site.btaMedia Review: August 25

POLITICS

24 Chasa, Mediapool, Telegraph and Trud quote GERB leader Boyko Borissov, who commented on the selection of members of the Anti-Corruption Commission and reiterated that this is important for receiving the second tranche of European funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. These few billion are extremely important to enter the state budget, he said, as “mayors want roads, halls, stadiums, industrial zones, schools, and kindergartens”. Borissov also commented on the priorities for the new political season: “We are continuing to build our country, to restore it”. He argued that the past four years have been a great loss of time and resources.

Mediapool, Trud, 24 Chasa and Sega also quoted Borissov’s comments that the Ministry of Interior has been working without a permanent head for several months now, as have the State Agency for National Security and the ambassadors. “I hope that next week President Rumen Radev will say what he plans to do. We cannot guess,” he noted. A few days ago, the government agreed to reappoint General  Emil Tonev as head of the National Security Service (NSO) for another term in order to agree on the other posts in the Ministry of Interior, the State Agency for National Security, and especially the ambassadors, where the head of state has been delaying the issuance of decrees for months.

Sega reports that the heads of the most important regulatory bodies in the country are very highly paid (with the idea of protecting the interests of taxpayers and not succumbing to corruption). Their declarations submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission show that there are some truly wealthy individuals among them, with large incomes, properties, and savings. All those holding high government positions are required to submit asset declarations to the Anti-Corruption Commission for the previous year. The publication goes on to detail the income of heads and members of the Commission on Protection of Competition, the Bulgarian National Bank, Financial Supervision Commission, Bulgarian National Audit Office, the Commission for Consumer Protection, the Communications Regulation Commission, the National Revenue Agency and the Customs Agency.

On the air of bTV political analyst Georgi Harizanov and journalist Stoyana Georgieva commented on the issue of appointments in the state service institutions. Harizanov was critical towards the fact that people whose terms expired years ago continue to remain in their positions, and that this is normalized and tolerated across the board. Harizanov argued that the fact that General Emil Tonev remained at the head of the National Security Service was a concession by the executive branch to the President. Georgieva also commented that with the reappointment of Tonev and the use of the word “gesture”, a division is being acknowledged. This week, changes began in the regional directorates of the State Agency for National Security, which are very influential and these are people who are quite directly involved with local authorities, putting pressure on local businesses and carrying out preventive actions at the designated level, such as executing certain political orders, she said.

***

Trud, Sega, 24 Chasa, Telegraph and Mediapool quote Borissov’s comments on the water shortages in Pernik, Western Bulgaria. He said that, “with joint efforts and work by the government and Parliament, we will overcome the threat of water shortages”, adding that this is not a one-time issue, as all forecasts indicate that this will be the climate in the coming years. Water shortages are now a problem for Europe as a whole, not just Bulgaria, said the GERB Chair. He pointed out that climate change is a reality and that it is very important for legislation to allow water abstraction, drilling, and the construction of water supply pipelines.

HOME AFFAIRS

Telegraph, Mediapool, Sega, Trud and 24 Chasa, as well as bTV, Bulgarian National Television report that citizens of Pleven took to the streets in protest of the chronic water shortages and harsh conditions. On Friday, the city's crisis management team outlined several key measures to solve the problem in the long term, and the state allocated BGN 40 million for repairs to the water supply network. Residents complained that they have water for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, and even then only in privileged areas. Sega adds that some Pleven citizens have pointed out that the city streets are still being washed regularly, despite the drought.

Trud quotes a bTV interview with Vladimir Bibov, member of the management board Bulgarian Water Supply Holding, who said that BGN 30 billion is needed to replace Bulgaria's outdated water supply network, according to the latest analysis by the World Bank. The holding company was created after the water crisis in Pernik, with a capital of BGN 1 billion. Bibov said that the funds are spent only on projects of subsidiary water supply companies that support the implementation of European programs. "If these funds had not been provided in recent years, the problems in the country would have been much greater," he commented. In the Pleven region, where the problem is most serious, 70% of the water is lost in the network and only 30% reaches people’s homes. The reason is a combination of outdated infrastructure and theft, Bibov said.

