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News from Bulgaria / 96-06-13Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Embassy of Bulgaria <bulgaria@access1.digex.net>EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY13 June, 1996CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT ZHELEV MEETS THE TURKISH PRIME MINISTERSofia, June 12 (BTA) - Today Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev had a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Messut Yilmaz, the correpsondent of the Bulgarian National Radio said. Mr Zhelev arrived in Turkey yesterday to attend the HABITAT II U.N. cities coference. Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Construction Doncho Konakchiev and Minister of the Environment Georgi Georgiev are also at the forum.Minister Konakchiev presented a report about Bulgaria's views concerning urban environment. Today a paper by President Zhelev on the relations between central government and local authorities and on the problems in financing small population centres in Bulgaria was circulated. President Zhelev and Prime Minister Yilmaz discussed Bulgarian- Turkish relations. Tomorrow Presidnet Zhelev will have a meeting with President Suleyman Demirel. Mr Zhelev believes they will consider cooperation between the two countries in transport and the opening of a new crossing on their common border. [02] MINISTER PIRINSKI LEAVES FOR BOSNIA REVIEW CONFERENCE IN FLORENCESofia, June 12 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski today left for Florence to attend the foreign ministers' the Bosnia peace review conference. The two-day forum will have on its agenda the refugee problem, the arrangement of the forthcoming elections in Bosnia- Herzegovina and institutional support and regional stability. ‘I expect from the meeting greater clarity about our chances for participation in the projects for reconstruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina,’ Mr Pirinski said at the airport. At this stage the separate countries should already seek direct contacts with the authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as with the ministries of the basic donor countries, he believes. ‘Nobody denies that Bulgaria can be an efficient partner,’ Mr Pirinski added. ‘Bulgarian diplomacy did what should have been done, and did it promptly and adequately,’ he said. The efforts of the Bulgarian companies and of the ministries in charge of trade and the economy should now match this vigour, Mr Pirinski noted.[03] PARLIAMENT DECISIONSSofia, June 12 (BTA) - At a regular sitting today the National Assembly approved a draft agreement between Parliament, the Government and the judiciary on joint action in the drawing up of a national crime prevention and control programme. Parliament Chairman Blagovest Sendov will sign the agreement on behalf of the National Assembly.A law on the ratification of an intergovernmental agreement on merchant shipping cooperation with Russia passed on first and second reading. The agreement signed in Sofia on May 19, 1995, provides for national treatment of each other's ships on the basis of reciprocity. The National Assembly gave the go-ahead to a lending agreement with the World Bank for a 24.5 million dollar loan for administration of social security. It will be instrumental in carrying out a reform in social security and pension schemes, said Emil Filipov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Oversight of Political Parties' Revenues, Expenditures and Property. The loan will be repayable over 20 years with a five-year grace period at the Bank's standard interest rate. The project must be implemented within four years. Parliament ratified a 1972 Protocol amending the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Bulgaria enforces most provisions of the Protocol banning the growing of poppy and cannabis, said Georgi Karev, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health Care. He said Bulgaria has set up an interdepartmental council coordinating the efforts of national agencies against illegal actions involving narcotic drugs. Parliament passed unanimously on first and second reading a law on the ratification of the Second Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement and to the Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the EEC and the European Coal and Steel Community, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part. The protocol, signed in Brussels on December 30, 1994, envisages unilateral liberalization by the EU of Bulgarian imports and shortening the term of the phase-out of tariffs on certain industrial and agricultural products in the EU, the Parliamentary Economic Committee said. Parliament ratified on first and second reading the Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement signed in Brussels on July 20, 1995, establishing the legal basis for the start of negotiations on Bulgaria's accession to specific EU programmes. [04] CENTRAL BANK DECISIONSSofia, June 12 (BTA) - The National Bank of Bulgaria (BNB) today announced that it is postponing for August the increase to 10% of the required mandatory reserves of commercial banks, setting it at 9% for June (up from the 8.5% earlier) and 9.5% for July. A decision to that effect was taken at today's sitting of the central banks's Governing Board.A press release of the BNB says the Governing Board took into consideration ‘the increasingly complex situation in the banking system and the serious liquidity problems facing a number of commercial banks as a result of the campaign-like drawing of money by members of the public and firms’. The decision was also taken in a view of the fact that the