Subject: Ta nea toy BTA 21-Mar-95 Subject: BTA inf/ Mar. 21, 95 From: georgek@engc.bu.edu (george kapodistrias) From: bulgaria@access1.digex.net (Embassy of Bulgaria) Ta nea apo thn Presbeia ths Boylgarias sthn Washington, D.C. [01] . CABINET APPROVES MASS PRIVATIZATION MACHINERY [02] . CABINET ADOPTED A DECREE REGULATING WAGES [03] . VISIT OF US AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF [04] . BULGARIA MARKS FRANCOPHONY DAY [05] . DJERMAN-SKAKAVITSA WATER INTAKE SYSTEM COMPLETED [06] BUSINESS PRESS . "THIS IS THE SECOND CABINET TURNING A BLIND EYE TO A PROJECT FOR THE REHABILITATION OF THE WHOLE BANKING SYSTEM". Giwrgos Kapodistrias ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: bulgaria@access1.digex.net (Embassy of Bulgaria) Subject: BTA inf/ Mar. 21, 95 Date: 22 Mar 1995 10:34:19 -0500 EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C. BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY BULLETIN OF NEWS FROM BULGARIA MARCH 21, 1995 [01] CABINET APPROVES MASS PRIVATIZATION MACHINERY The Council of Ministers today approved a machinery for implementation of mass privatization, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Roumen Gechev told the press. The final version of the privatization program, including a part on cash privatization which was discussed a fortnight ago, will be approved by the ministers next week and will be presented to the National Assembly together with the Budget Bill. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, a combined approach will be used rather than a separate scheme for privatization through investment vouchers. Under the program, some 100 - 150 enterprises will be initially put up for privatization through vouchers. Divestment of each of these enterprises will follow the following pattern: 50 per cent of the assets will be sold for cash, an average 30 - 35 per cent will be exchanged for bad- debt bonds, and an average 15 - 20 per cent will be privatized through investment vouchers. The actual proportion of the assets privatizable through investment vouchers will depend on the condition of each particular enterprise. The investment vouchers will be negotiable on the stock market. According to a schedule approved today, mass privatization will be implemented in two rounds. In round one, from November 1995 to October 1996, voucher books will be distributed to members of the public and the Privatization Agency will offer 100 - 150 enterprises for privatization, using the combined approach. In round two, from February 1997 to January 1998, the Privatization Agency will put up another 100 or so enterprises. The first list of enterprises subject to combined privatization will be unveiled immediately before the distribution of voucher books in November, Mr. Gechev said. The face value of the investment vouchers which will be available to all Bulgarian citizen of full legal age will probably be increased to 40,000 or 50,000 leva. [02] CABINET ADOPTED A DECREE REGULATING WAGES The Cabinet today adopted a decree regulating wages in state- and municipal-owned enterprises of the material sphere in 1995. Wages will be adjusted for 80 per cent of inflation in the first and second quarter and for 85 per cent in the third and fourth quarter of this year. The Government will thus comply with the decision of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (government, employers and trade unions), reached after hard bargaining. Mincho Koralski, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, described the decree as a sensible compromise and a precondition for steady economic development. He said that all enterprises will probably qualify for the maximum wage increases permissible under the decree. At the negotiations between the social partners, the Government proposes a 70 - 75 per cent base of cost-of-living adjustment, and the trade unions asked for up to 90 per cent. Inflation in 1995 is expected at 14.23 per cent in the first quarter, 14.65 per cent in the second, 7.18 per cent in the third, and 8.30 in the fourth. Enterprises may adjust their wages only after they have discharged their tax liabilities to central and local government and after they have paid their social security and retirement insurance contributions, as well as the contributions to the Retraining and Unemployment Fund. [03] VISIT OF US AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF "With his visit US Air Force Chief of Staff General Ronald Fogelman sought to establish personal contacts. He had ideas for contacts between the armed forces at lower levels and mutual technical assistance in the sphere of technical supplies. There are good prospects for the implementation of the first proposal but as for the technical supplies, aircraft, I don't think we have the economic potential," Bulgarian Air Forces Commander Lieutenant General Miho Mihov told journalists summing up the results of the one-day visit of General Fogelman to Bulgaria. He also said this was a visit of good will that had a protocol character. Today General Fogelman met in turn Bulgarian Chief of General Staff Colonel General Tsvetan Totomirov, Deputy Defense Minister Dimiter Mitkov and the head of the President's Military