MUSLIM CENTRE
The construction of a Muslim cultural centre in Sofia was discussed by representatives of the Chief Mufti's Office and Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov at a November 17 meeting. The Chief Mufti's Office wants permission from the city hall to build its centre in Sofia's Malinova Dolina neighbourhood. The land is already owned by the Chief Mufti's Office, which purchased it with money from the Organisation of The Islamic Conference. The latter will finance construction. The educational programme of the new centre will be subject to approval by the Education Ministry. Borissov told journalists that he would first hold talks with Sofia's chief architect before responding. He said that if Bulgaria wanted to prevent the inflow of radical Islam it should give Muslims the opportunity to train their religious leaders in traditional, not radical, Islam.

E-TAXES
As of January 2009, taxpayers will be able to pay taxes online, State Administration Minister Nikolai Vassilev said on November 18 while presenting the online system part of the e-government project, Bulgarian-language Sega daily said. The system will make it possible for people to pay annual income taxes and local taxes as well. Unfortunately joining the system depends on the decisions of individual mayors and until now just 12 municipalities have joined in. These include Gabrovo, Lovech, Turgovishte, Shabla and Dobrich. Sofia had technical issues to solve before hooking up to the system while Plovdiv was still negotiating the process, Vassilev said. Traffic Police and Customs Agency were about to join the online system as well.

FOOD CHAIN
Twenty-two political parties used state-owned premises in 2007, Valeri Todorov, head of the National Audit Office, was quoted by Bulgarian news agency BGNES on November 19 when presenting the audit report on parties' financing for 2007. Most of the premises for which parties paid rent to the state were used for coffee shops and food stores, Todorov said.

A STREETCAR NAMED SERGEI
A black and white video featuring Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev as the driver of an old Sofia tram will be used to inspire delegates to the 47th Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) congress on November 22-23 in Sofia. The clip shows BSP leader Stanishev driving the tram, dressed in a suit, accompanied by Culture Minister and popular actor Stefan Danailov, and discussing with an elderly citizen how dreams of the past still live on. The video ends with a friendly hug between Danailov and the citizen with Stanishev guiding the tram in Sofia's Boris Garden. The soundtrack resembles that of a popular 1960s TV series Na Vseki Kilometar (At every kilometre) about a group of communist partisans leading a war against the regime of Tsar Boris III.

AN EXAMPLE
A litre of wine, a litre of beer and a double cognac is what popular TV host Ivan Hristov (29) had before taking the wheel of his car this past summer, Bulgarian media quoted doctor Vasilios Panayotidis of the Stara Zagora hospital emergency ward as saying on November 17. Panayotidis was testifying in court in the case against Hristov, who is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, for which he faces one year imprisonment. Panayotidis said that Hristov had told him how much he had drunk before crashing into a refuse truck in the early hours of August 4 in the central town of Stara Zagora. No one was injured and damage was minor. Hristov, one of the most popular TV personalities in Bulgaria, best known for the Sunday morning TV show Sblasuk which he co-hosts with Andrei Arnaoudov, on private bTV channel, said that he was ready to face punishment for his actions. He declined to make a deal with prosecutors in return for a speedy trial. The next hearing is scheduled for December 16.