Assen Lichev, former Minister of Environment and Water, commented on the drought in a live interview via Viber on Bulgarian National Television. He explained that rainfall over two-thirds of the country was predominantly up to 5.5 billion cubic meters above the August norm, the internal flow of all rivers is below the average water levels and around the low water levels, while groundwater levels from shallow aquifers, which are now being offered as an alternative water supply, are showing a prevailing downward tendency. He added that the water in reservoirs is only at 54% of their total volume. “This is compounded by high temperatures and soil drought. According to the drought index, the whole of western Bulgaria, and especially the Ruse, part of the Razgrad and Silistra regions, are experiencing extreme soil drought. The rest of the country is experiencing severe drought. All of the above leads to the unequivocal conclusion that Bulgaria is in a period of drought, as has happened many times in its history. But this does not seem to register in the minds of those in power," Lichev argued.

BNT also reported the lack of water is becoming one of the most painful issues this summer. One of the largest reservoirs in the country, the Batak Dam, is at a record low level. In just two months, the shore has receded by tens of meters.

***

Mediapool reports of significant deterioration in the condition of the national road network in Bulgaria in 2024, according to data from the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) provided to the Institute for Market Economics. Just under 20,000 km of national roads, only 7,064 km (36%) are in good condition. This is a significant decrease compared to the previous few years, when just over 40% were in good condition. Roads in poor condition have not changed and remain at 5,185 km or 26%, approximately the same as in the previous year. The decrease in roads in good condition in 2024 is observed in 17 of the 28 regions in Bulgaria. The quality of the road network has deteriorated most significantly in regions such as Sliven (from 87.9% in good condition in 2023 to 51.2% in 2024), Stara Zagora (from 63.1% to 31.6%) and Dobrich (from 25.3% to 5.4%).

***

Telegraph writes that an actual  tornado caused chaos on Sunday on the beach in Sveti Vlas. Footage of the disaster was filmed around 4 pm in the area near the Paradise Beach hotel, between Sveti Vlas and Sunny Beach. A sudden storm swept across the coastline and briefly destroyed the beach, scaring people and sweeping umbrellas, towels, mattresses, and personal belongings into the sea.

Commissioner Valentin Vassilev, director of the Regional Directorate of Fire Safety and Civil Protection in Blagoevgrad said on the air of Bulgarian National Television on Monday morning that nearly three times more forest and field areas have been affected by fires in southwestern Bulgaria this summer season compared to the previous year, 2024. 

INTERNATIONAL

Sega, Mediapool, Trud, Telegraph report that the 21-year-old Georgian citizen driver of a bus carrying 24 illegal migrants, which crashed after a chase with the police in the village of Lozenets near Burgas, has been arrested. During the chase, , the driver escaped by jumping out of the vehicle while it was moving. The migrants are in good general condition and will be placed in a refugee center.

Trud quotes Border Police Director Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, who said that the price for illegally crossing the Bulgarian border has increased. "In 2023, when crossing was easy, the price ranged between EUR 700 and EUR 1,000 per migrant. Currently, prices vary, depending on how they are transported, between EUR 8,000 and EUR 20,000 per migrant," he said on the air of Bulgarian National Television. Zlatanov explained that the summer and autumn months are peak times for illegal migration, but despite this, the pressure on the borders has decreased significantly. Since Bulgaria joined the Schengen area, smugglers have been trying to redirect migrants through Romania, but Bulgarian and Romanian authorities have managed to prevent trafficking to Western Europe. The predominant groups of migrants continue to be from Syria and Afghanistan, but recently there has been an influx of economic migrants from Morocco and Egypt. Zlatanov also reiterated this information on the air of bTV on Monday morning.

Sega, Trud, Telegraph report that during the weekend there was extremely heavy traffic at the largest border crossing with Turkiye, Kapitan Andreevo. The reason is that thousands of Turkish citizens are returning to Western Europe after a vacation in their homeland. Crossing the border took between 3 and 5 hours. The heaviest traffic recorded was nearly 10,000 cars in 24 hours. The peak is expected to continue until early September.

ECONOMY

Telegraph writes that a project with Bulgarian participation has been awarded the STEP Seal of excellence for introducing technologies that are strategic for the EU, which will defend technological sovereignty and combat Europe's lag in the context of increased competition with powers such as the US and China. RAS Institute (Bulgaria) will be one of the partners implementing the Virtual Innovation Consortium (VIC) project. The project is co-funded by the EU. A total of 11 participants will work on the project during the 2025-2029 period, including: the most prestigious polytechnic university in Italy, based in Milan, PoliMI, ISTEC (Portugal), EUNEIZ (Spain), UNINT (Italy), ENTI-UB (Spain), Cacttus Education (Kosovo), Simplon (France), Khora (Denmark), Youbiquo (Italy), and UNICIS.Tech (Estonia).

