Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov attended the groundbreaking of a pilot modular kindergarten in the village of Kazichene near the city on May 14. The kindergarten, designed to accomodate 50 children, is the first that will be built using pre-fab kits. The City Hall plans to build more kindergartens from pre-fab kits, believing that to be the solution to the acute shortage of child-care facilities in the city. read more

Bulgaria’s Audit Chamber found major flaws in the operations of the executive agency Roads and its successor National Road Infrastructure Fund (NRIF), the chamber said in a report made public on May 14. The chamber's probe covered the period between January 1 2006 and June 30 2007. It found major discrepancies between the value of performed and accounted works. read more

The IT system of Bulgaria’s National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) is due for launch on July 1, Roumiana Todorova, director of the NHIF, said on May 14, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. The system will speed data processing and the inter-linkage between individual modules will immediately detect overlap of medical activities and flawed spending of money. Spending control is likely to result in 10-15 per cent NHIF budget savings, Todorova said. read more

The leaders of Bulgaria’s tripartite ruling coalition cloistered themselves in Bansko for a weekend, emerging with announcements of a host of proposals for changes to social and health policies, and having discussed the country’s troubled Interior Ministry. In the issue of The Sofia Echo published on May 20, the newspaper has three pages of details of what came out of the meeting – along with reports on the searing criticism of Bulgaria in a letter from the European Commission. read more

These are some of the top headlines in Bulgarian newspapers on May 14 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy. read more

“NMSP [National Movement for Stability and Progress] was suffering the negative sequences for governing with BSP [Bulgarian Socialist Party], BSP was suffering negative sequences for governing with MRF [Movement for Rights and Freedoms], only MRF does not complain,” MRF deputy leader Iordan Tsonev told the morning talk show on private broadcaster bTV. “Our policies, despite all defects, is good for Bulgaria,” Tsonev said. read more

The national-level external evaluation tests in Bulgarian literature and grammar for 4th and 5th graders, held on May 13 2008, were conducted amid lots of organisational problems. According to Roman Bratoev, headmaster of SS Kiril and Metodi secondary school in the village of Murchaevo near Sofia, the organisation involving the conducting of tests could have been better. read more

A letter sent by the European Commission to Bulgaria on May 8 2008 showed the EC's firm position on how Bulgaria managed its EU funds spending. The full text of the letter was published by Bulgarian news agency Focus on May 13 2008 and shows the EC's attitude towards Bulgaria's efforts in overcoming the problems that led to EC halting payments under all pre-accession programmes. read more

On May 13, a new kindergarten opened its doors in Sofia’s Strelbishte neighbourhood. It accommodates 50 children in two groups of 25 each. Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov opened the new kindergarten number 127, which will be called Zlatnoto pate (Golden Duckling). The City Hall invested 850 000 leva from its budget for the new building. read more

Almost 30 experts from auditing company Grant Thornton will probe into Bulgaria’s implementation of European Union operational programmes, the country's Finance Ministry said in a statement, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency BTA. The investigations, to last between May 19 and the end of June, will focus on the Technical Aid programme, under the authority of the Finance Ministry; Administrative Capacity (Ministry of State Administration); Transport (Ministry of Transport), Regional Development (Ministry of Development and Public Works); Human Resource Development (Ministry of Labour and Social Policy); and Environment (Environment Ministry). read more