These are some of the top stories in Bulgarian newspapers on October 6 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics

- Most dailies report the words of Sofia mayor and leader of the opposition GERB party Boiko Borissov from October 5 that he was ready to face Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev in a public debate at any time and any place. A day earlier Stanishev asked Borissov for a debate and accused him in populism ans misleading promises. Borissov asked for early elections.

- The other news reported by most media is the upcoming congress of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party, scheduled for November 22 or 23.

- Duma newspaper reports about the National Revenue Agency's check into the wealth of Plamen Yuroukov, leader of the right-wing party in opposition, the Union of Democratic Forces. The probe allegedly focuses on discrepancies in Yuroukov's tax and income declaration. He has denied any such discrepancies.

Social

- Monitor daily leads on the story about the failure of the long-awaited programme for university students loans. The scheme was supposed to go into operation as from October 1 but the law adopted in July has not been implemented yet.

- Education is the lead story for Sega daily as well. The paper writes about Education Ministry's attempt to bring down the number of violence cases in high schools by introducing harsh rules for students' discipline and behaviour in class. 

- Trud daily leads on a story about Bulgarian Telecommunications Company changing land line telephone dialing prefixes because some of the current numbers would be used for mobile telephone services. The company offers to add the digit 2 in every telephone number.

Economy

- On its inside pages Sega daily reports about a financial fraud scheme. Dubai Investment has been offering consumer loans at low interest using Unicredit Bulbank's name to attract customers. The bank has denied having Dubai Investments among its customers, Sega writes.

- 24 Chassa daily reports about the October 5 2008 news conference of Bulgarian economists on the subject of the impact of the world financial crises on Bulgaria. The economists say that Bulgaria's crisis will take the form of unemployment and low wages. Slowdown of economic growth, persistently high inflation, deceleration and even freeze of wage and income growth, and steeper rise of unemployment were what Bulgaria would suffer.

- Dnevnik daily looks at how the European countries are tackling the consequences of the financial crises in the US. The newspaper's headline speaks for itself: “Every man for himself”

- Klassa daily reports that the National Health Insurance Find (NHIF) will be demonopolised in 2010, when private health funds will go into operation.

- Monitor quotes Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov, who said that Belene nuclear power plant will be put into operation in 2013.