News from Bulgaria / Mar 25, 96

From: bulgaria@access1.digex.net (Embassy of Bulgaria)

Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

March 25, 1996

CONTENTS

[01] CABINET TO KEEP PUSHING FOR DROPPING BULGARIA FROM VISA BLACK LIST

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - "The Government is taking all necessary steps and will continue its efforts for a final positive solution. There is no lack of trust on the part of Europe. On the contrary, the European Union is showing understanding and is willing to have a dialogue on this issue, which is a reason to hope the final decision will be positive," Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said today, in answer to an MP's question about Bulgaria's inclusion in Schengen and European Union visa blacklists.

The Prime Minister said Bulgaria was put on the lists because it has no visa-free entry agreements with any of the countries of the Schengen group or the European Union. "Bulgaria would not have been on the lists, if the Governments ruling this country in 1990-1992 had signed at least one such agreement," he said.

Videnov recalled the government's actions for striking this country off the lists. "Bulgaria based its argument on the fact it is an associate member of the EU, emphasizing the positive elements in its emigration policy and the measures it has taken to combat illegal emigration," he said, adding that this issue was raised at meetings in the framework of the structured dialogue of institutions, Bulgaria's Europe Agreement, the Association Committee and the Association Council.

The Prime Minister said that since last October Bulgaria has signed readmission agreements with Greece and Slovakia and has initialled such agreement with France and Spain. Readmission agreements are among the basic requirements of the EU for striking off Bulgaria from the visa blacklist.

Videnov dwelled on the internal measures undertaken by the Government: tightening visa requirements for citizens of the so-called "high-risk" states, coordination of a new ordinance on the issuing of work permits, approximating Bulgarian legislation in this field to European laws. The prime minister said that work is being done to remove illegal aliens from this country and to proceed to liquidating ghost firms making it possible for a large number of foreigners to stay illegally in Bulgaria.

[02] P.M. VIDENOV: BULGARIA WILL BENEFIT FROM RUSSIAN DONATION OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT

Videnov said Bulgaria would pay 2,538,000 dollars for the transportation of the 100 tanks and 100 armoured infantry fighting vehicles donated by Russia, while the equipment costs much more. Bulgaria will destroy the respective amount of military equipment as required under the CFE Treaty. It costs 50,000 leva to destroy a tank but it leaves spare parts and scrap worth 100,000 dollars, Videnov said.

Commenting on a proposal by opposition MP Vassil Mihailov that Bulgaria should grant Macedonia military equipment subject to destruction, Videnov said the deadline for the conclusion of cascading agreements had expired and the arms embargo on the countries of former Yugoslavia was still in force. "To us, the strengthening of Balkan peace is more important than the arming of any country," he said.

Commenting on Vassil Mihailov's statement that Russia granted military equipment to Bulgaria in return for its decision not to apply for NATO membership, Videnov reiterated the Cabinet's position on this country's NATO membership. "The discussion of NATO's enlargement is an integral part of the complex search for a new system of collective security in Europe. Bulgaria will take a most active part in the enhanced dialogue with NATO which is a component of the collective effort for peace and cooperation in the Balkans," Videnov said.

[03] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ON NEW SYSTEM OF EUROPEAN SECURITY

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - "It is necessary to ensure the formation and the maintenance of a single and inseparable area of security and stability for the European nations. This means that no European state is to be excluded from the process of forming the new architecture and no state should consider itself isolated or threatened," Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said today, answering an MP question about the Government's position on the new system of European security.

Another aspect of the Cabinet's position, identified by PM Videnov, is "that the new architecture should be based on a comprehensive approach to security and should take into consideration its military, economic, environmental and other aspects." "The new architecture will only be lasting and reliable if it is based on a unified system of values: the values of democracy, market economy, supremacy of law, consideration of the rights and fundamental freedoms of the citizens," Mr Videnov said, specifying the third aspect of the Government's stand.

The Prime Minister emphasized that European integration establishes itself as one of the directions in the construction of the new European security architecture. "The Government's key priority in its foreign policy: ensuring security and stability through cooperation and integration in the European and Euro-Atlantic structures, finds manifestation in the country's intense diplomatic activities," Mr Videnov emphasized.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister recalled that at the end of last year Bulgaria filed an official application for full membership in the European Union and that the Government adopted a decision for the country's active participation in the dialogue on NATO's expansion.

[04] FOREIGN MINISTRY ON INFORMATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN MACEDONIA

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry expressed readiness to continue its constructive dialogue with the Republic of Macedonia following information on violations of the rights of persons manifesting their Bulgarian identity. At the same time the Foreign Ministry shares the well-founded concern of the Bulgarian public caused by the said violations and similar information over the past few weeks, the Ministry said in a statement today. It says Bulgaria will continue to closely follow such information.