Office, General Stefan Dimitrov. General Fogelman said he discussed with General Dimitrov a host of issues, paying particular attention to the situation in Bulgaria's western neighbor. He added the two had met previously during President Zhelyu Zhelev's visit to the US. The guest also said General Dimitrov briefed him on the serious losses this country is sustaining as a result of the implementation of the UN sanctions against Serbia- Montenegro and Iraq. General Fogelman understands that Bulgaria's economic losses lave an immediate impact on its armed forces and affect the plans for the future structural adjustment and upgrading of the army. Generals Fogelman and Dimitrov reportedly considered possibilities for solving the conflict in former Yugoslavia and agreed that preconditions exist for a progress of the peace process in this part of the Balkans. Meeting with Deputy Defense Minister Mitkov, General Fogelman reportedly stressed the need for establishing contacts between the young officers of the two countries' air forces. The Deputy Defense Minister for his part said the US IMET program is most useful for the Bulgarian army. He is also quoted a saying this country would capitalize on the opportunities it is given within the Partnership for Peace program, in which the US plays a major role. Yesterday the US Air Force Chief of Staff met members of the Military Council with the Bulgarian Air Forces Staff. [04] BULGARIA MARKS FRANCOPHONY DAY Today Bulgaria is marking the Francophony Day with a number of cultural events, organized by the French Cultural Institute in Sofia, Bulgarian Culture Ministry and the diplomatic missions of the Francophone countries in Bulgaria. At a news conference, today, in the French Cultural Institute, held by the Bulgarian section of the International Union of Francophone Journalists (IUFJ), it emerged that international IUFJ days on the role of the press in preserving the cultural identity in united Europe will be organized in Sofia in May. An exhibition of French books translated into Bulgarian was opened, and two films of French producers were shown. The cultural events will continue until the end of this week with a French music concert at Sofia's Academy of Music and by daily film shows within the Alain Delon film festival. The Francophony Day was also marked by the undergraduates of the Department of Journalism and the Department of Classical and Modern Philologies of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. They prepared the first issue of an international fax-circulated newspaper together with their colleagues from the Universite d'Aix-Marseille. With the assistance of the French Cultural Institute, the students faxed to Marseille their articles on Bulgaria's public life. Bulgaria has been marking the Francophony Day since 1990, when President Zhelyu Zhelev attended a Francophone Summit. An estimated 50,000 Bulgarians speak French. [05] DJERMAN-SKAKAVITSA WATER INTAKE SYSTEM COMPLETED The Djerman-Skakavitsa water intake system, which was completed yesterday, will provide about 10 - 11 million cubic meters of water for Sofia. Its construction cost between 130 and 150 million leva. These figures were cited by Doncho Konankchiev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Construction, and General Radoslav Peshleevski, Chief of the General Administration of the Construction Corps, which implemented the project. A trial run of the intake system was made today. Completion of work met the March 20 deadline, taking 35 rather than 105 days as originally planned. The decision to finish the intake system, which will collect the waters from the spring snow melting in Mt. Rila (Southwestern Bulgaria), was adopted by the caretaker cabinet in late 1994 and was part of a water shortage mitigation plan. Following the sharp drop of the level of the Iskur Dam, which is Sofia's main drinking water reservoir, water supply to the capital city was rationed as of November 1994. However, the local people protested the construction of the intake system, arguing that it will damage the environment in the area. After taking office, the Socialist Government re-examined the problem and confirmed the decision to build Djerman-Skakavitsa. The Construction Corps started work in early February 1995. It has not been made clear so far whether the operation of Djerman- Skakavitsa will help ease the draconian water rationing. Since the end of 1995, hot water has been shut off in Sofia's central parts, and in the large living estates running water has been rationed in a one-day-on, two-days-off basis. [06] BUSINESS PRESS The financial "Pari" daily leads with a story saying this is the second cabinet turning a blind eye to a project for the rehabilitation of the whole banking system. A special law will provide for the setting up of a "provision bank" whose capital will come from commercial banks' obligatory provisions. The chiefs of the new bank will be appointed by the cabinet. This will be a hospital-bank to handle bank's bad debt problems. It will be authorized to issue its own securities and effect clearing transactions for settling intercompany and interbank debts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------