News from Bulgaria, 96-08-28

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

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

CONTENTS

[01] IMF MISSION LEADER MCGUIRK HOLDS MEETINGS IN BULGARIA

[02] BULGARIA, JAPAN FIND PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION

[03] BULGARIA, SWITZERLAND COOPERATE IN SOCIAL SPHERE

[04] BUSINESS PRESS EXCHANGE RATE - COMMENTARIES

[05] PRICE HIKE

[06] NO ACCIDENTS IN N-PLANT COVERED UP

[07] SAMPLE TAKING FROM N-PLANT REACTOR ONE TO BE DELAYED

[08] MAJOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DENIED REGISTRATION

[09] P.M. ZHAN VIDENOV VISITS LOVECH REGION

[01] IMF MISSION LEADER MCGUIRK HOLDS MEETINGS IN BULGARIA

Prof. Petkov and Mrs McGuirk discussed the Government's memorandum to the IMF's management and its realization, the trade union leader said. The two found out that the Government has fulfilled 80 per cent of the administrative measures it has promised. However only 20 per cent of the expected results have materialized.

CITUB Chairman raised the issue of the Government's policy towards the private sector. He said that in Bulgaria the large financial groups are favoured, while small and medium-sized businesses are getting ruined. According to Prof. Petkov, the IMF does not share PM Videnov's idea, made public a few days ago, that the middle class is to pay the price of the structural reform.

The view of the other influential trade union amalgamation, the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, on the progress of the structural reform in Bulgaria was stated at a meeting with Mrs McGuirk yesterday.

Later today Mrs McGuirk was received by Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Krustyo Trendafilov who familiarized her with the problems of the Bulgarian agriculture and the ministry's efforts to overcome the difficulties in that field as quickly as possible.

Minister Trendafilov familiarized Mrs McGuirk with the grain problem in the country and the projections for the next year. Mrs McGuirk showed understanding towards Bulgaria's problems.

Other issues of common interest were also on the agenda, the Ministry's press office said.

[02] BULGARIA, JAPAN FIND PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION

Mr Yanagisava came on a visit here on August 25. He had talks with National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov, ministers Nikolai Dobrev of the Interior, Krustyo Trendafilov of the Agriculture and Food Processing and Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Glavanakov.

There are very good prospects for joint operation on environmental projects, in street traffic control and in some other fields, the Japanese MP said.

The businessmen accompanying Mr Yanagisava also found reliable partners here. We cannot specify the concrete results at this stage, because some of the talks were introductory, but I believe we have good understanding and I am sure it will progress, Mr Yanagisava said.

[03] BULGARIA, SWITZERLAND COOPERATE IN SOCIAL SPHERE

There are a total of 39,604 children in Bulgaria living in 384 children's social service establishments. The facilities these establishments provide are unsatisfactory and improvements have been rather slow in materializing. Most establishments do not have the necessary equipment and teaching aids. The personnel is largely underqualified which deteriorates the quality of education and teaching.

Since 1992 the Bulgarian Red Cross and the Swiss Red Cross have been realizing joint projects for humanitarian support in the form of food supplies to social service establishments. After the realization of these projects new forms of cooperation were sought which resulted in the realization of a programme focusing on pedagogical training of the staff employed at the social establishments.

The joint project will be launched on September 1. It has been planned that eight Swiss pedagogues will work in the setting up of four model establishments in the region of Vratsa (Northwestern Bulgaria). They will cooperate for the improvement of the conditions of living and teaching, as well as for the restoration of the infrastructure of the social establishments and improvement of the personnel's qualification.

Franz Hubert of the Swiss Red Cross told the news conference that his organisation has also brought humanitarian aid worth 434,900 Swiss Francs including foodstuffs, babyfood, hospital beds, several computers etc. Some of these will be distributed among the social establishments around the country.

The project will be coordinated by the national societies of the Red Cross of Bulgaria and of Switzerland and is expected to be realized within three years.