The statement recalls that supporting the Republic of Macedonia's admission to the Council of Europe, Bulgaria said that despite certain difficulties in the practical implementation of the effective legal standards, the Republic of Macedonia's membership in the Council of Europe would promote its democratic development. Bulgaria will maintain this position in the future in the interest of the further development of bilateral relations desired by people in the two countries.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has received an official note from the Macedonian Foreign Ministry in reply to Bulgaria's written inquiry of January 26, 1996 about information on increasingly frequent violations of the rights of persons in the Republic of Macedonia who openly express their Bulgarian identity or friendliness to Bulgaria. According to today's statement, the note explained that the Republic of Macedonia had entered into a more limited scope of commitments concerning international human rights mechanisms than those invoked by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. As to the cases cited in Bulgaria's inquiry, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry said the persons in question had been led away by the police for the purpose of "finding material and objects linked with a criminal act - the attempt on the life of Mr Kiro Gligorov, President of the Republic of Macedonia". The note does not specify whether such material had been found. It denies the allegation that the persons in question had been detained for over 24 hours in violation of Article 12 of the Macedonian Constitution, says the Foreign Ministry's statement.

[05] GERMANY OFFERS COOPERATION FOR PROJECTS

In Germany Mr Konaktchiev attended an international conference on the problems of regional development, urban planning and housing policy. The conference was attended by the ministers of 29 states from Europe, the US, India, Pakistan, Mali and others.

"With German Minister of Regional Planning and Urban Development Klaus Toepfer, who hosted the meeting, we agreed to particularize as soon as possible at experts level the spheres of cooperation," Mr Konaktchiev said. Among these spheres he identified legislation, the legal framework, reconstruction of residential areas, energy efficiency of construction and others.

Mr Toepfer voiced Germany's readiness to take part in Bulgaria's major infrastructure projects of European importance like the trans- European trunk-roads, the oil pipeline etc. "The hosts showed particular interest to cooperate in the restoration of the economy and the infrastructure of former Yugoslavia," Minister Konaktchiev said. He emphasized that Bulgaria's advantages for these projects are well known but that with its great financial potentials Germany could provide good facilities in their realization.

"We shall also cooperate in technology exchange and in privatization, using the experience of Germany, in which the restructuring of the construction sector was particularly efficient," Mr Konaktchiev said.

[06] PREPARATIONS FOR BALKAN-WIDE MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - The first preliminary meeting of experts in connection with the initiative of the Bulgarian Government for a Balkan- wide meeting of foreign mininisters will be held on March 28 in Sofia, Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Pantelei Karasimeonov said. The meeting will consider the individual countries' views, suggestions and issues of their concern.

The agenda of the Balkan-wide conference is expected to be discussed at the next preliminary meeting. Bulgaria has suggested that the Balkan-wide meeting of foreign ministers be held by the end of June.

[07] FOREIGN MINISTER PIRINSKI TO ATTEND EU I.G.CONFERENCE IN TURIN

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski will attend the opening ceremony of the Inter-governmental Conference (IGC) of EU member states, which starts on March 29 in Turin, Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Pantelei Karasimeonov told the regular news briefing today.

It was confirmed that on April 4 and 5 Minister Pirinski will pay an official visit to Athens at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos.

[08] WORLD BANK ENDS ENERGY MISSION

Sofia, March 22 (BTA) - The World Bank ended today its two-week energy mission here, the National Electric Company (NEC) said. The mission was intended to inspect the realization of the package of projects, financed by the "Energy 1" loan, hold preliminary talks on the investments for the future "Energy 2" loan and specify joint measures for the utilization of new energy sources. One of the major projects to be financed by the second loan is expected to be the rehabilitation of the thermal power station in Varna, NEC said.

Inspection of the company's financial state was conducted at meetings with representatives of NEC and the Energy Committee. The mission also considered the measures taken by the Government, the Energy Committee and NEC for reducing the difference between electricity prices and production costs.

The World Bank's representatives also had meetings with experts of the Finance Ministry, the National Pricing Committee and the Parliamentary Energy Committee.

[09] BUSINESS NEWS BRIEFS

Sofia, March 24 (BTA) The World Bank will grant 200,000 ECU for the gasification of the second largest Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. The commitment was made by World Bank experts who met with city officials. The first step will be the establishment of an information centre to increase public awareness of the project. The bank will also lend 5 million dollars for converting public buses to gas fuel. Such an experiment was successfully completed in Hungary.

