may be steps of retreat, he said, stressing that the decisive battle is likely to be the next presidential elections, which will show whether Bulgaria wants to develop as a democratic European state or under post-Soviet influence is about to take a historic turn, not necessarily conducted by the outspoken pro-Russian proxies.

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Trud, Telegraph, Sega write that Interior Minister Daniel Mitov has complained that President Rumen Radev has not yet issued a decree appointing a secretary general of the Interior Ministry. The Interior Minister noted that a written proposal has been sent to the President. For months now, this highest professional position in the Interior Ministry has been filled by temporary incumbents. The coordination procedure began two weeks ago. Radev has confirmed that he has received the name of a nominated candidate but declined to comment whether he would support the nomination.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 

24 Chasa writes that Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, paid an official visit to Bulgaria on July 2,, at the invitation of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev. The visit, the first of its kind since the establishment of diplomatic ties, was aimed at elevating bilateral cooperation across key areas including energy, trade, investment, innovation, and regional security.  Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov conferred with Al Busaidi and expressed deep gratitude for Oman’s pivotal role in securing the release of Bulgarian sailors from the hijacked Galaxy Leader ship in January. 

Trud reports that the three largest political groups in the European Parliament, the European People's Party (EPP), the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe, reached agreement on dropping all references to "Macedonian identity" and "Macedonian language" from the EP draft resolution on the North Macedonia progress report. Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev said in a Facebook post that he expects this amendment to be carried by a majority vote in EP plenary next week. Combined, the three political groups hold 399 seats in the 720-place EU legislative body. On the air of Bulgarian National Television on Friday morning, Kovachev thanked the Bulgarian MEPs for their united position on the issue.

24 Chasa reports that Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Petar Mladenov met with Wang Min, Charge d'Affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria. Min expressed the wish that the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bulgaria, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, would organize a China-Bulgaria Youth Forum in Sofia this autumn. The forum will provide a platform for mutual learning, exchange of ideas and inspiration between young people from the two countries, and will give a new impetus to the strategic partnership between China and Bulgaria.

HOME AFFAIRS 

24 Chasa, Mediapool write that 75,000 school dropouts have been successfully returned to classrooms in the past eight years, since the School Dropout Prevention Mechanism has been in operation. A meeting of the Coordination Unit of the Mechanism was held on Thursday at the Council of Ministers. The Mechanism has been in place since 2017 and the total number of students returned to class was 116 thousand, but the number is actually 75 000 because there have been repeated dropouts, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev said during the meeting.

Telegraph reports that campaigns against illegal hospices across the country have dramatically raised the cost of caring for the elderly. Scammers posing as experienced carers have also emerged with the aim to get hold of a general power of attorney and drain the elderly's bills.

Mediapool reports that the parliamentary Committee on Internal Security and Public Order  has rejected legal changes making the wearing of body cameras by police officers compulsory. The proposal was tabled by CC-DB. 

Mediapool, Sega, BNT, bTV report that a man has died in an accident at the Arsenal military plant in Kazanlak. Senior Commissioner Krasimir Hristov from the Interior Ministry's Stara Zagora Department said that was no danger to the population. Georgi Nikolov, Deputy District Prosecutor of Stara Zagora, said at a briefing that the accident was caused by a mechanical failure of a machine centrifuge. The incident took place in a workshop for drying nitroglycerin mixture, which is used for gunpowder production. There were a total of three people inside at the time and the others were not injured. One worker was injured and died on the way to the hospital. The Arsenal facility resumed work on Friday. 

Sega reports that a planned evacuation due to fire in Aitos, by the Black sea, was cancelled as the fire has been contained. Due to the strong wind, which made extinguishing difficult, the fire approached the villa area, the city park, the zoo and the nursing home in Aitos. 
The cause for the fire is not yet determined.

Trud reports the presence of blowfish in the Black sea. Sea water temperatures have been rising in recent years, making it easier for Mediterranean species to enter the Black sea, experts explained, noting that this indicates a larger problem of warming seawater, and warned that while the blowfish is not dangerous, it is poisonous if ingested.  The Korean scorpionfish is another atypical predator that is increasingly found in the catch of fishermen along the Bulgarian coast.

