Sapard agreements ratified

· PARLIAMENT has ratified two agreements within the Sapard programme.
Under the 2004 annual financial agreement, the European Commission undertook a financial commitment of 67 560 000 euro. This commitment remains in force until December 31, 2006.
Agriculture and Forests Minister Nihat Kabil, speaking before the vote on May 18, said that Sapard was the best functioning pre-accession instrument in Bulgaria. The total investments in Bulgaria under the programme exceed 1.4 billion leva.
Kabil said that the Sapard agency should be authorised to approve projects under the 2005 and 2006 financial agreements. If this were not done, Bulgaria would be at risk of having to reimburse Sapard funds.
MPs also ratified an agreement between the European Commission and Bulgaria amending the annual financial agreements for 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and the multi-annual financial agreement within the programme.

Customs revenues

· THE National Customs Agency collected revenue amounting to 1.514 billion leva in January to April 2005, 26 per cent higher than the same period last year, and 93 per cent higher than in 2001, the agency said on May 18.
In April alone, the agency’s revenue was 414 816 147 leva, 27.6 per cent higher than the sum collected in April last year.

Saxe-Coburg in Coburg

· PRIME Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg will attend a Blessing of the Waters rite for the opening of the St King Boris the Christianiser Bulgarian Church in Berlin on May 29, at the invitation of Metropolitan Simeon of Western and Central Europe, the Government Information Office said.
On May 30, Saxe-Coburg will receive the Freedom of the City of Coburg. The decision to confer on him this highest honour was unanimously adopted by the city leaders after being approved by mayor Norbert Kastner.

Kuneva in Vienna

· EUROPEAN Affairs Minister Meglena Kuneva was scheduled to arrive in Vienna on May 19 to take part in a discussion forum entitled “Bulgaria – a Future EU Member State”.
The forum was organised by the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe with the support of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the Bulgarian Research Institute – Vienna and the Bulgarian embassy in Austria. Planned discussion topics included Bulgaria’s integration into the EU, economic and social development, as well as co-operation in science and technology.

Italian culture minister visits

· EUROPEAN Affairs Minister Meglena Kuneva had talks on May 16 with Italy’s Culture Minister Rocco Buttiglione.
They discussed bilateral projects in culture and in preventive archaeology. Kuneva said that Bulgaria could use Italian expertise in the preservation of archaeological artefacts, which involves the method of preventive archaeology (exploration of a site and subsequent intervention when the site’s development may alter or destroy valuable artefacts). Italy could also help Bulgaria align its culture administration to modern European standards. She said that she hoped that Bulgaria would avail itself of special funding for supporting administrative capacity building in the field of culture between 2004 and 2006. Buttiglione said that cultural assets were not a commodity, but a national heritage of the respective country, and should be preserved as best as possible, and offered as tourist attractions. Europe needs a common policy of using cultural monuments for tourist purposes in order to avoid an “Americanisation” of its cultural heritage, Buttiglione said.
UK assists probation service

· THERE are currently 60 officers working for the Bulgarian National Probation Service and this number is expected to reach 500.
This was announced at a presentation on May 16 of the results of a two-year project entitled “Development of an Imple-mentation and Training Strategy for the Bulgarian National Probation Service”. The project was funded jointly by the UK embassy (Global Opportunity Fund) and the British Council Bulgaria, in partnership with the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, the General Directorate of Penalty Enforcement, and the National Probation Service of England and Wales and Home Office UK.
The project resulted in the setting up of a Bulgarian Probation Service within the Ministry of Justice and the development of a communications strategy. The project also involved the development of detailed documentation for the introduction and implementation of probation in Bulgaria. The first 20 probation officers completed a training course led by representatives of the National Probation Service of England and Wales.

Hypertension

· A TOTAL of 1 500 000 Bulgarians have hypertension, Academician Choudomir Nachev, chairman of the Bulgarian Hypertension League, told journalists on May 13.
Most people with high blood pressure discover their illness at a late stage and tend to ignore it. Sixty-seven per cent of deaths in Bulgaria are caused by cardio-vascular diseases, which in turn are caused by high blood pressure. Seven thousand Bulgarians die annually from strokes, and most could be saved, Nachev said. He said about 50 per cent of hypertension patients became aware of their illness only after surviving a stroke. Only half were willing to be treated for hypertension and 25 per cent took medicines regularly. In many cases hypertension is helped with a pill a day, he said. Unbalanced diet, eating too much sugar, salt and fats, obesity, smoking, drinking and low physical activity are the risk factors causing hypertension.
Pardew honoured

· UNITED States ambassador to Bulgaria James Pardew is to be given the title of Honorary Doctor of the State Music Academy in Sofia, said the Rector of the Academy, Georgi Kostov.
The honour was scheduled to be given at a ceremony on May 20. Kostov received from the ambassador a donation of music literature, including scores for music written by Gershwin, Menotti, Bernstein, Scott Joplin, and other US composers.