24 Chasa Daily

"24 Chasa" interviews Bulgarian Shefket Chapadjiev, one of the most prosperous expatriates in the United States. Chapadjiev was one of the participants in a meeting last week with Sofia Mayor and informal GERB leader Boiko Borissov. A statement Borissov made at the meeting that some parts of the Bulgarian population, namely Turks, Roma and pensioners, were "bad material" triggered a broad outcry in Bulgaria. In the "24 Chasa" interview, Chapadjiev says that if he were to advise Borissov, he would ask him not to raise questions about minorities but speak about Bulgaria as a whole country and what the Bulgarians as a people will do. Chapadjiev says he disproves of circumstances when sometimes minorities expect relieves or privileges because they are minorities. According to him, the Bulgarian politicians are rather extreme and not so much dialogue-prone as the American.

Analyst in the Industry Watch think thank Georgi Stoev says in a story in "24 Chasa" that there are reforms that are important and necessary for the Bulgarian economy but which are still perceived as unpopular. One such reform is the de-monopolization of energy, he says. In his view, the government can and should take advantage of the situation for opening the natural gas market for other players other than the state-owned Bulgargaz which has to be privatized.

Standart Daily

Interviewed by "Standart" Borissov says that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP, of the ruling coalition) "yelps like a turkey". According to him, the statements against him are prompted by envy. Commenting reprimands that he is trying to discredit Bulgaria in the eyes of the world, Borissov says that the "mafia clans in the BSP are trying to discredit us, and are also discrediting themselves in Brussels". The main thing Bulgaria is associated abroad is corruption, he says.

Political analyst Vassil Garnizov writes in "Trud" that the intrigue between Boiko Borissov's GERB party and Ivan Kostov, leader of the right-wing opposition Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB), is pending. According to Garnizov, if the two parties run separately in the upcoming general elections they would follow sound political logics since their voters have nothing in common. On the other hand, identifying common enemies, common friends and the two parties' membership in the European People's Party, coupled with the formula "new politicians plus old experts" could work out for building a political and electoral bridge between the hitherto opponents, says Garnizov.

The Monday dailies report on the two-day observances of the 130th anniversary of Bulgaria's first parliament, the Constituent Assembly, which started Sunday in Veliko Turnovo, North Central Bulgaria. "24 Chasa" quotes National Ombudsman Ginyo Ganev as saying that the MPs of the Constituent Assembly did not miss a sitting and regularly attended committees' meetings. National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski, who too attended the celebrations, said that Bulgaria is now in the 20th year after the fall of totalitarian rule and the questions of statehood are still on the agenda.

Interviewed by "Standart" Bulgarian European Commissioner in charge of consumer protection Meglena Kuneva says that the state turns a blind eye to bad quality cheese. Kuneva cites results from a consumer poll according to which as few as 13 per cent of Bulgarians feel duly protected as consumers while as few as 4 per cent have sent complaints about a trader or service provider. Kuneva argues that people are reluctant to complain because they do not feel sure enough that the complaint will be heeded. In Bulgaria only the European Commission reviews the consumer market. Kuneva says that there should be a more active state policy with regard to consumer associations as they do not have enough money to support themselves. Commenting a recent discussion about low quality foods on the Bulgarian market, Kuneva says that Bulgaria has a Foods Act which no one refers to. She says that the use of palm oil is not banned but not stating this in the label of the respective product constitutes fraud. Kuneva urges for greater awareness and says that the European Commission is not the entity that has to do the job of the Bulgarian customs, veterinary services and producers.

Dnevnik Daily

In an interview to "Dnevnik" Chairperson of the Commission for the Protection of Personal Data Veneta Shopova says that the Supreme Administrative Court was right to revoke uncontrolled access to e-mails by the Interior Ministry. Shopova argues that when there is a regulation, a court decision, that a report on data traffic is necessary for a certain person, there is no problem with the protection of personal data; however, there need to be clear rules, including about how long such data will be stored, how they are destroyed, who does it and who controls this, she says.

A front-page report in "Dnevnik" says that Bulgaria is about to lose a huge part of the money the EU makes available for this country's preparation to join the Schengen Area. For two years the Bulgarian institutions have managed to absorb as little as 1.4 per cent of the total of 161 million euros in the Schengen Facility. Contracting of funding under it ends in December, while the deadline for the completion of projects is December 2010, says the report.

Trud Daily

"Wrong Rules Trip SAPARD" caps an interview in "Trud" with Executive Director of the State Agriculture Fund (SAF) Alizan Yahova in which she says she cannot understand why former officials of SAF are doing their best to destroy Bulgaria's image by implying that almost everyone who received SAPARD funding is an impostor or wrongdoer. Yahova says that this is not true: since the programme started in 2002, 140 cases of irregularities have been established. Experts say that cased of attempted fraud were 52, and only 22 had a financial impact. "This is why I do not accept that the programme is discredited," Says Yahova.

The leading report in "Trud" says that one in every five homes in Sofia is for sale. This absurd situation was caused by years of rapid development and rising prices, says the report. Apparently, owners of real property now think the time is right to sell but the bad thing is that prices started to dive while buyers are few and far between.

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All of the Monday dailies report on the Swiss voters' "Yes" on Sunday to an agreement extending the right of European Union citizens, including from new EU members Bulgaria and Romania, to live and work in Switzerland. Nearly 60 per cent of voters voted in favour of the agreement's extension.

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