HEALTHCARE

Sega writes that after unfavourable comments by the government about young doctors and postgraduate students in recent days, Health Minister Silvi Kirilov took a course towards dialogue and a very different tone. By his order, a working group has been set up to look into the possibility of changes to the regulation on the acquisition of a specialty in the health care system. The group includes representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Bulgarian Medical Association and the Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals, and the first meeting should be next week. The group will study in detail the proposals of the National Health Protest Future in Bulgaria Initiative Committee, and representatives of the committee will be present during the discussions.

Mediapool, 24 Chasa, Trud, Telegraph all quote GERB leader Boyko Borissov who said that if Bulgarians who go on vacation in Greece return to the Black Sea, the revenue would provide for important things such as increasing the salaries of young doctors and specialists.

ECONOMY

Trud, 24 Chasa, Sega and Mediapool write that Bulgaria will receive BGN 1.5 billion under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan by the end of the year. This country is expecting two payments to be finalised after a very long delay in the schedules, commented by Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev on the sidelines of the National Assembly.

On the air of bTV, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova commented on the state budget, noting that revenues are BGN 31.5 billion , which is BGN 3.2 billion  more than in the same period last year, and that the balance is negative. The higher collection in the budget is due to the work of the revenue agency, she said  "The payments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are BGN 2.6 billion. This is crucial for the strategic projects in the country that will lead to growth. Bulgaria is at a disadvantage in terms of EU and national funds, but what was agreed with the EC under the Plan will bring over BGN 6 billion into the budget from August 2025 to the end of 2026," Petkova said. She also commented that Assen Vassilev “does not have a single implemented budget.”

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Mediapool, Telegraph report that the government proposed that the poverty line for 2026 be BGN 746, with an increase of BGN 126 or 19.7% Monthly and lump-sum social benefits are legislatively linked to the official poverty line, which will automatically increase from the beginning of 2026. The scope of people eligible to receive food packages and material assistance will also be expanded. The threshold will also be taken into account when paying Easter or Christmas supplements to pensioners. The draft decree has been published for public discussion.

Sega reports that from 2026, the maximum financial support for people with disabilities will be BGN 435.48 per month. The increase compared to this year's amount is BGN 71.82 or 19.7%. It stems from the poverty line for 2026 increasing from BGN 638 this year to BGN 764 next year, which is up for public discussion. In 2026, more than 725,000 persons with permanent disabilities are expected to receive financial support on average every month, and 67, 443 individuals and families will receive benefits under social assistance.

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Telegraph reports that the Consumer Protection Commission will soon launch a specialised online portal on the prices of essential goods where citizens will be able to easily and conveniently check the current values of the products they put on their table every day.

Sega writes that in September, the first store of the new state People’s Store chain will be opened in Plovdiv and will be a pilot project. Minister of Agriculture Georgi Tahov told the parliamentary Committee on Agriculture that the state-owned company is already registered under the Commercial Act, and in 10 days the Council of Ministers will approve the board of directors.

Sega writes that for a few weeks now, some retail chains and some smaller retailers have been displaying prices both in BGN and in EUR, which has led to some consumers being misled into thinking the price of the goods is lower. From the beginning of August, the display of prices in both currencies will become mandatory and will end 12 months after the euro changeover date. On 8 July, the EU Council is expected to formally invite Bulgaria to join the eurozone from 1 January 2026.

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Trud, Telegraph, Mediapool, Sega report that the EU will invest nearly EUR 37.5 million in the construction and modernisation of six car parks with a total of 816 spaces for trucks in Bulgaria. The car parks in question are along the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) transport corridor linking the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. The car parks will be certified at platinum and gold level according to EU standards.

Mediapool reported that the operator of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnector said that it will hold tenders for the available capacity of the gas transmission link. On 7 July, tenders will be held for the uninterruptible capacity of the pipe for the next five gas years, the first of which starts on 1 October 2025. Capacity at the interconnector points with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and with Greek transmission operator DESFA will be offered on the PRISMA platform, while capacity at the point at Stara Zagora with Bulgartransgaz will be available on the RBP platform.

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Mediapool reports that Bulgaria ranks second in Europe in terms of clean water, ahead of countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, which is an important factor for Bulgarian tourism. Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh cited a ranking released a few days ago by the European Union's Directorate-General for the Environment, a body of the European Commission, which ranked Bulgaria second in Europe for clean water. The leader in the ranking is Cyprus, followed by Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, Croatia, Denmark and others.