These are some of the top headlines in Bulgarian newspapers on May 15 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.
Politics
- Half of the public procurements in 2007 violated the regulations, Dnevnik daily quoted a report from the Public Financial Inspection Agency as saying. The agency probed 1529 procedures worth 1.031 billion leva. In 51 per cent of the tenders, worth 601.3 million leva, the agency found 1548 violations.
- A report of the National Audit Office showed that the National Road Infrastructure Fund “was like a black hole”, Sega daily said. No one knew how much money was given to the fund, what amount was spent, what properties the fund owned and how exactly roads were repaired.
- Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev gave Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Funds utilisation Meglena Plougchieva the right to dismiss anyone who impeded Bulgaria in its European development, Sega said. Plougchieva is expected to exercise rigorous control over the various agencies in charge of the EU funds.
Society
- Prosecutors have launched a total of eight investigations related to the Interior Ministry row from the beginning of 2008, Dnevnik said. Six of the investigations were against unknown perpetrators. The investigations into cases of leaking classified information, but only the former head of Chief directorate for fight against organised crime, Ivan Ivanov, was investigated for taking bribes.
Economy
- German RWE, one of the two finalists in the race to become a strategic investor in the Belene nuclear power plant, confirmed its interest in the project, Dnevnik quoted Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov as saying. RWE dismissed the speculation in German media that it was withdrawing from the project.
- The total number of the loans for households and companies extended in Bulgaria by end-March 2008 was 2.774 million, Bulgarian National Bank statistics showed, as quoted by Dnevnik. For the first three months of 2008, the banks had granted 137 968 loans.