The International Bank for Investments and Development posted a net profit of 93.5 million leva, the general meeting announced last week. The basis for its success is tight lending policies, according to the Chairman of the Board of Directors Bozhidar Bozhinov.

The bank will increase its capital base to 1,200 million leva, in line with the new central bank capital adequacy requirements. To that end, it will issue a 400 million leva worth of shares of a par value of 1,000 leva.

The bank's US co-founders, a New York-based group, have sold their share, and now it is fully Bulgarian-owned. The principal shareholder is the Bulgarian Chamber of Trade and Industry (40%). The remaining owners hold no more than 5% each.

The bank is planning to expand its office network, opening offices in Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and Plovdiv (southern Bulgaria).

Oustrem Invest in Rousse signed a contract for the import of over 100,000 t of grain from Ukraine. Ukrainian feed wheat, barley and maize will be processed, and the feed exported to third countries. Another 10,000 t of feed grain will be imported for the domestic market. To avert a crisis next winter, the firm has already been signing contracts with producers to buy winter and spring crops.

Managers of chambers of commerce and industry from Kavala (Greece), Zhitomir and Stavropol (Ukraine), Kragujevac and Belgrade (Serbia) have been invited to attend the second exposition of corporate design and advertizing, Reks'96, from March 23 to 25 in Pazardjik (southern Bulgaria). Exhibitors include 21 firms from the region and all Bulgarian chambers of commerce and industry. The idea of the organizers is to popularize the company logos of Bulgarian firms, in a bid to prevent buying their output cheaply, for resale on international markets under different brand names.

Germany's biggest coal mining company, Laubag, is ready to render materiel, technical and consultancy assistance to the Maritsa Iztok mines, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Laubag, Dieter Schwirten, announced after a visit to the mines. The two coal mining ventures have been cooperating for four years. In 1995 Maritsa Iztok received 500 t of spares for earth-digging equipment. Another 400 t will be supplied this year.

An international border trade fair Kraishte'96 was opened last week in Kyustendil (western Bulgaria). It will last through March 24. Companies from Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine and Turkey are exhibiting household and industrial goods. The fair will include a scientific conference on "Economic and Legal Problems of Balkan Cooperation."

[10] BULGARIA HAS NO MAD COW DISEASE

Following reports of "mad cow" disease in Europe, the Service stepped up preventive measures, to ensure the disease does not spread to this country, the statement says.

The statement called on specialized diagnostic institutes and the public to remain vigilant, to avert any disease of socioeconomic significance.

[11] BULGARIANS RESPECT UNIVERSAL HUMAN VALUES, POLL SHOWS

More than 97.3 per cent of the respondents attach the greatest importance in their lives to children and family. Ninety-eight per cent of the respondents say that health is the most important thing in human life. Next come work, financial security and housing, followed by friendship, morality and education which are valued by two thirds of the respondents. One third of the interviewees list religion as being among their highest values.

Eighty per cent of the respondents say that they share the same views with their spouse on family issues and on the raising and education of children. A mere three per cent of the respondents say they disagree on these matters. Agreement is more difficult to reach on religious and political issues, the poll showed.

About three quarters of the respondents are satisfied with their family life. Youths are least happy with their families; men and residents of small populations centres proved the happiest spouses.

Two per cent of the respondents are unhappy with their sex life, while 18 per cent are partially satisfied. People between 25 and 34 years of age are the most pleased with their sex life. People of the higher age groups tend to be less happy, while those of 50 to 65 years of age are sufficiently happy with it.

Some 60% of the respondents said they disapproved of extramarital sexual relations, 17% said they approved and 23% had no opinion. The results showed that women are more prone to infidelity and at the same time less tolerant to their partner's extramarital escapades. Attitudes vary greatly with age. Approval is highest in the under-20 age group (28%) and drops in the higher age groups to 8% among the most elderly. Approval is also higher among university graduates and city dwellers.

Every 11th couple cohabits without having been officially married, according to the poll. This enjoys the highest approval in the 16-24 age group. Men and city dwellers are more inclined to accept non-formal marriage. Almost 15% of the respondents prefer the family not to be bound by legal ties alone. According to sociologists, the number of non- formal marriages will increase as they are often based on more sincere relationships than legal marriages. One in four respondents believes that one can live a full life without creating a family and 13% without having children.

[12] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS PETER STOYANOV, 44, UDF CANDIDATE

According to an earlier agreement among opposition parties, Stoyanov will run in national primaries of the opposition. Also running in the primaries is incumbent President Zhelyu Zhelev, nominated today by the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union. The primaries are intended to elect a single opposition candidate for the presidential race due by the end of this year. UDF leaders repeatedly told reporters after the conference that they are convinced Stoyanov will win the primaries, and run with a mate chosen by the Agrarians.

