site.btaMedia Review: August 26

ARMS INDUSTRY

The news that Bulgaria, together with Rheinmetall, Europe’s largest defence contractor, will build two joint facilities in the country for the production of gunpowder and NATO-calibre 155 mm artillery shells has been widely reported across all major media outlets. The news was broken after GERB leader Boyko Borissov conferred in Dussledorf with Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger. 

"The gunpowder factory will be as big as two German factories here, the largest in Europe. This is the scarcest commodity at the moment, and I am extremely grateful to Mr Papperger for choosing the grounds of the Vazovski Mashinostroiteleni Zavodi (VMZ) for this huge factory," Borissov said. He described the factory for 155 mm artillery shells as "extremely important for the Bulgarian army and for Europe as a whole," adding that the factory's target capacity is 100,000 rounds.

"We have informed the European Commission of these two projects, and we have ensured the funding on the part of the Bulgarian State through the SAFE (Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform) mechanism. All this must be completed within the next three weeks so that it can be submitted to Parliament for ratification," Borissov pointed out and mentioned yet another new project, for a drone design and building factory, which will be either a new establishment of the branch of an already existing one.

Borissov thanked Rheinmetall executives for sending teams to Bulgaria regularly since March, as well as to Papperger for taking notice of Bulgaria and recognizing its enormous potential.

"Bulgaria is an extremely important country for Europe, but also an extremely important country for Rheinmetall," the CEO said in the same livestream. "Rheinmetall, together with Bulgaria, will soon build at least two factories in Bulgaria, the first of which for artillery shells," Papperger added. "Even more important is our gunpowder joint venture," he said. The CEO pointed out that the Bulgarian government and Rheinmetall will invest jointly over EUR 1 billion in the manufacture of these important products.

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Covering the topic, online news outlet Mediapool.bg published an article titled “Rheinmetall and Bulgaria Build ‘Europe’s Largest Gunpowder Plant’. Borisov Beats Radev to Germany”. The publication notes that while Borisov was meeting Rheinmetall CEO Armin Pappenger, in Sofia President Rumen Radev said that he had arranged the investment as a “gift for the government” and showed that he was irritated by Borisov’s pre-emptive visit. Later in the week, on August 27 and 28, Radev is also expected to make a working visit to Germany, during which he is scheduled to attend the opening of Rheinmetall’s high-tech plant in Unterluss, Lower Saxony.

“The dispute between the two [Borisov and Radev] has a backstory,” Mediapool.bg recalls, pointing out that Borisov announced the forthcoming joint investment with Rheinmetall as early as April 2025, traveling to Dortmund to meet Papperger. Radev, in turn, met with Papperger during the Munich Security Conference in February 2025.

POLITICS

In Nova TV’s morning talk show, political scientist Teodor Slavev said that it is entirely possible that early parliamentary elections could be held before the regular presidential elections in 2026, and that the decision on whether such early elections will take place will be made by the “Borisov-Peevski tandem”, speaking of GERB leader Boyko Borisov and MRF Floor Leader Delyan Peevski. According to Slavev, the public perception of excessive institutional negligence and corruption is increasingly being attributed to the government.

“Of the legislative agenda for the second half of the year, the most important is the adoption of the State Budget Act. The deficit is approaching 6%, while inflation continues to rise. At the same time, there will be social demands for higher incomes in the social sector. The government faces two mutually incompatible tasks – to respond populistically and increase the deficit, which would lead to higher taxes or cuts in social security contributions, or to resist these demands. Either way, this will be counted against the politicians in the next vote,” he commented.

According to him, a key factor will be Peevski’s decision regarding how the parliamentary group of MRF – New Beginning will vote on the election of members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, since they want it to be dissolved. “This decision is part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, under which a second payment request has been submitted but delayed pending the development of the case with the Anti-Corruption Commission. Europe may refuse the payment or only partially approve it,” Slavev warned.

