News from Bulgaria, 96-10-07

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

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

7 October, 1996

CONTENTS

[01] STATESMEN, POLITICIANS PAY LAST RESPECTS TO ANDREI LOUKANOV

[02] PRESIDENT ZHELEV CABLES GREETINGS TO CZECH PRESIDENT HAVEL

[03] BULGARIA TO HOST PfP SEMINAR

[04] INSTITUTE "GERMANICUM" OPENED IN SOFIA UNIVERSITY

[05] BULGARIA TO GET SECOND IMF TRANCHE, CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR SAYS

[06] PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ADDRESSES to the NATION

[07] OPPOSITION CANDIDATE PETER STOYANOV TO MEET KOHL & THE POLISH PRESIDENT

[08] BULGARIA - MACEDONIA

[09] SUNDAY NEWS BRIEFS

[10] BULGARIAN BASS SINGER GYUZELEV STARS IN DON CARLOS

[01] STATESMEN, POLITICIANS PAY LAST RESPECTS TO ANDREI LOUKANOV

His coffin was laid in state at Parliament's downtown St Sophia hall for people to pay tribute starting 9 a.m. today. The ceremony was in keeping with the state protocol for funerals of prime ministers. Guards were lined at the coffin decorated with white gladiola and chrysanthemums. At the family's request, the funeral will be private.

National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov, President Zhelyu Zhelev and Prime Minister Zhan Videnov were the first to arrive. "Bulgaria and the world are shocked by a murder which has no justification before God or man. We are saying farewell to a remarkable man, politician and statesman," Sendov said. He described Loukanov as an erudite and a man of progressive ideas, whose death is a loss to friend and foe alike.

President Zhelyu Zhelev said Loukanov was a key figure in the nation's political life. "We were always opponents in politics but I have never downplayed his role, without which it would be difficult to understand Bulgaria's recent history," the President said. Loukanov's personality and work were contradictory, like the Bulgarian transition itself, according to Zhelev. In a sense, Loukanov fell victim to the great transformation he himself began, Zhelev said, referring his role in the transition from totalitarianism to democracy.

Bulgaria lost an eminent statesman and a bright figure of the Left, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, said in his speech. The brutal end to his life strengthens our determination to work for overcoming Bulgaria's difficulties, he said.

Members of the Government and Parliament, chiefs of diplomatic missions, politicians and public figures and thousands of citizens paid tribute to Loukanov's memory. The ceremony was attended by delegations from Balkan countries. The Yugoslav delegation is headed by deputy prime minister Urus Klikovac, the Greek by interior and local administration minister Alexandros Papadopoulos, the Slovenian by the deputy secretary general of the Foreign Ministry Tadeoz Vehren, the Turkish by the ministers of state Bekir Aksoy and Ahmed Jemil Tunc and the Serbian by deputy prime minister Svetozar Krstic.

Citizens willing to pay their last respects lined as early as 8 a.m. Later today a queue stretched along the entire Alexander Battenberg square. The ceremony was attended by former president Peter Mladenov, former Defence Minister Dobri Jourov and members of the state and Communist Party leadership of the recent past.

Bulgaria is not the same after Loukanov's death, it was often repeated in the last two days. Both associates and political opponents see his death not only as a family tragedy but as an alarming signal of rising crime and tensions in society.

Loukanov was killed a few days after he turned 58. Son and grandson to Bulgarian emigres to the former USSR, born and raised in Moscow, Loukanov climbed up the ladder of the party and state hierarchy from a rank-and-file member of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1965 to premier of two successive Bulgarian governments in 1990 and member of Parliament. Loukanov's name is associated with the ouster of Todor Zhivkov in 1989, the reform in the Communist Party, and the start of the dialogue with the dissident organizations. Later, as a defendant in a number of cases, instigated by the Prosecutor General's Office, Loukanov spent six months in custody after he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity. In 45 days' time the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights was to consider Loukanov's complaint against the actions of the Prosecutor General's Office and the infringement on his human rights. Some believe that Loukanov had great chances to win the case.

A third generation Socialist, whose advance started in the time of the Communist rule and climaxed during this country's transition to democracy, a man who entered the big business, but who in the past few months withdrew from active politics, Loukanov's personality is the subject of various assessments by various people. However, all agree that Loukanov was one of the key political figures in recent times.

