PANIC
Fumes from smoke bombs used in a military training exercise in the port of Bourgas enveloped the centre of the city on the morning of July 15, causing panic among local residents, Dnevnik daily reported. The smoke, which made breathing difficult, and the lack of any information as to what was happening increased the feeling of panic. The miscommunication between institutions, reminiscent of the same confusion that followed the blasts in a munitions warehouse near Sofia on July 3, had officials pointing blaming fingers at each other throughout the day, website mediapool.bg reported.
MAKE IT TWO
Two information systems will be employed to monitor Bulgaria’s spending of EU funds after widespread irregularities prompted Brussels to freeze payments of hundreds of millions of euro. Lothar, the first monitoring scheme, is already in place, according to the Finance Ministry. It covers all Government agencies involved in the absorption of EU funding. At the same time, the Finance Ministry has invited a tender for the development of another information system, to be called Isun, which will serve a similar purpose: management and oversight of structural instrument funding.
SECURITY COUNCIL
President Georgi Purvanov has called a meeting of Bulgaria’s consultative council on national security on July 17 2008 to discuss the Chelopechene military munitions dump blast and ways to speed up the disposal of ageing weaponry. Purvanov’s office said in a statement that the principles of a new law on defence and the armed forces would be discussed, as well as an official report on the July 3 explosions at Chelopechene, the state of safety of military supply warehouses and ways to speed up destroying surplus munitions.
FREEDOM AND KIDNAPPING
Angel Bonchev, chairperson of Litex Lovech football club, who was kidnapped in May 2008, has been freed, but his wife Kamelia was taken in her attempt to deliver a “down payment”. Bonchev was found by police patrol in Sofia’s Knyazhevo neighbourhood on July 10 and was taken to hospital. His life was not in danger, but he was in critical condition, Focus news agency reported. During his captivity, two of his fingers were severed. On July 16, Bonchev's condition was reported to be improving.
LET’S SPY
Proposed amendments to Bulgaria’s Code of Criminal Procedure envisage using “special surveillance means” to detect vote-buying. A report on July 15 2008 in Bulgarian-language mass-circulation daily Trud said that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) was to propose that party election campaigns be financed using only one bank account, with all transactions made public. The penalty for illegal covert financing of parties would be jail of three to five years and a fine of up to 100 000 leva, the BSP proposes.
MOTION TIME
Opposition parties plans to table a motion of no confidence in Bulgaria’s Cabinet by July 20 - three days before the publication of what is widely expected to be a highly critical report on Bulgaria by the European Commission. The grounds for the motion are the incompetence of Bulgaria’s Government in dealing with European Union funds. It will be the sixth since the country’s tripartite governing coalition took office in August 2005.
SYNCHRONISED
With the continuing extension of Sofia’s metro, the question how to better preserve and display the capital’s archaeological treasures resurfaced. Some of the planned metro stations fall within the boundaries of the spectacular Serdika – Sredets historical reserve. Metropolitan Sofia, the city hall-owned metro operator, has called a public procurement procedure for the drawing up of a construction plan to prepare the area for the exposure of the archaeological level.
E-TICKET
Sofia public transport will implement electronic ticketing in trolleybuses and trams starting September 1 2008. The system would be introduced in the underground and buses later; meanwhile, the existing paper tickets would be valid, Sofia Public Transport Company (SPTC) said, as quoted by Sega daily on July 15. Electronic passes would cost three leva and would be available for purchase and recharging at the SPTC ticket desks. Tickets would be available at devices installed next to the driver’s seat.
BACK TO COURT
Feted on their release almost a year ago after eight years in captivity in Libya, a group of Bulgarian medics are threatening to protest in front of the Presidency and the Cabinet office unless President Georgi Purvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev meet them to hear their demands. The seven medics said through a spokesperson that Bulgaria had failed to fulfil its promises of support for them in social and health insurance payments.