increase of attracted leva capital over the recent weeks was attributable more to the dramatic depreciation of the domestic currency against foreign exchange rather than to the inflow of fresh money, the press release goes. The central bank further says it took the decision in a bid to prevent some banks from plunging into a crisis. [05] BDZ DOES NOT PLAN FARES INCREASESofia, June 12 (BTA) - The national carrier Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) does not plan to adjust passenger fares and freight to the new fuel and electricity prices, BDZ Director general Angel Dimitrov said. The latest increase of railway fares took effect as of June 1, 1996.The decision was made despite the company's large losses, Mr Dimitrov said, specifying that BDZ operating expenses would soar by almost 1,150 million leva as a result of the increase in fuel prices. The new electricity prices and the increase in VAT will raise operating costs by another 1,534 million leva, which will push up the cost price of passenger carriage by 10 percent and that of cargo by 14 percent, Mr Dimitrov said. In this situation the BDZ expenditure per passenger will be 3.87 times higher than the revenue. However, the national carrier expects to compensate its losses by an increase in the number of passengers. After the mark-up of coach fares, people prefer to travel by train, Mr Dimitrov said. [06] ‘BALKAN’ TO CLOSE LONG-DISTANCE LINES, UNDERGO PARTIAL PRIVATIZATIONPapers today report plans by the state-run Balkan Bulgarian Airlines to close long-distance services. ‘Troud’ quotes pilots as saying the airline may close its twice a week lines to New York, Johannesburg and Bangkok. The report says the company may give up its biggest Boeing 767s rented from Air France. According to the director of flights at Balkan, revenues have risen 50% since the services were introduced, and the number of passengers also rose by 50% from a year earlier. According to ‘Troud’, Air France agreed to not only reduce the rent but also sell the planes to Balkan at a substantial discount.The chief of Boeing pilots told the same paper, ‘No civilized country in the world would simply give up its positions on the international market. Balkan has already made one crucial mistake by giving up its Colombo service, which Romanian rival Tarom snatched straight away.’ ‘24 Chassa’ quotes anonymous Transport Ministry sources as saying Balkan may be sold in parts. Deputy Transport Minister Svetoslav Stanoulov told ‘24 Chassa’ last week catering services in Varna and Bourgas, the airline's two Cosmos hotels, the cargo flights division and the domestic tourism division will be separated from Balkan. The paper writes these divisions may be sold off. [07] ‘NEFTOCHIM’ TO MAKE EUROPEAN STANDARDS PETROLQuoting senior Neftochim officials, ‘Standart News’ says that on Monday the state-run refinery in Bourgas (on the Black Sea) starts making A-98 petrol in line with European standards.This is the highest octane petrol in Bulgaria. A-98 petrol, 71 leva/litre, will replace A-96, ‘Standart News’ says. It goes on to say that this petrol will be made according to a long-term business plans for manufacturing only petrols conforming to European standards after the year 2000. Quoting Bedo Doganyan, CEO of the state-run Petrol Company, ‘Troud’ says that the firm introduces smart cards for the sale of petrol. The new service will at first only be available to corporate customers. It will be extended to individuals by year-end. Customers will pay a deposit covering a vehicle's half-month fuel consumption, ‘Troud’ says. The deposit would guarantee a client's solvency, the daily says, quoting Doganyan. [08] CONSTRUCTION TROOPS CAN BUILD A BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBEPleven, June 12 (BTA corr.) - The Pleven division of the Bulgarian Construction Corps will build facilities worth 360 million leva in the Lovech and Montana regions (Northwestern Bulgaria) this year, BTA learned from its commander, Colonel Yordan Ivanov.The division is ready to build a second bridge over the Danube River between Oryahovo, Bulgaria and Bechet, Romania. It will be one kilometre long and its foundations will be laid by Russia's Moststroy which has built bridges over the Volga and in China, Col. Ivanov said. In a month the Pleven construction troops will start building a new ferry between Nikopol in Bulgaria and Turnu Magurele in Romania. An earlier project - the Oryahovo-Bechet ferry - was completed in six months instead of eleven. In 1997 the division will build a ferry at Toutrakan. The troops' command is studying a Romanian project to build a hotel in downtown Bucharest. There are plans to put up an office block in Tel Aviv. The construction division has utilized 127 million leva so far this year. It has no outstanding debts to the treasury but its receivables amount to 33 million leva. There are no ethnic problems in the division in which Bulgarians are 30 per cent and Turks 20 per cent of all troops, while the rest are Gypsies, Col. Ivanov said. Sofia, June 12 (BTA) - Earlier this year General Radoslav Peshleevski, Chief of the General Administration of the Construction Corps, said the construction units had been commissioned to build facilities around the world in 1996. The Construction Corps will build a railway, roads and water supply links in Harare, Zimbabwe. Last year it built a bridge over the Limpopo, linking Zimbabwe and South Africa. Gen. Peshleevski said the construction troops would bid for renovation contracts in South Africa, including transport corridors, ports and housing. They have already won a tender to build 300 housing units near Johannesburg. The Construction Corps will also