These are some of the top stories in Bulgarian newspapers on October 13 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics

- Dnevnik daily leads on a story about how the dismissal of Ivan Drashkov, deputy head of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), has resulted in controversy within the ruling coalition. The decisions of Prime Minister and Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Sergei Stanishev to dismiss Drashkov without consulting his two coalition partners, the National Movement for Stability and Progress and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), was described as a “mistake” by MRF leader Ahmed Dogan.

- All dailies report about the ad hoc elections for municipal councillors in the southern town of Petrich that took place on October 12. Most votes went not to the nation-wide well established political parties, but to small-scale formations, such as Bulgarian Social Democracy Party of Alexander Tomov, president of CSKA Sofia football club. Little-known Union of Communists won the most votes in the city's Roma neighbourhood.

Economy

- Sega daily reports about the demands of Japanese consultancy company Padeco for higher pay of their services on the construction of Sofia underground network. The company asked for 14 million leva, as opposed to the previously negotiated 10 million leva, even though the project has long been out of schedule, for which the company was fined by Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov.   

- Trud daily reports on a safety plan for improving the state of state-owned Bulgarian Railways Company developed by Yordan Mirchev, head of Parliament's transport committee. The plan envisages 6.5 billion leva in aid for the company, even though economists have been asking for its privatisation for years.

Social

- Standard daily reports about the Education Ministry's idea to bring back the curfew hours for school students. If Education Minister Daniel Vulchev's idea becomes a reality, all school students should be back at home by 10pm.

- Monitor leads with a story about private lessons for high school students who are getting ready for university entrance exams reaching 2000 leva a year. Private teachers want at least 1000 leva for a course in mathematics and another 1000 leva for a course in Bulgarian literature, Monitor reports. 

- Trud reports that the 10 million leva that the Government plans to allocate from the budget surplus for in vitro procedures will be enough for just 2000 women. NGOs are asking for more funds to be allocated.