News from Bulgaria / Jan 19, 96

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

Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

BULLETIN OF NEWS FROM BULGARIA

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT ZHELEV ADDRESSES CROATIAN PARLIAMENT

Zagreb, January 18 (BTA spec. corr. Viktoria Nesterova) - Bulgaria declared its unreserved support for the beginning of the peace process in the region and now it is ready to make its contribution to implementing peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is currently negotiating the parameters of its participation in IFOR, President Zhelyu Zhelev said today addressing the Croatian Parliament in Zagreb. President Zhelev arrived in Zagreb yesterday on an official visit to the Republic of Croatia at the invitation of his counterpart Franjo Tudjman. Dr Zhelev said that Bulgaria does not conceal its interest in direct participation in postwar reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia, all the more so that Bulgarian companies have certain advantages such as geographic proximity and traditional partnership.

Dr Zhelev spoke of the historical ties between the Croatian and the Bulgarian people which he said had preserved their potential without being recast in the amalgam of Bulgarian-Yugoslav relations, as well as of the present and long-term prospects of bilateral contacts. Dr Zhelev said that the future of Southeastern Europe depends to a great extent on multilateral initiatives for stable development based on a better regional infrastructure.

In his greetings address to the Bulgarian head of state, the chairman of the Sabor (the Croatian Parliament) Vladko Pavletic described the Bulgarian President as a state architect working in a complicated historical period and compared him to Vaclav Havel and Franjo Tudjman.

Today President Zhelev continued his official visit by laying a wreath at the Altar of the Motherland in Medvedgrad near Zagreb.

This morning's press in Zagreb reported extensively of the visit of the Bulgarian president which has been dominating TV and radio newscasts since last night. The visit and the signing of the Treaty for Friendship and Cooperation between Bulgaria and Croatia topped the central newscast of the Zagreb TV last night.

A signed commentary in the "Vecernji List" paper criticized Bulgaria for its "insufficiently active stand in condemning Serbian aggression."

This afternoon President Zhelev is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa and members of his cabinet.

[02] PRESIDENT ZHELEV ENDS OFFICIAL PART OF HIS VISIT TO CROATIA

Zagreb, January 17 (BTA Spec. Corr. Viktoria Nesterova) - The meeting between President Dr Zhelyu Zhelev and Croatia's Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa at noon today in the Dverce palace in Zagreb marked the end of the official part of the Bulgarian head of state visit to the Republic of Croatia. According to President Zhelev, he has yet to complete the cultural and the intellectual part of his visit. Dr Zhelev voiced his satisfaction with the talks he held with President Franjo Tudjman, with his meetings with MPs and with the views he exchanged with Prime Minister Matesa. According to him the two states share the same views on the wide range of the discussed political and economic issues and particularly in connection with the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSCE). Bulgaria committed itself to support Croatia's joining the BSCE. The President also promised that Bulgaria will back Croatia's bid to join the Council of Europe. Official Zagreb voiced interest in the trunkroad between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea as Croatia will strive to gain a guest or associate member status in the BSCE. The hosts were familiarized with the project for a trunkroad, linking Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Italy. Croatian Prime Minister Matesa emphasized that the visit of the Bulgarian head of state has created a good foundation for the promotion of useful cooperation which has to be materialized through concrete business meetings, the first one of which is to be held soon in Zagreb. As main impediments to the speedy increase of the commercial exchange between the two states (amounting to 13.7 million US dollars between January and September last year with Bulgaria having run a trade surplus) Zlatko Matesa identified the lack of "legal infrastructure" and of adequate exchange of business information. Already the first bilateral meetings that will follow Bulgarian President's visit will seek to overcome these impediments. The Croatian Prime Minister voiced his country's support for Bulgaria's efforts to take part in the post-war reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In parallel to the official visit to Zagreb, also on a visit there is a Bulgarian delegation of businessmen and bankers, led by Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ivan Minev, who signed an agreement for cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Industry.

[03] RATIFICATIONS IN PARLIAMENT

Sofia, January 18 (BTA) - Parliament today ratified the Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. According to the Government, which sponsored the move, Bulgarian law in the last few years was brought into line with commitments resulting from the convention. The Environmental Protection Act passed in 1991 and amended in 1992 regulates the import and transshipment of waste. The provisions in that law concerning the import and transshipment of waste are taken into account in Bulgarian foreign trade rules and relations with the European Union. A mechanism has also been developed of licensing companies in Bulgaria engaged in hazardous waste disposal.

Since 1992 the Ministry of the Environment has been monitoring hazardous waste. It says Bulgarian industry generated 14,300 t of hazardous waste in 1994, of which 13,000 t were in ore dressing. This year it launched a Hazardous Waste Research and Management project.