Loukanov's killing, described as a contract murder, was condemned by all parliamentary forces. The question why he was murdered and who would profit from Loukanov's death remains open.

Andrei Loukanov's family and friends accompanied him to his final resting place. He was buried in a family plot in Sofia's Central Cemetery at about 3.00 p.m. Members of the Cabinet, Parliament and the Supreme Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party joined the bereaved. Former head of state Peter Mladenov and Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria also came to pay last respects.

[02] PRESIDENT ZHELEV CABLES GREETINGS TO CZECH PRESIDENT HAVEL

[03] BULGARIA TO HOST PfP SEMINAR

The course will focus on European security, the place and role of the armed forces in the democratic society and the participation of the military in peace keeping operations. It will also discuss processes underway at the security institutions. The course opens on October 7 in Varna and will continue for four weeks. It is sponsored by NATO, the US, the UK and Greece. The course will be attended by 25 officials of the defence and foreign ministries of 15 countries. The lecturers are from NATO, the UK, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Defence Minister Dimiter Pavlov is expected to read a lecture on the reform in the Bulgarian army.

If the course proves successful it may be held on a regular basis in the future, Prof. Behar said.

[04] INSTITUTE "GERMANICUM" OPENED IN SOFIA UNIVERSITY

The institute will receive from the Sofia University 52,000 Deutcshemarks per year for wages, fees, administrative expenses and for the publication of the "Germanica" annual. The German Service for Academic Exchange will provide every year 95,000 Deutschemarks for fees to the visiting professors, for scholarships to excellent students, for research projects, conferences and symposia.

The new educational establishment will offer five specializations and one subsidiary subject "German Civilization" to be studied for four semesters each. At the end of the training the students will receive certificates and the results from the exams will be registered in their higher education certificates. The training will be in Bulgarian or German and all applicants are required to speak German.

The opening ceremony was attended by proxy to the President of the University in Saarland for cooperation with scientific institutions in central and eastern Europe and Honorary Doctor of the Sofia University Prof. Dr. Georg Hummel, as well as by representatives of the embassies of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

[05] BULGARIA TO GET SECOND IMF TRANCHE, CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR SAYS

A Bulgarian delegation, led by the BNB Governor, participated in the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank last week. The delegation included Finance Minister Dimiter Kostov and members of the BNB Governing Board.

In July 1996 the Government signed its fourth, $580 million standby agreement with the IMF. The first $116 million tranche was received later that month.

Filipov said the second tranche of 80 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), or some $115 million, will be received this November at the earliest. In late October an IMF mission is expected to make a second review of the implementation of the Government programme, Filipov said. The simultaneous receipt of the second and third tranche is possible, but was not discussed during the meeting, he also said.

The delegation discussed with IMF and World Bank officials measures taken by the BNB and the Government to stabilize the situation in this country, and expected and already achieved results, said Finance Minister Dimiter Kostov. The Bulgarian delegation also presented economic projections for 1997. The IMF will make a specific assessment after the completion of its mission in late October, the Finance Minister said.

The delegation achieved all that was feasible during the meetings, and received an agreement for further cooperation between the Bulgarian Government and the two financial institutions, according to Kostov. He described the talks in positive terms, stressing that it is now important to continue them. "We can wait for the second tranche until the end of the year, because our foreign debt payments are concentrated in January and July," the Finance Minister went on to say.

The two international institutions commended the package of BNB measures to stabilize the banking system and Government actions in privatization and structural reform, Kostov stressed. However, one should wait for specific results, and wait and see how things will progress in 1997, to ensure that the steps take hold over the long term, he added. According to the Finance Minister, the first results are already in place: a strengthening of the lev as a result of the high interest rate, and income from cash privatization which will also have an impact.

In May 1996 the Government made a list of 64 companies to be liquidated and another 70 to undergo rehabilitation. The Government also approved a programme for the speedy privatization of 15 to 20 large state- run companies that would replenish the nation's dwindling foreign currency reserves.

[06] PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ADDRESSES to the NATION

Contenders in Bulgaria's second direct presidential polls after the ouster of the communist government discussed issues of crime control, improving living standards, the continuation of democratic process and economic reforms.

The first group of candidates included the two having the best chance to win: the candidate of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Ivan Marazov and of the united opposition Peter Stoyanov.

