News from Bulgaria, 96-10-08

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From: Embassy of Bulgaria <bulgaria@access1.digex.net>

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

8 October, 1996

CONTENTS

[01] BULGARIA - YUGOSLAVIA TRANSPORT TIES

[02] KAZAKH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN BULGARIA

[03] INTERNATIONAL COURSE IN EUROPEAN SECURITY

[04] BULGARIAN-GREEK COMMISSION DISCUSSES MEASURES TO COMBAT SHEEP POX

[05] BULGARIA'S WETLANDS VERY WELL MANAGED, SAYS RAMSAR CONVENTION SECRETARY GENERAL BLASCO

[06] OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ON FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

[07] MASS PRIVATIZATION FIRST AUCTION STARTS TUESDAY

[08] BLACK SEA GAS FIELD PROMISING, EXPERTS SAY

[09] TRADE UNIONS BRACE UP FOR PROTEST ACTIONS, ASSISTANCE TO SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED

[10] SOCIAL PARTNERS DISCUSS INDUSTRIAL SAFETY LAW

[01] BULGARIA - YUGOSLAVIA TRANSPORT TIES

Post-embargo Yugoslavia is a reliable trade partner; the share of Bulgarian goods currently stands at nearly two thirds of Yugoslavia's overall commercial exchange, Rangelov said. Bulgaria is making definite profits as a result of the reduced tolls: by 30 per cent for car transport and by 40 per cent for coach transport, through Yugoslavia, Rangelov said. He assessed in highly positive terms the decision of the Yugoslav side to grant Bulgaria 5,000 new transit permits for 1996. The commission also made an exception to issue 1,000 bilateral permits free of charge.

The working projects for the construction of a trunk road between Nis (Yugoslavia) and Dimitrovgrad (Southern Bulgaria) have been completed, the Yugoslav officials told the meeting. The sides are holding talks to streamline customs checks. Rangelov said also that the negotiations on the reopening of the Sofia-Belgrade air service have entered an advanced stage. According to him, the service will not yield large profits but will intensify business contacts.

A Serb delegation of the joint sub-commission on transport is expected to visit Bulgaria in early November. The sides will sign bilateral agreements on road and rail transport, Bulgarian Transport Ministry officials told the press.

[02] KAZAKH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN BULGARIA

The relations between Bulgaria and Kazakhstan reached a standstill in the last few years. The best year for economic relations was 1987. Then some 46 Bulgarian companies exported to Kazakhstan 53 kinds of goodscosmetics, household appliances, ready-to-wear clothing, cigarettes, wines, etc. Kazakhstan exported to Bulgaria steel and other metals and machine tools.

In 1993 the countries regulated relations with a treaty for friendship and cooperation signed in Kazakhstan by Presidents Zhelyu Zhelev and Nursultan Nazarbaev. The two countries also signed an agreement which marked the start of official trade and economic cooperation.

[03] INTERNATIONAL COURSE IN EUROPEAN SECURITY

This is the first course of its kind given outside the NATO institutes in Italy, France and Germany. For four weeks the participants will attend lectures and seminars on "Security and Defence Policy: The Challenges of the New Millennium". Defence Minister Dimiter Pavlov gave an introductory lecture on "Security through Cooperation and Integration". He stressed that dialogue on NATO membership is still in progress in Bulgaria.

Dr Marcuise, Deputy Director in charge of multilateral affairs with the NATO Division of Political Affairs, spoke about NATO's contribution to the building of a democratic security system in Europe in the 21st century. The participants in the forum are scheduled to meet with the ambassadors of Russia and the U.S. to Bulgaria.

[04] BULGARIAN-GREEK COMMISSION DISCUSSES MEASURES TO COMBAT SHEEP POX

The disease may have spread to Greece from Bulgaria, Greek experts said, claiming three-quarters of the foci of infection were in places where Bulgarian timber is imported. These suspicions were voiced by the chief of the Evros district veterinary service, Angelos Beglou.

The suspicions that the disease spread from Bulgaria to Greece are totally unjustified, representatives of the Haskovo Region said. Twenty-five foci of sheep pox have been established in Greece and 80 of them are along the Greek-Turkish border. There were only three foci of sheep pox on Bulgarian territory which have already been liquidated.

At the meeting the Greek side spoke of its intentions to propose that all animals in the European part of Turkey be vaccinated and if this proves impossible to set up buffer zones along the borders to which animals of farmers will not be admitted.

[05] BULGARIA'S WETLANDS VERY WELL MANAGED, SAYS RAMSAR CONVENTION SECRETARY GENERAL BLASCO

[06] OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ON FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

This evening Peter Stoyanov presented his foreign policy platform before the Bulgarian Atlantic Club. The Club has invited the presidential candidate of the ruling Socialists Ivan Marazov to set forth his own foreign policy priorities next Wednesday, October 16.

A key element of Stoyanov's foreign policy platform is this country's regional policy, to be pursued strictly in line with the overall process of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Stoyanov further spoke in favour of promoting the relations with partners of North Africa, the Middle and Far East and Southwest Asia. The contacts with these regions should be aimed at encouraging investors' interest in Bulgaria and boosting the confidence in Bulgaria as a member of the community of civilized countries without disturbing integration processes of priority, said Stoyanov.

He stressed it is very important for Bulgaria that the EU intergovernmental conference confirm the principle of equal start and equal treatment of all EU associated members, adding that the accession negotiations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe should start simultaneously with those with Malta and Cyprus.

