These are some of the top stories in Bulgarian newspapers on January 21 2009. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics:
Standart News reports that Bulgaria has a chance to receive some funds frozen by the European Commission under the Phare programme. Michael Leigh, Director-General for Enlargement, had sent a letter to Bulgaria's Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, and to the office of Meglena Plugchieva, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU funds management. In the letter he writes that Bulgaria has made some progress in the way it has absorbed other EU funds over the past few months. The official report by the European Commission will be ready at the end of this month, when Leigh is expected to arrive in Sofia and Bulgarian politicians will try to negotiate at least a partial unfreezing of the frozen EU funds.

Dnevnik daily reports that Bulgaria should further cut expenditure in case the global economic crisis reduces government revenue even further. Georgi Angelov, of the Open Society Institute in Bulgaria, said revenue is threatened by the recession looming over Europe. Lachezar Bogdanov, of local think-tank Industry Watch, said revenue might collapse only in a catastrophic scenario. This, he claimed, is highly unlikely. The Customs Agency's grim forecast for a 1 to 1.2 billion leva slump in value-added tax revenue from imports may only be fulfilled if imports sink by more than five billion leva. One condition for the latter would be a sharp drop in exports and gross domestic product, something which is out of the way at the moment.

Trud reports that European Commission's Vice President and EU Commissioner of Justice, Freedom and Security, Jacques Barrot told Bulgarian ministers, higher judges and businessmen that Bulgaria has to permanently eradicate the mafia. "Organised crime is truly a venom that, until removed, will impair Bulgaria's development. Your judicial system produces too few real results and too few cases are brought to a conclusion," Barrot said at the conference "Bulgaria in the EU: Two years later and the road ahead." Bulgarian EU Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, attended the forum that took place in the Radisson SAS Hotel in Sofia.

Economy:
Five Bulgarian metallurgical companies have lost 20 million euro in the two weeks the gas crisis lasted, Dnevnik daily quoted Politimi Paunova, head of the Bulgarian Association for the Metallurgical Industry as saying. Companies Precis Inter Holding, Helios-Metalurg, Promet Steel, Bulmet and Work have fired 120 employees, while another 1000 were placed on upaid leave, Dnevnik said.

Society:
Dnevnik daily reports that the Bulgarian court has rejected the request for extradition of Ali Abou'Taam, who has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in Egypt on charges of assisting the theft and smuggling of Egyptian antiquities and was sought by Interpol.
Dnevnik quotes an anonimous Interior Ministry source as saying that one of Bulgaria's largest collectors of antiques was involved in arranging the release of Abou'Taam.