Peter Stoyanov is UDF deputy leader and deputy floor leader. He said he will resign the posts to concentrate on his campaign. A law school graduate, he had a lawyer's practice for many years and served as Deputy Justice Minister in the UDF Cabinet in the early 90's. Stoyanov joined the leadership of the UDF a year ago, at a time of organizational and structural reforms. He is believed to be one of the new faces of the UDF. This fact was emphasized in presenting his candidacy at the conference today. According to the leader of the UDF-affiliated Clubs for Democracy Svetoslav Louchnikov, Stoyanov brings a new message, especially to young people who have so far shunned politics.

Stoyanov today told the delegates and later the media he believed the UDF candidate will win both the primary and the presidential elections. He described his bid as a challenge. "We should win this and the next parliamentary elections, to revive people's hopes that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) can be beaten," he told the delegates. At the same time, Stoyanov stressed the UDF will only win, if it embraces a new formula, not focusing on how bad Communism is but on how good UDF ideas are. "We should look forward, we should promote positive attitudes in all non-Communist Bulgarians," Stoyanov said. At his first press conference as the UDF nominee, he also spoke of a positive campaign and special attention to non-Communist voters, especially young people and those who abstained at the last polls. "The presidential campaign will not be my campaign, it will be the UDF campaign," the UDF candidate told the media.

Stoyanov emphasized he sees the presidential elections as a prelude to early parliamentary elections.

He focused on the need for consolidation of the opposition. The UDF knows that Communist cannot be defeated without such consolidation, Stoyanov said. He told the conference he would not like to discuss his rival, President Zhelyu Zhelev, because that would be unnecessary myth making and would put Zhelev on a par with the UDF. "I would not allow my political arguments against Zhelev to turn into emotional," he told the media later today, describing Zhelev's policy in 1992, the year that saw the downfall of the UDF Government, as "a political fiasco."

Stoyanov, as well as his rivals Yordanov and Agov, emphasized before the delegates the need for a future UDF President to press for Bulgaria's integration into European and Euroatlantic structures. According to Stoyanov, Bulgaria now has the chance to build a European-style civilization.

The second day of the UDF conference was entirely devoted to the election of the UDF presidential candidate. The afternoon meeting, when the results of the vote were announced, was attended by the leader of the opposition Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (in the Popular Union coalition) Anastassiya Mozer. The conference welcomed her chanting "unity", but later booed at her announcement the Agrarians would support Zhelev's reelection bid.

[13] PRESIDENT ZHELEV NOMINATED FOR REELECTION BY AGRARIANS

An opposition victory at the polls would clear the way to early parliamentary elections, according to Zhelev. This view is shared by the leaders of the largest opposition coalition, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF).

Addressing the meeting of senior Agrarians, Zhelev reaffirmed he would join the primaries arranged by the opposition, expressing a hope the participants will abide by the rules. Zhelev's rival is UDF deputy leader Peter Stoyanov, who was nominated by a UDF national conference today. The ethnic Turks' Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) will not put up a candidate. Its leader Ahmed Dogan today said in Plovdiv (southern Bulgaria) the MRF does not hide its preference for Zhelev.

Zhelev yesterday sent a message to the UDF conference and today addressed the Agrarian meeting, stressing he shares with the Agrarians three great political ideas: the return of the land to pre-Communist owners in its real boundaries; the republican idea, and the democratic idea. "The Agrarian party is the real political force which fought totalitarian tyranny both before and after September 9, 1944 [the date of the Communist takeover], and sacrificed many lives to that struggle," Zhelev said.

This morning the meeting was unexpectedly addressed by UDF leader Ivan Kostov, who was welcomed with cries of "unity". According to Agrarian leaders, the focal point of his address was to promote agreement before the primaries on a single ticket comprised of a UDF presidential candidate and an Agrarian running mate. Kostov assured the Agrarian leaders that the UDF will abide by the agreement among opposition parties on a single presidential candidate. "If the Agrarian candidate wins the primaries, the UDF leadership will support you," Kostov said, adding UDF supporters are critical of Zhelev.

"The risks in the primaries are great, but justified in the name of our goals: a single, strong candidate and an opposition victory at the polls," Agrarian leader Anastassiya Mozer stressed.

Although Zhelev polled the majority of Agrarian votes, some activists voted against, including the party's organizational secretary Petko Iliev, who argued Zhelev will split the Agrarian electorate.