site.btaMedia Review: August 29

There is no single topic that dominates Bulgarian media on Friday.

POLITICS

In an interview for the morning programme of Bulgarian National Television (BNT), Rumen Hristov, deputy chair of the GERB-UDF parliamentary group and leader of UDF, urged for unity and swift action on infrastructure issues like water supply and road safety, while defending the government's efforts and rejecting opposition claims of misused funds.

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In an interview for the Nova TV morning programme, Assen Vassilev, leader of Continue the Change (CC), argued that Bulgaria's chances of receiving funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan are very low due to a flawed procedure for appointing the Anti-Corruption Commission. He emphasized that the Plan requires the Commission to have non-political leadership, but instead, the process has been politicized, with nominees coming from the ruling GERB, BSP, and There Is Such a People.

A former Finance Minister, Vassilev warned of growing budget deficits and excessive borrowing by the current administration, claiming the funds are misused in corrupt schemes. Vassilev confirmed that his party is planning a no-confidence vote in September on the topic of "the captured state" and added that CC-DB is ready to govern without GERB. He reaffirmed his commitment to a united front together with Democratic Bulgaria against GERB leader Boyko Borissov and Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski.

Vassilev denied any connection to Nikola “Paskal” Nikolov, stating he does not know him and never encountered his name during his time as finance minister. He claimed the attempt to link him to Paskal is a politically motivated attack.

Nikolov, former Customs Agency head Petya Bankova (who was appointed during Vassilev's tenure as Finance Minister), and two others have been charged with participating in an organized crime group engaged in influence peddling, smuggling, and related offenses. Nikolov was extradited to Bulgaria by Serbia and was charged on Thursday.

In an interview for bTV’s morning programme, Nikola Nikolov’s lawyer, Dimitar Markovski, denied any connections between his client and Bulgarian politicians mentioned in the investigation. He stated that Nikolov does not know any political figures and dismissed such claims as “myths.”

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Dnevnik.bg, Segabg.com and Mediapool.bg all write that the three nominees of the ruling majority for members of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) received the highest marks by the nomination committee, which Thursday published the report of its work, after the hearing of the candidates on August 22. Unsurprisingly, the websites write, the highest rated are the candidates nominated by the ruling parties: Stoyan Petkov, Petar Koev and Maria Daskalova, whom the majority will probably support and send to the anti-corruption commission immediately after the end of the parliamentary recess.

Each of the five members of the nomination commission evaluated the candidates based on the following indicators: moral and ethical qualities - compliance with ethical rules, professional knowledge and professional experience; specific training and qualities - qualifications and practical experience, and motivation; candidate's concept - analysis and assessment of the state of the ACC, analysis of the current problems of the ACC, and set goals. None of the contenders for the Anti-Corruption Commission received the maximum score, the websites add.

By law, the ACC has three members. The chairmanship rotates every two years. This is done by drawing lots.

ECONOMY

The requirement that supermarkets ​​announce prices for 101 products every day will bring new costs for them, with a number of controversial requirements already emerging, Mediapool.bg was told by the Association for Modern Trade, which unites the leading retail chains. The Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP) has a list of products for which traders must announce prices every day, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. "In order to implement the requirements of the CCP, significant technological time and software adaptation of the systems are required, but after the publication of the instructions, it is not clear whether the implementation should begin on January 1, 2026, on August 8, 2025, or on October 8 this year," the Association added. Indeed, the instructions explicitly state that traders must report prices to the CCP from the date of the adoption of the euro, i.e. from January 1, 2026. However, there is also another text that says that it will apply as long as the dual indication of prices is valid - in leva and in euro.

The Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria Act says that "the period of dual indication of prices of goods and services in euro and leva begins on August 8, 2025, and ends on August 8, 2026" Mediapool writes.

Separately, regarding the dual indication of prices, the NRA and the CCP have already announced that they will not sanction companies for violations until October 8. So, business is now wondering whether this deadline is somehow linked to the provision of price data by traders to the CCP every day.