[04] BUSINESS PRESS EXCHANGE RATE - COMMENTARIES

"Dollar Crosses 200 Leva Mark, No Way Back" reads a headline in the financial "Pari" daily. The paper recalls that for the second time since the emerging of the forex market in Bulgaria greenbacks exchange for 200 leva on the interbank market. It went up to this level for the first time last week. "Pari" further quotes unnamed dealers of a major Sofia bank saying that two banks yesterday bought foreign exchange for end-buyers, pushing up the exchange rate.

The central bank interfered briefly at mid-day yesterday but did not produce any effect, "Continent" says in a frontpage report on the matter.

"Troud" writes that the central bank and the International Monetary Fund have agreed that the US dollar cannot stay over 200 leva longer than a week. "Otherwise there may be a second wave of bank failure coming up," the paper says.

The reason for the hike of the dollar is the hectic demand for foreign exchange while supply fell short, "Standart News" was told by United Bulgarian Bank dealer Nikolai Nikolov.

Speaking to "24 Chassa", Zdravko Balyozov of the central bank Governing Board said the central bank is following closely the situation on the interbank market and is considering measures to push the dollar down.

[05] PRICE HIKE

"Standart News" predicts a bottle of cooking oil will fetch 150 leva within a week, pronouncedly up from its current price of 85-90 leva. The average monthly pay in Bulgaria stands at 11,000 leva. The report quotes Marin Gurdev, chairman of the Union of Cooking Oil Producers saying the hike is attributable to the higher purchase price of sunflower seeds of the new harvest. He says further that some oil producers still have stocks of the last year's harvest but speculators are withholding it to sell it later at the new prices.

In a report quoting the National Statistical Institute, "Continent" writes that producer prices in July rose by the four-year record high 33%.

"Demokratsiya" runs a report on this matter headlined "Prices Gallop On". The paper says milk is expected to gain another 7 leva per liter in some population centres in several days' time.

Prices of dairy products have doubled over the past week, "Novinar" writes quoting the Consumers' Federation. The federation believes the hike is speculative with the retail markup fetching over 100% in some regions.

"24 Chassa" writes that a Thursday sitting of the government is expected to consider a proposal of the Agriculture Ministry to introduce a ceiling price for flour in a bid to prevent the uncontrollable rise of bread prices.

A bottle of beer will cost over 100 leva this autumn (markedly up from the current 30 to 60 leva price), "Pari" says in a frontpage report. It says the domestic barley harvest is a 20-year low and state-owned breweries are facing a failure. Brewing barley sells at as much as 29,000 leva/tonne on the Sofia Commodity Exchange, which is very close to international prices. On the London commodity exchange, for example, brewing barley trades at USD 150-160/tonne, says this paper.

[06] NO ACCIDENTS IN N-PLANT COVERED UP

The events on May 17 and June 7 the press referred to have been reported to the CPUAE emergency centre by the Kozlodoui management, as is provided for by the CPUAE regulations, and have been evaluated as a first-degree events along the International Nuclear Events Scale. The International Atomic Energy Agency, too, have been informed about the accidents, reads a joint statement of the CPUAE and the N-plant management.

The fire in the electricity circuit of Power Units Five and Six on September 22-23, 1992 were also reported and evaluated as a first- degree event, reads the statement.

It says further in none of the above events have the nuclear and radiation safety standards been violated, or the health of the personnel endangered.

[07] SAMPLE TAKING FROM N-PLANT REACTOR ONE TO BE DELAYED

The technology and the methods of the laboratory, however, are still unlicensed. The complicated operation will be realized with the assistance of 22 foreign experts from Westinghouse who will cut out three templets from welding seam four of the reactor's casing. The testing of standards has been going on.

The contractors are not yet in position to start working on the reactor, the N-plant's Manager Kiril Nikolov told BTA. In his view the operations are delayed due to technical problems which should be settled together with the contractor companies.

The operations must be done with extra precision and it is more important to perform them precisely, rather than keep the deadlines, the N-plant's manager said. Without specifying a concrete date, he said that it is probably a matter of days to undertake the qualification test itself.

The first 440-megawatt, VVER-type bloc of the N-plant is the oldest one and has been in use since 1974. It was switched off in May after an agreement was signed between the Bulgarian Government and the European Union for sample taking. If the samples turn out to be good, as the plant's management expects, the bloc will continue to operate until the year 2004.

