These are some of the top headlines in Bulgarian newspapers on July 21 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics

- Hard work should be undertaken so that the fatigue of European Union member states from the lack of progress in the fight against corruption and organised crime in Bulgaria could be overcome, the European Commission draft report on Bulgaria read, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. The report will be officially published on July 23.

- The impeachment procedure, which was being discussed by the opposition parties, was doomed to failure and did not meet the constitution, members of Parliament from the ruling coalition and the opposition parties said, as quoted by Dnevnik.

Social

- The Defence Ministry was to sign a controversial contract for repair of the army’s old helicopters Mi-17 and Mi-24, Sega daily said. Deputy Defence Minister Spas Panchev told Sega that the contract would most probably be signed in September. However, Defence Minister Nikolai Tsonev was unaware of the contract, Sega said.

- Sofia city hall announced that it would start washing streets in the city centre on July 21, Monitor daily said. The cleaning will occur between 7.30am and 3pm everyday until July 25.

Economy

- The tender paperwork for public procurement tenders for the construction of Trakiya Highway would be ready within two to three weeks, National Road Infrastructure Fund (NRIF) head Milosh Potskov said on July 20, as quoted by Sega. NRIF, the Regional Development and Water Affairs Ministry and Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Meglena Plougchieva would discuss the construction and the funding on July 21.