Trud has this story on its front page. It says that prices will be published on a daily basis until August 8, 2026, as part of a government effort to curb unjustified price increases. However, businesses and industry groups warn the measure will create significant administrative burdens without helping consumers or lowering prices, the story goes. Companies must update prices daily on their websites and the new government platform: kolkostruva.bg. The measure covers 101 essential goods, including basic foods like bread, dairy, meats, rice, vegetables; beverages - water, beer, wine, rakia; non-food items, like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, cigarettes; and 16 medicines. Business claims this creates bureaucracy without benefits: it won’t reduce prices, and consumers are unlikely to benefit from the complex and overwhelming data. Retailers and employer organizations also argue that publishing retail prices daily exposes commercially sensitive information, which may undermine competitive market behaviour and encourage unfair or manipulative practices.

The Association of Pharmacy Owners Chair Nikolay Kostov tells Trud that medicine prices are already regulated, making daily price publication redundant. Pharmacy websites already display the information, making the new requirement unnecessary.

"The initiative, intended to protect consumers may instead burden businesses, confuse shoppers, and compromise competitive practices. Industry reactions suggest the regulation is misguided and inefficient, offering minimal benefit while introducing major compliance challenges," Trud concludes.

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The cover story of 24chasa is about a planned tenfold rise of airlines’ fines to stop passenger harassment, announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Grozdan Karadjov on Thursday. The introduction of much harsher penalties is in response to repeated violations of passenger rights. The decision follows multiple recent incidents involving low-cost carrier Ryanair at Sofia Airport, including a Bulgarian student being forced to pay for extra baggage even though her bag met the airline's requirements; a woman traveling to Italy being denied boarding over minor excess baggage, with staff refusing to accept payment for the extra luggage; a child in a wheelchair being denied boarding despite meeting all aviation regulations. In the wheelchair incident, the maximum current fine, BGN 10,000, was applied and the case was referred to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination.

New standards will be introduced for airport hygiene, accessibility, passenger comfort, staff politeness. The focus remains on ensuring fair treatment for passengers and preventing abuse by airlines. It is not “waging war” against operators., the Minister is quoted as saying The increased fines and service standards are intended to force compliance, improve customer experience, and curb unethical practices in aviation, 24chasa says.

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Bulgaria has finally passed the Bill on Personal Bankruptcy, largely due to pressure tied to receiving funds from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, Capital weekly says in its cover story. Although widely accepted as a necessary reform, the law has been met with serious criticism from legal experts and professionals who warn it could overwhelm the judicial system and fail to help debtors. The stigma around bankruptcy remains strong in society, though many people fall into debt due to factors beyond their control, like illness or economic shocks. And another thing, the weekly adds, the new personal bankruptcy law was rushed, poorly structured, and inspired by commercial bankruptcy procedures, which may not suit individual cases. Experts warn that the process will be too complex for most debtors, the weekly says. Courts could be flooded with invalid or incomplete applications. The law may create more problems for both debtors and lenders. Despite being passed, the law won’t be in force until spring 2026, as the Justice Ministry needs to build and launch a new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Register unit to handle these cases. Among the legal inconsistencies highlighted by experts is the fact that the law combines insolvency, absolute limitation periods, and non-seizable assets, which is not compatible with how bankruptcy works in most countries, the paper says.

