Fri, Feb 10 2012
The Council of Ministers gave its consent to Russia to open its consulate in Plovdiv. The consulate would be headed by an honorary consular official and its consular district would comprise the territory of the regions of Plovdiv, Smolyan, Kurdjali, Haskovo and Stara Zagora, the government press service announced on December 27.
Russia's choice for the honorary consular position was businessman and executive director of the International Fair - Plovdiv Georgi Gergov, mediapool.bg said.
Gergov was close to President Georgi Purvanov and to some circles of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), among which those around Interior Minister Roumen Petkov. Gergov was particularly close to former mayor of Plovdiv Ivan Chomakov, to whom he was said to owe his strong positions in Plovdiv and the economic structures of the city.
Iranian silver-plated pigeons, African leopard skins and a Chinese bronze yak were among the 70 items sold in an auction of gifts presented to Romania’s former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena.
Airports were also showing signs of better co-ordination and providing passengers with accurate real-time information, compared to previous period of travel disruption, transport commissioner Siim Kallas said.
Viktor Orban defends government's record, new constitution in state-of-the-nation address as he slams European Commission.
PM Donald Tusk invited authors, NGOs, experts and bloggers to a debate on the ACTA copyright agreement, but several key organisations, including the Helsinki Foundation, rejected the invitation claiming that the talks will likely offer no opportunity to discuss concrete issues.
'Dirty Jews' and 'Dirty Nazis' were the most popular chants when two groups clashed in front of Új Színház (New Theatre)