***

Mediapool, Trud and Nova TV report that employment is declining among young and uneducated people, according to an analysis by the Institute for Market Economics (IME), based on data from the National Statistical Institute’s labour force survey for the second quarter of the year. The IME analysis points out that there is increased demand for more educated workers and, at the same time, decreasing opportunities for low-skilled workers in the labour market. Economists noted that employment rates by age group show clear disparities, with the most worrying being the decline among young people aged 15 to 24, with a decrease of more than three percentage points in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year.

Trud writes that only 0.4% of employed people in Bulgaria worked long hours, defined as usually spending 49 or more hours per week at their main job in 2024, according to Eurostat data. This is among the lowest rates in the EU, where the average share of workers with long hours is 6.6%. Their share in the EU has decreased over time, from 9.8% in 2014 and 8.4% in 2019. Among EU countries, Greece has the highest share of workers with long hours (12.4%), followed by Cyprus (10.0%) and France (9.9%). In contrast, the lowest percentages were recorded in Bulgaria (0.4%), Latvia (1.0%), and Lithuania (1.4%).

***

Lyubomir Datzov, member of the Fiscal Council and former deputy minister of finance, talked on the air of Bulgarian National Television about the state budget and the economic situation for the adoption of the euro. "We know that the state of public finances has deteriorated significantly over the past 3-4 years. And in fact, part of the problems that exist at the moment, or the main problem, is that in the end we will have deficits. We should have a deficit of no more than about 1% of GDP, but if we have to meet all the budget expenditures that have been set, we will have a deficit of 5-6%." Datzov noted that revenue performance is good, but it is good relative to economic indicators, not relative to what is written in the budget. He said that on the expenditure side, in order to stay within the budget, Bulgaria will have to take advantage of the derogation for military spending, i.e., the deficit will rise from 3% to 4-4.1% of GDP at the end of the year.

24 Chasa, Telegraph report that books and children's attractions are becoming more expensive. In just a few days, the price of a merry-go-round has doubled. From BGN 1 to BGN 2. Families can find no explanation other than speculation. Books in Bulgaria have also become more expensive prior to Bulgaria adopting the euro, due to the rounding up (or down) of prices, which is unfortunately necessary to avoid confusion.  Businesses have until October 8 to adjust their prices before fines come into effect. Penalties for speculation range from BGN 5,000 to BGN 1 million, depending on the size of the retailer and the violation.

***

Trud, Telegraph report that over 73 percent of the population of Vaklata Marishka sheep in the Plovdiv region has already been wiped out, according to the Breeding Association for Maritsa Sheep Breeds. Experts from the association warn that the inaction of the state veterinary authorities will lead to the irreversible destruction of traditional Bulgarian breeds. On Saturday, one hundred and fifty sheep, rams, and lambs, and eight years of active breeding “went to the slaughterhouse near Plovdiv” simply because the responsible institutions did not take measures to vaccinate all sheep in the country on time, the association commented on its Facebook page. Most of the outbreaks, over 100, are concentrated in the Plovdiv region.  Two weeks ago, at a national round table, livestock farmers appealed to the state to draw up a vaccination plan. However, so far the state has not yet taken any action other than mass euthanasia of infected herds.

SPORT

Telegraph reports that Bulgarian endurance swimmer Tsanko Tsankov successfully completed a remarkable 24-hour, individual, continuous swim in the waters of the Danube, finishing in Oryahovo to a cheering crowd Sunday. The official time recorded was 24 hours, 30 minutes, and 8 seconds, and the achievement was confirmed by Velislav Tsekov, head of the judges commission of the Bulgarian Swimming Federation. Tsankov's manager, Nikolay Iliev, said that the swimmer suffered from hypothermia for almost the entire time. The current year, 2025, has been one of the most successful for Tsankov. He won the gold medal in February at the World Cup in winter swimming in ice-cold waters in Gdynia, Poland, finishing first in the toughest discipline, the 1,000-meter freestyle, with a time of 12:42:50 minutes.