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Capital weekly runs an article that critiques the "distorted food market in Bulgaria", attributing problems like price gouging and inefficiency to a mix of flawed agricultural subsidies, monopolized supply chains, and poorly thought-out regulations—what the author provocatively calls “market communism.” In Bulgaria, farmers are subsidized per decare, not per kilogram of actual production, unlike in better EU practices. This model encourages inefficient production. Large producers exploit the system to receive massive subsidies while not being incentivized to increase yield or quality. More labour-intensive sectors like fruit, vegetables, livestock are systematically underfunded and declining. The food supply chain is heavily influenced by licensed intermediaries, often required by regulations, which prevents small producers from selling directly. Private ownership of former state-run wholesale markets, privatized after communism, has created barriers to market access for small producers. This limits competition and allows price manipulation by a few large players, affecting even small neighbourhood stores. The Agriculture Ministry and the Food Safety Agency often protect established interests rather than helping producers or consumers. The current system is neither truly capitalist nor a planned economy, but a hybrid with the worst of both, the weekly says. Reform is urgently needed, including tying subsidies to actual production and market sales, ensuring open access to markets for all producers, revising policies to encourage diverse and local food production, not just large-scale, export-oriented monoculture like wheat.

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Although Bulgaria collects a “social responsibility” fee from gambling operators, the money has rarely gone to helping people with gambling addiction, until potentially 2025, and even then, with serious limitations and uncertainty, Capital weekly writes in an article on gambling addiction and support for addicts. Bulgaria legally requires gambling companies to pay social responsibility fees. For over 10 years, this money has gone almost entirely to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, funding general youth activities, not addiction treatment. The Health Ministry is receiving a share for the first time in 2025, following a legal amendment in 2024. So far, funds have been used for loosely related or questionable youth initiatives, funding projects with unclear results, supporting groups involved with gambling advertising. Now, half of the receipts must go to the Health Ministry for therapy for gambling addicts, prevention among youth, general addiction prevention. The health minister, in coordination with the finance minister, must decide how the money will be spent. So far, no money has been disbursed because the necessary ministerial decree hasn’t been issued yet, the story goes. "This is a step forward, yet there are still challenges ahead, for example how to verify if someone is truly gambling-addicted, what if there are more patients than the budget can support, how will qualified therapists or clinics be selected, how will institutions ensure sessions actually happen and aren’t fabricated," the story goes. In conclusion Capital says, that while 2025 marks a potential turning point, the process is still bureaucratic, underfunded, and unclear. "Despite the gambling industry being worth billions, only a tiny fraction is being redirected toward treating addiction, and it's uncertain if this money will reach the people who actually need help."

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In an interview with Bulgarian National Radio, Mihail Mihaylov, Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Beekeepers says that there is no control over companies spraying plants to protect crops, thus poisoning bees in the process. He adds that the institutions have been alerted, including the State Agency for National Security. The industry is reporting high mortality in bee colonies - from 70 to 90%, in some places even 100%. Mihaylov says the problem comes down to lack of control, and that the Plant Protection Directorate to the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency does not exercise the necessary oversight. Mihaylov points to drought, diseases and poisoning as the leading factors for the high mortality of bees. And the combination of the three leads to the worrying picture in the country. In 2024, a little over 10,000 tonnes of honey were produced in Bulgarian and about a third of it goes for domestic consumption and the feeding of the bee families, and the rest is exported to the EU.

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Bulgarian Socialist Party’s daily Duma’s front page report says that in 2023, the gender pay gap in Bulgaria reached 13.1%, continuing an upward trend from 11.4% in 2021 and 12.2% in 2022, according to the 2024 Report on Gender Equality by the National Statistical Institute. The report highlights persistent gender inequality in pay, employment, and economic security in Bulgaria. The largest pay gaps in favour of men are in sectors like media, publishing, broadcasting, digital content, and telecommunications (29.3%), finance, manufacturing, and healthcare. Women earn more than men in only a few sectors: construction (25%) and administrative services. Lower pay results in lower benefits and pensions for women, increasing their risk of poverty, especially for caregivers and the elderly. In 2024, the poverty line is set at BGN 764/month, and about 22% of the population lives below it—22.6% of women vs. under 21% of men. The number of female employers and women in leadership roles is rising but still remains lower than men, the story says.