"People will not be choosing among Marazov, Tomov, Stoyanov and Ganchev, or between the BSP and the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF). They will be choosing what kind of a country they want. Will it be a country of confrontation, crime, pogroms against democracy, and credit millionaires, or a country of peace, order, security and wisdom, a respected member of the international community," Marazov said in his address. He believes that the only way out of the "labyrinth" is national consensus.

"On October 27 we will be choosing not only among personalities, we will be choosing between two alternatives," said the candidate of the United Democratic Forces Peter Stoyanov. In his words, one option is national irresponsibility and catastrophe, to which the present Government is leading, and the other is the change of political and economic realities. "The humiliating Schengen list or an Europe with open borders, total emigration or a future for the young pepole here, in Bulgaria; hyperinflation or sensible prices, ruin or productivity, catastrophe or salvation, despair or hope: this is the choice to make on October 27," Stoyanov said.

"I am running for President because I do not want Bulgaria to be poor and humiliated, and because I am sick and tired of lies and hypocrisy," said the leader of the Civil Alliance for the Republic, former MP Alexander Tomov, running independently. Polls show he would win the fourth largest portion of the vote. He believes that only an independent President who does not report to party seniors can be a strong head of state. Tomov announced an anti-crisis campaign, and said that if elected, he would declare a war on the underworld, and attempt to consolidate all state institutions in the fight against corruption.

[07] OPPOSITION CANDIDATE PETER STOYANOV TO MEET KOHL & THE POLISH PRESIDENT

With the German Chancellor, Stoyanov will hold talks on lobbying the European Union (EU) in support the idea to start simultaneous talks on full membership with all former communist countries. They will also discuss German investment in Bulgaria.

Stoyanov said he will meet with the Polish President impressed by the difference between the behaviour of the Polish and Bulgarian Socialists. The Polish President has firmly declared his priorities are joining the EU and NATO, while Bulgaria's Socialist Government is acting in a very different way, according to Stoyanov. He also said Poland provides an example of how a truly reforming Socialist party can be part of today's European context.

[08] BULGARIA - MACEDONIA

[09] SUNDAY NEWS BRIEFS

In a televised campaign address, the presidential candidate from the Bulgarian Business Bloc George Ganchev promised voters trials for the Bulgarian mafia, corrupt civil servants and people selling national interests, the attraction of foreign investment, and detection of the culprits for the banking crisis. Polls show Ganchev will win the third largest portion of the vote.

A national park will soon be set up between Tryavna and Teteven (Central Bulgaria). The project is a joint initiative of the Swiss Inter- Assist foundation and the Bulgarian Stara Planina Association set up four years ago to promote tourism in the central Balkan mountains.

At the 25th congress of the European Christian Democratic Union which ended in Slovenia today, the organization expressed support for the presidential tandem of the United Democratic Forces Peter Stoyanov and Todor Kavaldjiev, the international relations centre of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) today told BTA. A special resolution adopted by the Union expresses support for the United Democratic Forces in Bulgaria, as the only political formation capable of leading the nation out of the crisis, the UDF announcement says.

[10] BULGARIAN BASS SINGER GYUZELEV STARS IN DON CARLOS

"Two anniversaries are too much, but I will survive," the performer joked. Don Carlos is the opera in which he has performed the largest number of times, in 40 theatres. "My first stage appearance was in Sofia in Turandot", Gyuzelev told a press conference in connection with his becoming an honorary member of the Sofia Opera.

Soon after his debut Gyuzelev was invited to famous theatres and gained recognition with his rich repertoire. He has played over 70 parts. Gyuzelev is known for his roles in Verdi operas, especially as Philip II, and is one of the best known performers of the part of Boris Godunov in Mussorgsky's opera of the same name. "Gyuzelev possesses a beautiful and impressive voice and a great artistic gift," wrote "Corriere della Sera". "He has an exquisitely beautiful and finely nuanced voice," according to "Daily Telegraph". A student of Prof. Hristo Brumbarov, Gyuzelev is a fine example of Bulgaria's famed basses.

In the last few years the singer has devoted time and effort to managing the Boris Hristov Academy for Young Opera Singers in Rome. "I have always said I am not a professor but a more mature colleague," he says, usually adding, "He who has talent, has talent, he who does not, will never get anywhere."

The Sofia Philharmonic will mark the anniversaries with a concert on October 31. Italy recently awarded Gyuzelev a Golden Verdi. He will also be made laureate of the Bulgarian order Stara Planina.

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