Parliament today passed a law ratifying the INTELSAT Agreement with the international organization for satellite television.

For 15 years Bulgaria have been using the telecommunication services of INTELSAT through ground satellite stations of Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey. A Bulgarian INTELSAT station is already operating.

The MPs passed a law to ratify the financial contract for the Transit Roads II project with the European Investment Bank. The contract, signed in July 1995, envisages that the European Investment Bank extend a Ecu 60 million loan for continuing the rehabilitation of the national roads network. This country is currently implementing the Transit Roads I project for which Ecu 21 million were made available by this bank.

The programme was drawn up by the Chief Roads Directorate and envisages rehabilitation of 500 km of roads each year until 1998. The implementation of this project will also be financed by the national budget, operation PHARE and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

[04] PARLIAMENT PASSES THREE BILLS ON FIRST READING

Sofia, January 18 (BTA) - Parliament today adopted on first reading three Government-sponsored bills: on liquid fuel contributions to the National Road Network Fund and to the National Environmental Protection Fund, on agricultural land conservation and on amendments to the Accountancy Act.

Under the first bill, the two funds will receive percentages from the price of imported and Bulgarian-made petrol, diesel fuel and fuel oil with sulphur content exceeding 1 per cent. During the debate opposition MPs expressed fears that the rates of contribution are too high and will practically encourage smuggling.

Under the amendments to the Accountancy Act, no corrections and additions are admissible in basic accounting documents and, if such are made, they void the documents. To act as an independent external auditor of the annual accounts of enterprises and companies, a certified accountant must be member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The amendments to the Accountancy Act were supported on first reading by all parliamentary groups.

The liquid fuel contributions bill and the amendments to the Accountancy Act were among the legislative priorities of the ruling Democratic Left connected with the legal framework required for implementation of the 1996 national budget.

The passage of an agricultural land conservation act is regulated by the 1991 Constitution. Under the bill, agricultural land may not be used for other purposes. The bill specifies the instances and methods of alienation. MPs of the opposition voiced reservations about the bill.

[05] COUNCIL OF MINISTERS DECISIONS

Sofia, January 18 (BTA) - At today's cabinet meeting the Government approved a draft law which sets the annual tax minimum at 36,000 leva (about 500 US dollars) and introduces higher rates for larger incomes. Under the bill costs incurred for the acquisition of fixed assets and government securities will no longer be deductable.

The Cabinet approved the final version of a profits tax draft law which would supersede Decree 56 on Business Activity. Finance Minister Dimiter Kostov said that the bill would create better conditions for investment. Interest payable would be fully tax deductable. The Government would distribute the profits made by state enterprises after tax.

The Cabinet approved a draft amendment to the Pensions Act which provides for an increase of the average pension by 39 percent. The bill would introduce personal pension coefficients as of April 1996. The idea of the personal pension coefficients is to test the amount of pensions for length of service and specific social security contributions, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Mincho Koralski said.

The Government approved new Road Traffic Act implementing regulations which are in line with the international standards and the requirements set in the European Union documents. Bulgaria has ratified several international agreements concerning the area, including the Convention on Road Traffic, the Convention on Road Signs and Signals and the European Agreement supplementing it.

The Government decided that wages, pensions and other payments guaranteed by the budget would be adjusted to inflation twice a year - in April and October. If there is a difference between actual and projected inflation, there will be a third adjustment in December.

The Cabinet approved the 1996 income policy proposed in the report of Minister Mincho Koralski. Priority will be given to resolving the income problems of employees in education and health care.

The Cabinet endorsed the national programme for action in social security proposed by Minister Koralski. The purpose is to coordinate the efforts of all institutions in settling major social problems. The programme was developed in connection with the summit on poverty held in Copenhagen in March 1995 and declaring 1996 a year for fighting poverty.

The Government decided to allocate two million leva to help the families of the people drowned in the southern Bulgarian town of Elhovo when a footbridge spanning the Toundja River collapsed on Epiphany.

A State Grain and Fodder Grain Inspectorate was set up today by decree of the Council of Ministers. The Inspectorate will report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing, superseding the National Grain Inspectorate and the Central Fodder Laboratory operating so far, Government Spokesman Nikola Baltov said.

The Cabinet discussed measures for the enforcement of obligations arising from the Concessions Act with the regional governors and the chairmen of government committees at an extended meeting. The meeting was prompted by the expiry of the time limit allowed for declaring concession contracts concluded prior to the adoption of the Concessions Act on January 20 1996.

Most applications were filed with the Committee of Posts and Telecommunications and the National Water Council, asking licences for radio frequency and the exploitation of thermal springs and fisheries, Nikolai Minkov, Head of the Concessions Department with the Council of Ministers, specified.

