Publishers of newspapers and magazines in Bulgaria will have to reveal owners' real names to the Ministry of Culture, according to new amendments enacted in the Printing and Presses Act, approved by Parliament, Bulgarian media reported on July 7 2010.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Culture announced on July 7 that manufacturers and distributors, as well as publishers, will be obliged to provide this information and be held accountable for it.

This new amendment was initially proposed in May 2010 by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, who said at the time that it would guarantee "transparency and coherent rules in media ownership".

The proposal for the improvement in legislation came in response to concerns raised by the publishers' union in the country who cited a severe lack of clarity about ownership and financing in media organisations in Bulgaria. This, according to them, only served to undermine publishing.

In April 2010, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), said that it was seriously alarmed by political pressure applied to media in Bulgaria and Romania.

It would appear that Bulgarian media continues to face strong pressure from both political and economic forces. According to the assembly of the Council of Europe, and research conducted by Freedom House, Bulgarian media ranks a lowly 76^th along with countries like India and Botswana, out of a total 196 countries, in terms of media freedom.