The opposition presidential candidate further dwelled on his belief that there is a direct link between Bulgaria's chances to be admitted as full EU member and getting military and political national security guarantees within NATO.

"The decision for joining NATO as a full member will be a sovereign act of the Republic of Bulgaria. I would not accept any other country having the right to veto another country's decision to join NATO," Stoyanov said. The audience applauded his words. He added that Bulgaria's entry into NATO does not invalidate the efforts to find other, regional and supra-regional, national security guarantees. He called upon Parliament to reiterate the will for Euro-Atlantic integration first voiced in 1993. He believes that a step to that end will give Bulgaria grounds to demand that the North Atlantic Council invite it personally to accede along with the other EU associated member states.

Stoyanov's statement that he intends to be an active factor in encouraging Bulgarian-Russian relations which are to the benefit of both countries were received with applause from the audience. "I view these relations both on an independent bilateral basis and as a means for improving economic indices instrumental to Bulgaria's full European and Euro-Atlantic integration," Stoyanov said. Bulgaria may become a "bridge" or an "intermediary" between NATO and Russia, Stoyanov added.

Dwelling on this country's Balkan policy, Peter Stoyanov said that this policy should proceed from the conviction that the times of bilateral or trilateral axes and backstage negotiations are over. Regional initiatives should establish European norms of relations between the states of the region, Stoyanov believes. He described the main aspects of Bulgaria's foreign policy in Southeastern Europe as economic cooperation and development of infrastructure.

The present Bulgarian Constitution gives the President sufficient rights which "could speed up the process of careful decision-making in the field of foreign policies and national security following the elaboration of efficient mechanisms." Stoyanov said that if he is elected President, he would work for overcoming the present practice of having foreign political and national security documents elaborated entirely by the government and its bodies. The first major test of the efficiency of the proposed approach would be the President's participation, in his capacity as commander-in-chief, in the preparation and holding of the meeting of the defence ministers of the countries of Southeastern Europe scheduled for the first half of 1997, Stoyanov said.

[07] MASS PRIVATIZATION FIRST AUCTION STARTS TUESDAY

The mass privatization started in early January 1996. Some 1,000 enterprises with a total capital exceeding 200,000 million leva have been put up for sale. Some 80,000 million leva of their capital will be privatized through voucher books, another part through the cash privatization and a third part will remain state-owned.

The registration for participation in the mass privatization lasted for nearly five months. More than three million people stated they will take part in the mass privatization through privatization funds or independently. The total of 6.5 million Bulgarians are eligible to register for participation.

The transfer of voucher books to privatization funds and relatives started in mid-June. The fund's statutory meetings were held in the second half of September. Unlike the Czech Republic and Russia where privatization funds numbered 450 and 600 respectively in Bulgaria their number was considerably smaller. Ninety two privatization funds were approved for participation in the voucher privatization. Eleven funds were not licensed as they did not raise the minimum required capital of 70 million leva.

Today is deadline for the funds' filing documents for registration with the Securities and Stock Exchanges Commission. The court registration should be conducted between October 30 and November 12.

[08] BLACK SEA GAS FIELD PROMISING, EXPERTS SAY

The Romanian floating platform "Atlas", hired by the U.S. Texaco Company, started prospecting at the Galata Cape 15 days ago. Drilling now takes place at more than 1,020 metres in the earth. Geologists expect the next horizon to be with even greater saturation and size than the first probe conducted by Texaco two years ago. "We are not sure yet what the filed's volume will be but this time we hope to discover what we came here for and to prove the feasibility of the development of this gas field," Texaco manager Steven Marshall told the national television.

Data of the Committee of Geology and Mineral Resources show that foreign investment in oil production in Bulgaria totalled USD 150 million over the past five years, against USD 4 to 5 million allocated from the state budget.

[09] TRADE UNIONS BRACE UP FOR PROTEST ACTIONS, ASSISTANCE TO SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED

Already last May CITUB and Podkrepa leaders said they would call nationwide strikes and other protest actions against the economic and social policy of the Cabinet of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and its coalition partners. The demands raised by the two trade union amalgamations, supported by other smaller trade unions, seek full compensation of real incomes, which plummeted several fold this year due to soaring prices and runaway inflation.

The rally will be united around the presidential elections, due on October 27, and the issue of the survival of Bulgarians, CITUB leader Krustyo Petkov said. He proposed that participants in the rally burn duplicates of their central heating and electricity bills and their deposit contracts in bankrupt banks.

"For us as a trade union the most important issue discussed was the survival of the people who have no alternative in the coming months," Prof Petkov told the press after meeting Peter Stoyanov, presidential candidate of the United Democratic Forces. The CITUB leader added that these are between 500,000 and 700,000 people.

"We firmly support Mr Stoyanov's idea for setting up a committee for national salvation and we informed him of our initiative to set up a network of civic 'salvation' committees operating in different population centres and helping the most vulnerable groups of the public providing them with free food and shelter," the CITUB leader said. "For me it is very important that our views on this issue coincide," Peter Stoyanov told journalists after the meeting.

[10] SOCIAL PARTNERS DISCUSS INDUSTRIAL SAFETY LAW

The existing regulations in this area are out of line with the European, says a paper by the commission. The draft provides for the establishment of an industrial safety council reporting to the Council of Ministers. It will include officials of the departments concerned and employer and employee organizations. The Council will have coordinating and consultative functions in formulating safety policy. According to the signed protocol, the social partners are given a week to present suggestions on the draft, Deputy Prime Minister Doncho Konakchiev told the press conference.

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