These are some of the top stories in Bulgarian newspapers on October 9 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.
Politics
- Novinar daily reports on the disclosure of the communist past of several prominent journalists. The Committee on the opening of the archives of former communist secret services checked the past of people who have headed state Bulgarian news agency BTA or have been on the staff of the Council of Electronic Media, as the law requires. Among the names is Ivo Indjev, who was at the helm of BTA in the early 1990s. After 1989, Indzhev made a name of himself as a harsh critic of communism, but now his name features as a collaborator of
communist-time secret services under the code name Ivailo, Novinar said. Currently Indzhev is deputy chairperson of the electronic media ethics committee.
Economy
- Dnevnik daily leads on a story about the shock investors are experiencing on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange as a consequence of the crises on Wall Street and other financial markets. A year of sliding down has halved the BSE market capitalisation, which declined by 14 billion leva, the daily calculates.
- Sega reports that Bulgarians have spent more than one billion euro on tourism abroad over the first seven months of 2008. This was 25 per cent more than the same period in 2007.
- Monitor reports the words of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev that the banking system in Bulgaria was stable and people had no reasons to worry about their deposits.
Social
- Monitor daily writes on proposed amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act that envisage customers paying their electricity and heating bills only after billing companies have recorded the data from electricity and heating consuming metres. Currently, subscribers are paying on a monthly basis set by providers with metres checked every couple of months.
- Sega tells the story of a set of amendments to the Education Act that will keep education process going in the event of teachers' strike. In 2007, teachers were on strike for more than a month, which left students at home.
- Duma reports about Social and Labour Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova's statement that pensioners will receive 150 leva each as Christmas bonuses.