[06] GOVERNMENT IDENTIFIES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

Sofia, January 18 (BTA) - At its regular meeting today, the Cabinet identified 45 bills as priorities of its right to initiate legislation. Of these, the ministers have already approved 12 and 35 have yet to be considered, Justice Minister Mladen Chervenyakov told journalists.

The bills fall into three groups. The first consists of 12 bills whose passage will ensure the implementation of the 1996 national budget. "These are bills guaranteeing the collectibility of government claims and bills ensuring the implementation of the Government's taxation policy," Mr Chervenyakov said. The National Assembly is expected to enact them in February and March. A profits tax bill and amendments to the Tax Administration Act, the Taxation Procedures Act and the Aggregate Income Tax Act are among the bills in group one.

The 14 bills in the second group are intended to specify the Government's policy. They are to be submitted to Parliament by April 12, 1996. This group includes legislation designed to assist crime control and improve the operation of the judiciary, such as bills against "dirty money" and illicit business activity and amendments to the Ministry of the Interior Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Civil Procedure. Social and insurance bills also fall into this group: bills on employment encouragement and protection against unemployment, health insurance and voluntary social insurance, etc. Other bills in this group concern the economic sphere: a government contacts bill, a local government finance bill, a State Bank for Investments and Development bill and a commodity exchanges bill.

Group three comprises 18 bills, which will be finalized shortly. The most important among them are the bills on public servants, on the energy industry, on alternative national service and on the military police and the amendments to the Business of Foreign Persons and Foreign Investment Protection Act and to the Protection of Competition Act.

The Government worked out its law-making programme after consulting the parliamentary group of the Democratic Left. This programme may be fulfilled while Parliament is in its spring session, according to Mr Chervenyakov.

[07] BULGARIAN-ROMANIAN MILITARY COOPERATION

Sofia, January 18 (BTA special correspondent Milko Hristov) - Cooperation between the armies of Bulgaria and Romania has been developing at a fast pace, Bulgarian Minister of defence Dimiter Pavlov said after today's meeting with his Romanian counterpart Gheorghe Tinca. Minister Pavlov arrived in Bucharest on a two-day official visit at the head of a military delegation.

The military delegations of the two countries reached an agreement on cooperation involving military equipment.

Minister of National Defence Gheorghe Tinca stated that the Bulgarian military delegation's visit would help expand relations between the two armies.

The two defence ministers backed the idea of a meeting of Balkan defence ministers.

A protocol on cooperation in civil defence between the two countries was signed after the talks of the Bulgarian and the Romanian military delegations.

The leaderships of the two defence ministries outlined some joint events marking the 120th anniversary of the Russo-Turkish War in 1997.

The Bulgarian delegation laid wreaths at the Unknown Soldier Monument and in the military cemetery. It visited the Romanian Military Academy.

On the second day Minister Pavlov will meet Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu. The delegation will visit Romanian military installations.

[08] DEFENCE MINISTRY AND GENERAL STAFF REGRET OVER

Sofia, January 18 (BTA) - Today Defence Minister Dimiter Pavlov sent a letter to the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Bulgaria Chen Delai expressing the Defence Ministry and his personal regret over the incident with Colonel Ging Zhi Qian, Military Attache at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China. The Chinese diplomat was attacked and severely injured in front of his home on January 11, 1996.

In the letter Minister Pavlov assures Ambassador Chen Delai that the specialists of the Academy of Military Medicine will make their best efforts for the successful treatment of Colonel Ging. Bulgaria will keep on working devotedly to improve its relations with China and to enlarge and strengthen cooperation between the two countries' armies, reads the letter of the Bulgarian Defence Minister.

Today Colonel General Tsvetan Totomirov, Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, paid a visit to Colonel Ging Zhi Qian in the hospital. The Chinese Military Attache said he feels better. Colonel General Totomirov expressed his regret over the incident and wished him quick recovering, says a Defence Ministry press release.

[09] DELEGATION OF HOLY SYNOD OF BULGARIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

The aid consists of food and clothing and will be received by Pahomij, Bishop of Vrana.

According to preliminary information from the Holy Synod, the two dignitaries will jointly say Epiphany mass in Vrana tomorrow. According to the Serb Orthodox calendar, Epiphany (St Jordan's Day) is marked on January 19 and St John's Day on January 20.

This is the second visit to Serbia by Bulgarian dignitaries, after last October Patriarch Maksim made a trip to Belgrade and the Western Outlands (handed over to Serbia under the 1918 Treaty of Neuilly and populated by Bulgarians). Meeting with his Serbian counterpart Pavle, Maksim insisted that mass in the Western Outlands is said in Bulgarian. The patriarch spent two hours in Bosilegrad where he was welcomed by banners, "We Waited for You for 75 Years, Your Beatitude". The visit was the first to the area by a Bulgarian Patriarch since 1918. "We have no territorial claims, we would like to minister to the spiritual needs of our compatriots there," the Patriarch said then.

