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Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), 97-01-17Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Embassy of Bulgaria <bulgaria@access1.digex.net>EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY17 January, 1997CONTENTS
[01] DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER BOKOVA TO VISIT HAGUESofia, January 16 (BTA) - Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's First Deputy Foreign Minister and Secretary of European Integration with the Council of Ministers, will visit Hague on January 22 and 23. The visit is at the invitation of Michael Patein, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The two sides will discuss bilateral cooperation within the context of European integration in the first half of 1997 when the Netherlands holds the presidency of the European Union, the Information Department of the Foreign Ministry said.[02] PRESIDENT ZHELEV RECEIVES US AMBASSADOR BOHLENSofia, January 16 (BTA) - President Zhelyu Zhelev received US Ambassador to Bulgaria Avis Bohlen on Thursday. Ms Bohlen voiced the concern of the US Government and of her colleagues - ambassadors over the political situation in Bulgaria.After the meeting ambassador Bohlen told journalists that the current economic crisis should be overcome as quickly as possible. A currency board should be introduced on the basis of an accelerated dialogue and consensus, she added. During the meeting President Zhelev said he is also worried about the events in the country and expressed his confidence that the dialogue between the political forces will result in an agreement which will resolve the pressing economic problems. [03] FRENCH AMBASSADOR MEETS JOURNALISTSSofia, 16 January (BTA) - "I wish your country to solve its problems in compliance with the Constitution, order and legality," said French Ambassador to Bulgaria Marcel Tremeau at his traditional annual meeting with Bulgarian journalists. "Bulgaria has all it needs for joining Europe - a Constitution and an established democratic system," the Ambassador said. "We want to prepare your country's accession to European structures but this requires consensus, negotiations and political accord," Ambassador Tremeau said.[04] PRESIDENT HOLDS CONSULTATIONS WITH M.R.F.Sofia, January 16 (BTA) - President Zhelev held consultations with representatives of the parliamentary group of the ethnic Turks' Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). According to MRF, there are two solutions of the current political situation. The first and most acceptable involves immediate early elections, in accordance with the present realities. The second one is to ask BSP to form a government which should be voted by Parliament afterwards.The currency board laws should be carefully drafted, the MRF representatives said. The country must have have a legitimate government so as to sign an agreement with the IMF. Such a government should not be a caretaker, temporary or short-term one, but should enjoy the support of Parliament, Maksim Dimov, MP of the MRF, said after the meeting. In his view it is out of the question that an outgoing government, especially Zhan Videnov's one, which personifies confrontation and the lack of dialogue, conducts whatever consultations with the international financial institutions. The only way out for the country now is to hold early parliamentary elections right now, Dimov said. According to MRF, the Parliament should accept the declaration on national salvation of the united democratic forces and not allow BSP to form a new government. [05] PRESIDENT-ELECT STOYANOV MEETS CLERGYMEN, ECONOMISTSSofia, January 16 (BTA) - President-elect Peter Stoyanov had a meeting with Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim on Thursday, his press office said. On Wednesday Stoyanov met with Pimen, head of the alternative Synod of the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church. Peter Stoyanov familiarized both with the situation in the country. He said that in the current complex situation the church should be united and should stand in support of the people. The president-elect invited Maksim and Pimen to the ceremony on his inauguration on January 22.On Wednesday Stoyanov also met with leading economists to discuss the economic and political situation in the country and the prospects for a way out of the crisis, his press office said. The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Trade and Industry Bozhidar Bozhinov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Bozhidar Danev, Ventsislav Antonov of the Cooperative Bank, Prof. Georgi Petrov of the University for National and World Economy. [06] PM VIDENOV: URGENT MEASURES NEEDED TO PREVENT FINANCIAL COLLAPSESofia, January 16 (BTA) - On December 21 the cabinet tendered its resignation, believing it would thus facilitate the political forces in finding the best formula and programme for this country. But instead of being used for quick, sensible and responsible steps to solve Bulgaria's most important problems, the past month was squandered in irresponsible stalling and escalation of tension, said outgoing Prime Minister Zhan Videnov in a televised statement on Thursday evening.The Government is greatly alarmed that chances are being missed every day. It is its duty to warn of the possible grave financial, economic and social consequences this may have. Without urgent measures and concrete decisions this country is on the verge of a financial collapse. The delay in the passing of the 1997 National Budget Act would leave not only teachers and physicians