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Referring to an audit of revenues and expenditures from the pre-election campaigns for Bulgaria’s most recent early parliamentary elections, held on 27 October 2024, Segabg.com reports that the amount of monetary donations from individuals received by the participants in the October 27 parliamentary elections in 2024, compared to the candidates in the previous vote for the National Assembly on June 9 the same year, was three times higher. The October 2024 elections involved 19 political parties, 9 coalitions of parties, and one initiative committee, compared to 31 participants four months earlier. The total amount of 345 donations from individuals for the autumn vote, exceeding the minimum wage of BGN 933 for the audited period, amounted to nearly BGN 1.56 million. In the June 9 vote, 361 donations collected just over BGN 510,000. The amounts contributed by candidates to parties and coalitions were also higher: slightly over BGN 1.5 million in October 2024, compared to BGN 994,000 in June 2024.

The participants with the largest campaign financing (total campaign expenditures and the total value of in-kind contributions/donations) were: Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria with BGN 1.3 million; MRF – New Beginning with BGN 1.2 million; Vazrazhdane with BGN 999,000; GERB-UDF with BGN 901,500; and There Is Such a People with BGN 765,000.

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The Telegraph tabloid daily features a lead interview with Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev, titled “Vassil Terziev: Studentski Grad Will Get a Metro,” in which the mayor discusses the upcoming extension of the city’s second metro line. He comments on the planned stations along the route that will serve Sofia’s Studentski Grad district and its connection to the rest of the city.

JUSTICE

The 24 Chasa daily publishes a lead interview with the recently appointed acting administrative head of the Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Marin Malchev, who explains why he accepted the post and outlines the goals he is setting for what the newspaper describes as “the largest prosecutor’s office in the country”. According to Malchev, the top priority will be the protection of vulnerable groups – children, the elderly, and victims of domestic violence, as well as decisive action against property, telephone, and cyber fraud, road safety violations, among other offenses. He also stresses the need to modernize the Penal Code. Malchev notes that daily monitoring has already been introduced for delayed case files, along with a unified standard for handling priority crimes. Transparency, he emphasizes, will be key - there will be no “cases on autopilot”, and victims will not be left without feedback. Malchev adds that proposals are being prepared for a complete ban on the sale of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) near schools. He also sheds light on the methods used by real estate fraudsters, describes emerging schemes in which fraudsters posing as bankers persuade citizens to take out loans, and offers advice on how people can protect themselves from becoming victims of such scams.

BALKANS

In an interview with Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Djordje Daskalovic, a financial expert and business journalist from Serbia living in Bulgaria, commented on the actions of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has introduced a new package of state economic measures aimed at raising citizens’ living standards at a time when anti-government protests in Serbia are intensifying and calls for early parliamentary elections are growing.

According to Daskalovic, Vucic’s actions are not an economic strategy but a matter of political survival. “Since he came to power, Vucic has unilaterally imposed measures of primary importance. He interferes in every sphere of state governance. There are always segments of society that ‘fall for’ such measures. More and more people realize this is a populist move,” Daskalovic said. He also pointed out that “large retail chains in Serbia are fewer compared to Bulgaria, which allows local chains to maintain higher profit margins”.

Daskalovic described the reaction of European institutions as “quite alarming”, arguing that they remain “silent” in the face of prolonged protests. He did not rule out the possibility that this is due to economic interests tied to the Serbian president. “If a country can protest for nearly a year and still fail to persuade an authoritarian regime to call elections, that sends a worrying signal about the future of the region,” Daskalovic told BNR.

HEALTHCARE

All major media outlets report on the storming of the Kanev general hospital in Ruse by protesters – relatives and family members of a woman who died during childbirth. The demonstrators entered the hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department, demanding justice and accountability for the death of 21-year-old Gabriela Georgieva, who passed away at the facility. The hospital’s executive director, Ivan Ivanov, has initiated an internal investigation into the case, and the prosecuting magistracy has also been alerted.

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In a BNR interview, commenting on the deficit of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which exceeds BGN 400 million, and on the proposal of the Bulgarian Medical Association to increase the patient fee for visits to general practitioners and link it to the minimum wage, health expert Dimitar Petrov, former deputy health minister and former NHIF deputy director, said that healthcare in Bulgaria suffers both from a lack of funding and from a lack of oversight.