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August, traditionally a vacation month in Bulgaria, has turned out to be unusually active in the real estate market this year, Dnevnik reports. Many buyers are rushing to purchase property, driven by fears that prices will rise further after Bulgaria joins the eurozone. Real estate brokers report around a 30% increase in buyers since June, when eurozone entry became more certain. This demand has led to increased bank lending and a continued rise in property prices. The surge appears to be fueled by a mix of fear and herd mentality, as people want to buy before an expected price hike, a broker is quoted in the report.

HEALTHCARE

bTV’s morning programme talked to Dr Georgi Mindov, head of the General Practitioners Association in Sofia, about proposed changes by the Bulgarian Medical Association on increasing the user fee that patients pay when visiting their general practitioner (GP). The main suggestion is to restore the fee to 1% of the minimum monthly wage, as it was in the past. Currently, the user fee is BGN 2.90, but under the proposal, it would rise to approximately BGN 11, reflecting current wage levels. The fee has not been updated since 2012, and doctors argue that it is now insufficient to support healthcare services. Mindov emphasized that the 1% model is not new, and it's important that the fee is regularly updated and tied to an economic indicator. People who are currently exempt from paying the fee, seniors over 65, children, vulnerable groups, will remain exempt. However, Mindov noted an imbalance: the state compensates GPs for elderly patients’ fees, but not for children, which he believes should change.

BNR also has an interview on the topic.

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Children with diabetes and their families will receive modern care, training and support based on the model of established world diabetes centres within the framework of a pilot project at the Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment of Children's Diseases Prof. Ivan Mitev, Mediapool reports. The goal is to better control the children's disease through better quality care, reducing complications and hospitalizations. And ultimately, to propose a model by which this type of care can be financed by the National Health Insurance Fund. The hospital's partners in the project, the website adds, are the For GOOD Foundation, which has already implemented 10 complete transformations of children's wards in the country, and the Future Values (Bulgaria) organization, which has experience with other integrated care projects and whose mission is value-based healthcare.

ROADSAFETY

Telegraf reports on its frontpage that young drivers, like the kamikaze Victor who smashed in a public bus, kill 50 people annually. According to Interior Ministry statistics, 914 serious road accidents occurred last year, caused by drivers whose experience is not more than two years, 51 people were killed, 1264 were injured in those accidents. All of this is due to the lack of discipline and adequate training, the article says. In Bulgaria there is no limit on the power of cars for beginners, Ninella Varbanova, from Angels on the Road Association is quoted as saying. Telegraf recalls that last year there was even a proposal to allow 17-year-olds to get driver’s licences. 

HISTORY 

On the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of the death of King Boris III, Dnevnik republishes an excerpt from the article The Unanswered Tragic Question Mark. Who would benefit the most from the King’s death, the article asks. The one who wants to lay hands on Bulgaria’s sovereignty. The one who, would be hampered by the presence of a living ruler once his army reaches the Danube. In 1943 the Bulgarian Tsar strictly guarded the country’s diplomatic relations with the USSR. However, in July-August he started preparing Bulgaria's exit from the Pact and even met the American resident for the Balkans, an unusual activity for a king. Which cannot have remained a secret for Moscow. If the king’s probes with the Allies yielded results, Stalin would lose the grounds to declare himself the liberator of Bulgaria from fascism and impose his power in the heart of the Balkans.

British and German archives from World War II have been opened (the German ones were seized and studied by the victors). No confirmation of the hypotheses of an English or German “connection” has been found. The "Italian connection", publicised by the Nazis, is perceived by historians as an anecdote. Despite the hopes given personally by Vladimir Putin during his visit to Bulgaria in January 2008, the archives of the USSR’s foreign intelligence and the NKVD remain inaccessible, they are still closed. They must contain at least assessments and hypotheses about the death of the Bulgarian King. The Bulgarian archives seized by the Soviet military command after September 9, 1944, which deal with Soviet agents in Bulgaria, are also inaccessible. The reason why Russia considers these archives to be theirs is that they relate to Soviet agents, despite the fact that they are in fact documents of Bulgarian institutions.