site.btaMedia Review: July 15

POLITICS

Trud and Mediapool.bg report that hundreds of Varna residents rally outside the municipality building in a second protest supporting arrested and indicted mayor Blagomir Kotsev. Demonstrators carry banners reading "Today it’s Blago [Blagomir Kotsev]; tomorrow it could be you", "Justice, not procurements" and "Varna is not for sale", and chant "We want our mayor". Continue the Change (CC) Chair Assen Vassilev tells the crowd every free person must resist repression against Kotsev and Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB) vice-president Todor Kapitanov (who is also taken in for questioning in a detention facility in relation to labour union protests Monday).

"This is a case of two pigs settling personal scores for their own benefit. However, this time the EU will not remain silent as it did in 2020. We will confront organized crime in public spaces, in the courtroom, in parliament, and within Europe," Vassilev proclaimed. 

Speakers also include MPs Stela Nikolova, Daniel Lorer and Bogdan Bogdanov, Leader of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria in Varna Ivaylo Mitkovski, MP Anton Tonev and acting mayor Pavel Popov, who assures citizens the attempted coup will fail and adds: "Blago [Blagomir Kotsev] is exceptionally strong and will withstand this assault on our freedom to choose." The protest continues with a march to Varna Court House, while a petition backing Kotsev circulates online, and another demonstration takes place on Wednesday in Varna and Sofia.

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Trud writes that MP Yavor Bozhankov accuses Continue the Change Chair Assen Vassilev of seeking to split the Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) alliance after Vassilev calls him a "party nomad". "Assen Vassilev wants to split the CC-DB alliance. To end the speculation, I know it first-hand, singular, personally from him," Bozhankov said. He warns the move would be a "gift for GERB and even for Vazrazhdane, which would automatically become the second political force". He notes he has never been a party member, having entered the National Assembly through the citizens' quota of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and later CC-DB, while Vassilev has belonged to Yes, Bulgaria! and has served as caretaker minister under several administrations. "My criticism is based on facts and is not a personal attack. This concerns a matter of principle, which is highly important,” Bozhankov added.

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Mediapool.bg writes that CC-DB Co-Floor Leader Nadejda Iordanova says the timing of any early election “depends on [GERB Leader] Borissov and [Movement for Rights and Freedoms Leader] Delyan Peevski” and wonders “whether Borissov will have the freedom to decide this himself”. She adds that the alliance will table a no-confidence motion in September to present a governing alternative in a full parliamentary debate.

Iordanova contends that the second-largest parliamentary group should actively present an alternative and criticizes recent sessions as unproductive exchanges between Vazrazhdane and GERB that only strengthen the ruling majority and make Peevski’s support both prominent and acceptable to Borissov.

She calls the arrest of Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev “an outrage”, insisting every case be investigated swiftly, objectively and fully and warning of “selective justice” in Varna, where prosecutors allegedly pick a court to rule on detention while citing an unnamed MP.

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Bulgarian National Television (BNT) aired an interview with former prime minister and CC-DB Co-Floor Leader Nikolay Denkov, who said CC-DB remained united with Democratic Bulgaria and was the only force tackling deep-seated problems. He blamed high bread-and-oil prices on cartel behaviour and asked why the Commission for Protection of Competition had not intervened, calling the recent arrests of eight forestry workers, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB) vice-president Todor Kapitanov and Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev abnormal. Denkov warned that a 13% electricity-tariff rise would push up prices across the economy and that citizens would feel the impact by winter.

He added that CC-DB had fought for three years to raise healthcare workers pay, arguing a balanced income policy was achievable and criticizing the government for skewing this year’s budget. Denkov said Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev and his wife intended to sue Bulgaria in the EU for human rights violations over the Varna arrest and claimed figures linked to GERB were behind the case.

ECONOMY

24 Chasa and Telegraph write that the government plans to prolong and tighten sanctions on retailers who lift prices without justification during Bulgaria’s switch to the euro. Draft amendments to the Law on the Introduction of the Euro extend the penalty period, currently limited to the dual-currency period of January 1-31, 2026, to cover the entire timeframe from the start of dual price display on August 8, 2025, through the end of 2026. Fines, now between BGN 400 and BGN 5 000, will increase, while the Consumer Protection Commission gains wider powers to inspect and penalize traders.

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said at a coordination-mechanism meeting chaired by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov on Monday that the period “must start earlier and last longer” in order to protect consumers throughout the transition. The changes also oblige shops to show prices in leva and euro in the same clear font, with colour differentiation and full visibility.