Petrov noted that when comparing the share of GDP allocated to healthcare across EU countries, Bulgaria spends significantly less, adding that “a comparison with the United States is not even possible”. He stressed that the gap is even more striking when looking at absolute figures - i.e. how much Bulgaria spends per capita on healthcare compared to other countries. “The other problem - the lack of oversight, is clearly visible in the bloated hospital system in our country,” Petrov added.

As a possible solution to the funding problem, Petrov argued that society must decide to allocate more to healthcare. “That does not necessarily mean only raising contributions. […] The state could increase the base on which it pays contributions for civil servants, the military, and pensioners. Another option is to find alternative financing for certain activities through the state budget, for example, long-term treatment, which is practically non-existent in Bulgaria because of lack of funding. This is a semi-social activity and could be financed through the budget. Another option is to sharply encourage supplementary insurance – what we call health insurance,” Petrov explained.

In his view, the NHIF must understand that oversight needs to be exercised at key points in the system – at entry, at exit, and at certain strategic nodes. “Second, it must be understood that the patient has to be directly involved in oversight – personally motivated to demand quality and to ensure their name is not abused for fictitious medical procedures. Third, supplementary insurance must be maximally developed, primarily as a co-financing body, because it would exercise oversight over the entire system, not just the share it finances – and it would do so more effectively than the Fund,” Petrov suggested.

WILDFIRES

Mediapool.bg publishes an article that discusses how tackling Europe’s escalating forest fires requires not just firefighting equipment but also long-term preventive measures such as resilient forest management, sustainable land use, and support for rural communities. As summer draws to a close, Mediapool.bg writes, Europe is facing an unprecedented surge in wildfires over 1 million hectares scorched in 2025, breaking records since 2003, based on data of the European Forest Fire Information System. In August alone, 122 fires ravaged more than 630,000 hectares, releasing 20 million tons of CO₂. Since the start of 2025, fires across the continent have emitted an estimated 37 million tons of greenhouse gases – equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions of Portugal or Sweden. Critical air pollutants like PM2.5 have soared to new highs, posing increased health risks, the article further summarizes.

According to Mediapool.bg, despite the scale of the devastation, governments have largely prioritized reactive measures such as purchasing equipment for fire suppression over long-term, preventative strategies. The article emphasizes the need to rethink policies – rather than merely buying machinery, governments should invest in landscape resilience. Johann Goldammer, an ecologist and wildfire specialist, argues that promoting diverse, fire-resistant forests and maintaining rural populations could reduce fire risk. He highlights rural depopulation, which leads to neglected land becoming fuel for flames, and advocates for multifunctional landscapes that blend agriculture, livestock, and fire safety designs that could endure climates akin to those in North Africa.

ROAD SAFETY

24 Chasa frontpages an article, titled “Guardrails without reflectors and ruts in the asphalt kill one person in every ten road accidents”, highlighting the poor condition of Bulgaria’s secondary road network and how it creates serious risks for traffic accidents. According to the report, an average of 55 people lose their lives each year on Bulgaria’s old and narrow roads.

FOOD INFLATION

The front page of the Trud tabloid daily is dedicated to food inflation, focusing specifically on the rising prices of ingredients used by Bulgarians to prepare traditional winter preserves. The article, titled “Winter Preserves Three Times More Expensive in One Year,” cites the opinions of shoppers in Sofia, who express their frustration at being forced to make smaller quantities of the traditional Bulgarian preserves due to the increased prices of vegetables at the markets.

MOUNTAINEERING

Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reports a growing trend of renewed interest among Bulgarian citizens in mountaineering, hiking, and overnight stays in mountain lodges. Each year, outdoor excursions are gaining greater popularity, which BNT attributes in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic drove people out of the big cities and rekindled their appreciation for fresh air and the sense of health and vitality that mountain trails provide.