[10] OPPOSITION PREDICTS EARLY ELECTIONS

Sofia, January 18 (BTA) - In 1996 unresolved problems will grow worse, the Socialist government will compromise itself beyond recall and early parliamentary elections will draw closer, the top leadership of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Bulgaria's largest opposition force, says in a document entitled "1995: Broken Promises of the BSP". The document sent to BTA comes one year after the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) came into power and ten months before the presidential elections.

Commanding an absolute majority in Parliament, the Left gave priority to laws reversing the process of privatization and the progress of private enterprise, the restitution of property and the land reform, reform in education and health care, says the document published in "Demokratsiya", the UDF daily. By a policy of dictate, disregarding the opposition's suggestions, the BSP had party cadres appointed as chiefs of National Radio and Television, the Bulgarian News Agency, the State Savings Bank, the National Accounting Office, the Privatization Agency and the Foreign Aid Agency, the document says.

The government's economic policy was a flop in all major fields; there is a grain shortage, the budget deficit overshot the target, foreign investment halved, and the banking system is ailing, according to the UDF leaders. Mass privatization is an act of going through the motions. After a purge in state-owned enterprises the BSP reinstated loyal party cadres in top positions. They defaulted on their newly-incurred debts, pushing up the internal debt, the UDF document says.

The incumbents are blamed for what the UDF says is a reluctance to deal with the rise in crime. There is a discrepancy between the government's social policy and the BSP election promises; its foreign policy is dithering and ineffective. The cabinet has total control over the national media. Health care is deteriorating, the document further says.

The BSP used the instruments of power in unacceptable ways during the local elections, the document also says.

Over the past year the BSP sympathizers and electorate dropped by 800,000, the UDF leaders claim. The ruling Socialist Party is trying to wield power to the benefit of its own ruling top instead of for the welfare of the nation, says the document which also predicts an irrevocable internal rift and a split in the BSP.

[11] BUSINESS PRESS

Depositors in the provinces have besieged bank offices, while the central bank is advising them against withdrawing their bank deposits under the influence of hearsay, "24 Chassa" says.

Ecu 750,000 were made available under operation PHARE for studies and upgrading of the Bulgarian heating supply network, dailies write quoting the Energy Committee.

Half of the money will go for studies. Ecu 375,000 will be spent for upgrading the heating installations of the thermo-power plants of Varna (on the Black Sea), Gabrovo (Central Bulgaria), Shoumen (Northeastern Bulgaria), Pravets and Tryavna (Northern Bulgaria).

Vi-Vesta Holding signed a preliminary agreement with a German financial house for attracting German investment in mass privatization in Bulgaria, the chief of this company told "24 Chassa". The name of the German financial house is not disclosed.

A total of USD 6,630 million will be necessary for the development of the Bulgarian energy industry until 2010, Energy Committee chief Konstantin Roussinov said quoted by "Continent". A draft energy strategy was discussed yesterday at a joint sitting of the parliamentary committees of power production and environment. "Continent" further quotes Roussinov as saying the prices of electricity and heating this year should be made consistent with the expenses for their production. The Energy Committee said last year it posted 14,000 million leva losses as a result of inadequate electricity and heating prices.

To open a company in Bulgaria foreigners should have at least USD 50,000 under a draft amendment to the law on the economic activity of foreign persons. The draft amendment was introduced by Socialist MPs Stefan Stoilov and Peter Bashikarov.

Dailies report the announcement of the new railway fares the Bulgarian State Railways will introduce as of February 1. They are up by some 20% from the effective fares, "Troud" writes.

[12] FOREIGN COMPANIES TO ASSIST BULGARIAN TOURISM

One of the projects is for the institutional support of the Committee of Tourism as a national institution, the tourist industry organizations and the tourist companies of the private sector. It will be carried out by the Greek company Planet.

The other PHARE-financed project was drawn up to promote Bulgarian tourism. The contract was awarded to Transtex, a Belgian company with wide experience in advertising which has already implemented similar projects in Hungary and the Baltic republics. Bulgaria expects financial support for its participation in the tourist market in Berlin under the same project.

Inadequate publicity is one of the weakest points of Bulgarian tourism; this is an area of activity that needs funds most, the Committee of Tourism admits. The number of tourist offices abroad has dwindled from 40 to four in the last years: one in Sweden, one in Russia and two in Germany. It is planned to reopen some ten of the tourist offices in the major tourist markets.

Part of the PHARE funds are designed for the training and retraining of personnel for the tourist industry. The tender for the project was won by the Spanish company Consult Iberica.

The implementation of the projects will be coordinated by TTS, a British company.