take part in competitive bidding in Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Mozambique. It will build a highway between Samara and Tolyati in Russia and five Shell- style petrol stations. Other projects are Russia's biggest hydro-electric power station and housing in Samara. The military construction troops will submit a tender for the renovation of Russian roads and bridges financed by the World Bank. [09] CHILD HEALTH IN BULGARIASofia, June 12 (BTA) - Bulgaria's under-5 population has a mortality rate of 19 per 1,000, according to the latest figures released by the United National Children's Fund (UNESCO) in its annual report. The figures are from 1994, experts of the Ministry of Health told reporters today. UNICEF puts the maternal mortality at childbirth at 27 per 1,000 for 1994. Actually, 17 women died at childbirth in 1994 and 16 in 1995, the Bulgarian health officials specified. Births totalled 82,000 in 1994 and 79,934 last year. The suicide rate in the 15-24 age bracket in Bulgaria is 15.4 per 1,000 for girls and 5.6 per 1,000 for boys, said Yanko Dolapchiev, head of the Information Department of the Bulgarian National Committee for UNICEF. The comparable figures for the United States are 21.9 per 1,000 for girls and 3.8 per 1,000 for boys. In its report, UNICEF cites economic reasons, emotional and sexual problems, stress, unwanted pregnancy and unemployment as the principal reasons for juvenile suicide. The child immunization rate in Bulgaria has dropped 12 percentage points according to UNICEF, from 99 per cent in 1988 to 85 per cent in 1994. The report also highlights problems related to salt iodization, citing Razlog (in the Southwest) and the Rhodopi Mountains (South Central Bulgaria) as affected areas in Bulgaria. For a fourth year now, the salt works in Provadia cannot implement the iodization programme for lack of money, Mr Dolapchiev said.[10] SIMEON II'S VISIT DRAWING TO AN ENDSofia, June 12 (Ekaterina Kazassova of BTA) - Having spent three weeks in Bulgaria, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his wife Margarita are flying back to Madrid this Sunday. This emerged after Simeon II's meeting with three popular Bulgarian intellectuals - writer Radoi Ralin, literary critic Yordan Vassilev and cartoonist Boris Dimovski. One of the reasons is that Simeon II's birthday is on June 16 and he wants to be with his family in Madrid for it. The other one is that he is overtired with the busy programme of the visit, Yordan Vassilev said after the meeting. According to him, Simeon II feels so exhausted that he has even refused to go to Borovets, where one of the royal residences he loved very much as a child is situated. The date of Simeon II's departure has not been confirmed by his press service yet.Later today Simeon II went to the editorial offices of the 168 Chassa Press Group. ‘I firmly believe in the freedom of the press’, Simeon II wrote on the wall and received a sword which had been given to him as a present when he was one year old but was left behind when Simeon was exiled in 1946. This is the second sword he received during his Bulgarian tour. Simeon II was given the first one by representatives of the Union of Graduates of His Majesty's Military Schools. The original sword, decorated with a cipher, was kept by members of the Union for 52 years. During his three-week Bulgarian tour Simeon II visited his father's grave in the Rila Monastery, Blagoevgrad, Plovdiv, Pleven, Dobrich, Yambol, Stara Zagora, Varna, Bourgas and other places. However, he had no time to go to all the population centres that had extended him invitations. Everywhere he was greeted and given presents by his fans, most of them family relics. In Dobrich he received an album with photogpahs showing the welcome of the Bulgarian troops after the liberation of Southern Dobroudja in 1940 and in Pleven - a medal instituted in January 1899 when his grandmother Marie-Louise died. Numismatists valued the relic, preserved by a citizen of Pleven, at over one million leva. In Nessebur Simeon II was given photographs of his father Boris III, unpublished so far. The winery Vinis in Yambol gave him 500 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, vintage 1989, numbered and with special labels. The citizens of Varna gave him a riding horse. There are paintings, icons, books and various souvenirs among Simeon II's other presents. This is Simeon II's first but not last visit to Bulgaria. He repeated several times that he would like to come to Bulgaria again. According to Simeon II, the date of his next visit will be fixed later, after it is coordinated with his family and friends. [11] MEETING OF THE HOLY SYNODSofia, June 12 (BTA) - The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will send a letter to the clergy warning them not to participate in the convention of clergy and laity, called by Metropolitan Pimen's dissenting Holy Synod on July 1, 1996. The text of the letter will be approved tomorrow, BTA was told by its sources. At today's meeting of the Holy Synod Patriarch Maksim familiarized the hierarchs with Deput Prime Minister Sveloslav Shivarov's letter advising them the Government would not grant the three million leva Metropolitan Pimen's Synod asked for the convention.The hierarchs approved the programme of Serbian Patriarch Pavle's visit. Patriarch Pavle arrives here on Friday. It is not known yet whether the Serbian Patriarch will be received by the President, the Chairman of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister, said Metropolitan Gelassii, secretary of the Holy Synod. Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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