According to the preliminary estimates, the losses from the bloc's shutdown will add up to over 17 million US dollars. The EU is expected to compensate part of these with the PHARE programme having promised ECU 10 million (some 12 million US dollars) for the purpose.

[08] MAJOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DENIED REGISTRATION

Both the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) stated today they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

A candidate is granted registration for the presidential elections by a two-thirds majority (14 members) of the 21-member Commission. CEC voted 11-for-10-against the registration of Pirinski and Marazov, and 12-for-9-against the registration of Stoyanov and Kavaldjiev.

CEC Spokeswoman Iliana Rizova told the press the opposition representatives on the Commission found several inaccuracies in the documents of the Socialist candidates. Their main objection was that Georgi Pirinski's documents did not state clearly how he acquired Bulgarian citizenship. Pirinski was born in New York to an American mother and a Bulgarian father.

The moot point in the documents of the opposition candidates was the status of the political forces supporting them.

Rizova, who represents the UDF, said today's decisions of the Commission were the start of a political farce in CEC.

The Commission's refusal to register Stoyanov and Kavaldjiev came as a surprise to analysts. There have been doubts about the Socialist presidential candidate's chances of registration since July 23 when the Constitutional Court interpreted a provision of the 1991 Basic Law requiring presidential and vice presidential candidates to be "natural-born Bulgarian citizens".

The Socialists were unsurprised by today's decision, it became known at a news conference today. On the contrary, it was only to be expected, said Klara Marinova of the BSP and Pirinski's campaign manager Filip Bokov. "We predicted this move because our political opponents are set to block Pirinski's candidacy," Bokov said.

CEC's Iliana Rizova said Stoyanov and Kavaldjiev were denied registration because the Commission members of the opposition rejected a proposal by the Left to register both candidates by a consensus. UDF leader Ivan Kostov made a similar statement at a news conference this afternoon, saying this was a case of "petty blackmail". "We are glad that our representatives in the Commission were not taken in," Kostov said.

Socialist MP Ana Karaivanova, who is a jurist, said the documents submitted by Pirinski and Marazov meet all requirements. She said the matter of Pirinski's Bulgarian citizenship should be cleared up by the CEC jurists who have all the facts. BSP Deputy Chairman Yanaki Stoilov said the Commission members who voted against the registration of the left-wing candidates had taken the non- constructive path of campaigning without rivals. "I am disappointed at the fact that prominent Bulgarian jurists do not respect either fundamental legal provisions or the Constitution," Stoilov said, commenting the CEC decision.

The Socialists declined to answer a question about their possible reaction to a Supreme Court ruling denying their candidates registration. Yanaki Stoilov said it would be premature to talk of nominating new candidates before the Supreme Court had ruled. He said, however, that the BSP "will not accept legal pressure aimed at political goals".

Unlike the Socialist representatives, UDF leader Ivan Kostov today admitted that minor "omissions in form" could be detected upon careful examination of the opposition candidates' documents. "We would have accepted the decision with understanding if CEC had given us a couple of days to correct the omissions," Kostov said. The opposition representatives in CEC insisted that the left-wing candidates should also be given some time to correct omissions, Kostov said, but the Left did not accept the proposal. Kostov had no doubt that the omissions would be rectified when the opposition candidates' documents reached the Supreme Court.

[09] P.M. ZHAN VIDENOV VISITS LOVECH REGION

The Cabinet sets a high priority on the rehabilitation or liquidation of large companies in the transport and energy sector in an effort to restore society's confidence in its own economic system, to stabilize the banking sector and create macroeconomic prerequisites for economic growth, Videnov said at the meeting. The most challenging task banking stabilization - receives the Government's full attention, he said.

Videnov said that while banking is in an extremely unstable condition and the foreign exchange market is fraught with problems, the Government will spare no effort to support the national currency.

Zhan Videnov also spoke about the updated budget and the need to cut expenditure. Inflation has topped 100 per cent, overshooting the target set in the updated budget, he said. This has prompted the Cabinet to increase revenues and reduce expenditure as much as possible through a thorough restructuring of all sectors.

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