The daily notes National Statistical Institute data indicating modest movements among fifteen staple goods tracked since February: yoghurt 2% fat climbs 3.64%, fresh pork chops add 4.6% and boneless pork shoulder rises 2%, while most other items hardly change. Wholesale pork prices advance between 2% and 4% in recent months, or 11% year-on-year.

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24 Chasa reports that dairy prices in Bulgaria rank among the highest in Europe, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB) president Plamen Dimitrov says at a press conference. Chief Economist Lyuboslav Kostov presents June data from the union’s monthly monitoring of a 21-item essential consumer basket ahead of euro adoption. In the past year, flour prices rose by 23%, bread by 11%, rice by 10%, sausages by 28%, apples by 33%, and lemons by 20%, resulting in a 7.1% overall increase in the basket’s cost. Flour is EUR 1.07 per kilogram, the highest in the EU, while rice is EUR 2.70 per kilogram, exceeding prices in Romania, Germany, and the Netherlands. Cheese, fresh milk, yogurt, and cooking oil, above EUR 2 per liter, are also among the priciest in the bloc. Kostov says price convergence is outpacing wage growth and that incomes should increase when Bulgaria joins the eurozone, as further price hikes are limited within the common market. With a minimum wage of BGN 1,077, Bulgarians can buy the basket 7.7 times, compared to 17 times in Romania and Croatia, 21 in Spain, 26 in France, and 30 in Germany and the Netherlands. CITUB notes Bulgaria has the lowest minimum wage in the EU, while nearly one-third of the basket’s items are among the most expensive.

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Telegraph reports that staff at state forestry and hunting enterprises stage a protest aiming to block both carriageways of the Trakia motorway near Plovdiv at 10:00. Organized by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB), the initiative aims to stabilize the companies, secure a 15% wage increase, and reclassify their work to the second labor category. Police and gendarmerie form a cordon to keep demonstrators off the road, raising tension even before the start. 

"CITUB is responsible for organizing the protest. We are ready to step onto the motorway; if we are stopped, I do not know what will happen," Chair of the Federation of Trade Unions in the Forestry and Wood Processing Konstantin Cholakov says. He adds that entry-level forest rangers earn a basic salary of BGN 1,300–1,600, leaving a net wage of about BGN 1,000–1,200 after deductions. 

CITUB vice-president Todor Kapitanov says: "We will proceed onto the motorway; if needed, we are prepared for any confrontations and will accept any consequences the police may impose." CITUB later announces that Kapitanov is detained at the Trud police station after officers dispersed the protest, despite the demonstration having been properly notified in accordance with the law.

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Dnevnik reports that the cabinet and forestry sector employees sign an agreement to increase payroll spending effective July 1, enabling wage increases of 15–20% in the Forestry, Agriculture, Hail Suppression, Fisheries, and Aquaculture sectors. Agriculture Minister Georgi Tahov announces the agreement, while CITUB suspends protests but remains vigilant until the commitments are implemented. Earlier, a demonstration by hunting and forestry workers on the Trakia motorway led to clashes with police, resulting in the arrest of CITUB Vice-President Todor Kapitanov, Dnevnik writes.

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bTV and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported that CITUB vice-president Todor Kapitanov said he still had bruises on his "arms, back and hips” after police broke up the forestry-workers’ protest on the Trakia motorway. Kapitanov said that he and colleagues had tried to exercise their lawful right to demonstrate but police “thwarted it through violence and pressure”, entering verbal and physical clashes with women, people with disabilities and near-retirees; he called the security deployment “a parade in which the police showed its new shields, helmets and batons”, using the trade unionists as “guinea pigs”.

Kapitanov added that organizers had duly notified the authorities, specifying the exact time they would block the road, yet officers handcuffed him for three hours, denied him water he could drink unaided and removed him “in the most brutal way” although he had not resisted. He stressed that CITUB had staged almost 100 actions in the past decade without such force. The Interior Ministry said two police vehicles sustained damage during the incident.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Dnevnik writes that interior minister Daniel Mitov tells Parliament’s Committee on Internal Security and Public Order that “throughout the years Interior Ministry employees are dismissed unlawfully to satisfy someone’s bloodthirst; in over 90% of the cases the court reinstates them, pays their wages, leave and, if they resign, compensation”, Mitov said. 

His comments refer to former deputy chief of the organized-crime directorate Kalin Litov. Activist group BOEC claims Litov is targeted for sacking because of his role in a Plovdiv anti-smuggling raid, yet, after former interior minister Kalin Stoyanov intervenes, he is allowed to leave voluntarily with full pay. 

Mitov adds that a disciplinary probe finds Litov commits no grave offence and no indisputable proof shows he orders the operation halted; still, evidence of inaction brings a one-year reprimand served on June 23, after which he submits his resignation.

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Dnevnik writes that former National Investigation Service head Boyko Naydenov criticizes the prosecution’s handling of the Varna mayor case, telling bTV: "This is unprecedented. If sufficient evidence exists, stripping of immunity should be requested. I do not understand the repeated requests for custody, as these individuals are not violent offenders. They are employees who were at their workplaces just yesterday, what risk could they pose?" Naydenov says a tip-off about the alleged offence surfaced a year ago yet investigators fail to gather evidence with court-approved technical tools, adding that probes must first collect proof.

Legal expert Andrey Yankulov from the Anti-Corruption Fund notes the arrest warrant for Blagomir Kotsev is dated July 2 while the operation occurs on July 8 so that a different judicial panel considers pre-trial detention.

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Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported that Continue the Change (CC) lodged two complaints with the Supreme Judicial Council Inspectorate over alleged procedural breaches in the detention case against Varna mayor Blagomir Kotsev, councillors Yordan Kateliev and Nikolay Stefanov, and businessman Ivaylo Marinov. On 12 July the Sofia City Court had ordered all four to remain in custody, a ruling subject to appeal.

The first complaint accused prosecutors Georgi Ivanov and Ahmed Kokoev of bypassing jurisdiction rules by transferring the defendants from Varna to Sofia and seeking remand before a court lacking competence, allegedly amending their order just before the hearing to include an “unknown defendant” with immunity. The second complaint targeted Sofia City Court judge Stoyan Mihov, who, despite defence objections, heard the case and rejected the challenges without convincing grounds; the party claimed some changes to the prosecution order were made at his instruction. The Inspectorate, the acting Prosecutor General, the Head of the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, and the President of the Sofia City Court were requested to carry out an immediate review.

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Capital writes that on July 1 mayor Vassil Terziev files a complaint with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office after the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office refuses to open a case on alleged abuses at the Sofia Waste Treatment Plant. The municipality values the damage at about BGN 2.5 million a year between 2016 and 2021, while an internal audit finds that more than two-thirds of the machinery needs major repair despite 470 maintenance contracts worth BGN 206 million, of which BGN 114 million is already paid.

Capital says that the audit records missing or overpriced spare parts, equipment paid for but idle and inadequate Refuse Derived Fuel output because of poor-quality fuel. 

Prosecutor Yordan Petrov, who declines to open the case, is known for earlier stalled probes into alleged influence networks around Martin “the Notary” Bojanov and Petyo “Euro” Petrov, and for investigating judge Miroslav Petrov after the judge declined to confiscate a car in a separate high-profile case, an episode later flagged by the European Commission as potential prosecutorial pressure. In June acting prosecutor-general Borislav Sarafov proposes Petrov’s promotion to the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office.

HEALTHCARE

Capital writes that the projected National Children’s Hospital may cost EUR 458.7 million with VAT, a sum that health minister Silvi Kirilov confirms comes from an assessment by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and consultant IDOM, although he dismisses claims of a “golden” BGN 1 billion facility. Finance minister Temenuzhka Petkova notes “a resource of about BGN 1 billion cannot be provided”, adding that the letter Kirilov sends to her ministry merely outlines the EIB experts’ forecast for the 2026-29 budget cycle. The plan allocates EUR 253.7 million for construction, EUR 109.4 million for medical equipment and furniture and EUR 51.1 million for unforeseen costs, with work scheduled for 2025-28.

Capital compares this estimate with other regional projects, pointing out that Burgas is building a 133-bed pediatric hospital for BGN 68 million and a private “Mother and Me” facility in Sofia, which ended up not being approved by the State, is priced at BGN 120 million, while Romania recently completes a 187-bed children’s cancer hospital for EUR 53 million. The public council overseeing the Bulgarian project warns that uncertainty over the budget and “extremely unrealistic” design deadlines risk derailing a scheme first approved in 1978 and relaunched in 2024 on a state plot in Gorna Banya, where a symbolic groundbreaking takes place on June 1, 2024.

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Duma writes that Health Minister Silvi Kirilov denies allegations of deliberate misinformation, clarifying that the National Children’s Hospital will not cost BGN 1 billion, but rather BGN 100 million. Kirilov references an evaluation by EIB and an international consortium that estimates the total cost of construction and equipment at EUR 382 million (excluding VAT). He maintains that the project is a national priority and commits to preventing it from being affected by political considerations.

Duma also says that earlier in the day, CC Chair Assen Vassilev argued that problems in healthcare are “more than enough” to justify a no-confidence vote, displaying a document he says shows Kirilov asked the Minister of Finance to budget nearly BGN 1 billion for the hospital. The public council overseeing the project warns that any political game with the hospital puts its future in doubt.