without wages but also make the very functioning of the state impossible, Videnov said. Without a new cabinet authorized by Parliament to hold negotiations with the international financial institutions, Bulgaria will soon find itself in economic isolation and quickly exhaust what is left of its foreign exchange reserves. These negotiations should be renewed not later than in a week. And this can be achieved only by a cabinet and central bank enjoying firm parliamentary support, Videnov said. Today Bulgarian politicians have one common task: to form a new cabinet authorized to carry out efficient measures for this country's stabilization. The formation of this cabinet is the foremost duty of Parliament, the parliamentary groups, all MPs, both of the parliamentary majority and the opposition, and of the President. The outgoing cabinet will create all necessary conditions for implementing the constitutional procedure of forming a new cabinet as soon as possible. It does not wish to be a hostage in political games and endless stalling. Bulgaria needs a new strong cabinet already this month, the outgoing Prime Minister said. [07] "SOFT" CURRENCY BOARD NOT APPROPRIATE FOR BULGARIASofia, January 16 (BTA) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not recommend a "soft" type of currency board for Bulgaria, IMF Resident Representative in Sofia Franek Rozwadowski said. The financial and economic system in Bulgaria is almost destroyed and a "soft" currency board of the type applied for two years in Singapore, cannot be expected to give results, Mr Rozwadowski told the participants in an international round table "Currency Board: Social Effects, Role of Trade Unions," held on Thursday in Sofia.Several months of recession and double the present unemployment rate will follow the introduction of a currency board in Bulgaria, Prof. Krustyu Petkov, Chairman of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, projected in his opening address. According to CITUB figures, 150 billion leva have been converted into hard currency and put in foreign banks over the past 18 months. About 1,5 - 2 bln. USD dollars remain in the hands of the population, and according to Prof. Petkov, they can be used if an adequate policy is applied. The trade unionists are concerned over the possibility that the currency board would eliminate their role in the major economic processes. If a currency board is to be introduced, it should include western experts and to be managed by foreigners, leader of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation Konstantin Trenchev said. In his view the Bulgarian politicians have no right to speak about patriotism as they have rendered the word meaningless. "We support this measure, because our trade union is fighting in support of market economy and the those in power chased away investors and frustrated privatization deals just because they cannot accept the prospect of losing control over society," Podkrepa leader said. IMF's Resident Representative Franek Rozwadowski identified as main reasons for the current situation in the country the poor management of loans, slack financial discipline in banks and the granting of subsidies to enterprizes on the verge of collapse. In an extensive address to the participants in the round table he warned that unless these approaches are eliminated, the currency board will not produce results as the budget will collapse. Unpredictable inflation rates are destroying conditions for economic deals and are making them nontransparent. Inflation has a terrible effect on individuals with fixed earnings. In that respect the currency board will bring some relief, because even though prices will not go down significantly, they will be steadied, Rozwadowski said. The IMF recommends that Bulgaria cuts expenses in the nonproductive sectors but does not reduce the support for the socially disadvantaged. Under the conditions of a currency board, it will no longer be possible to finance the budget once it has been adopted and additional resources will have to be sought through privatization and higher rates of loan collection. If the commercial banks are to receive further financing, then the leva currency in circulation and the hard currency deposits at the central bank will have to be secured at least 120-130 per cent, Rozwadowski believes. [08] GOVERNMENT ADOPTS 1997 IMPORT REGULATIONSSofia, January 16 (BTA) - The Council of Ministers passed a decree on Thursday regulating 1997 imports from countries with which Bulgaria has established preferential regulations - the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, outgoing Trade Minister Atanas Paparizov told the press after a session of the Council of Ministers. The document regulates reduced custom and export duties to these countries. The document also provides for one-time concessions by Bulgaria when importing raw materials and goods not produced locally. The decree also regulates the concessions which Bulgaria and the EC extended to each other unilaterally in trade in agricultural goods, Atanas Paparizov added.At the session the Government authorized a Bulgarian delegation to start negotiations between Bulgaria and the other states members of the World Trade Organization for easing regulations in trade with basic communication equipment. The talks will continue till the end of January and an agreement within the framework of the WTO is expected to be reached in February. [09] COUNCIL OF MINISTERS DECISIONSSofia, January 16 (BTA) - At its session on Thursday the Cabinet decided to sponsor the ratification in Parliament of the International Eurocontrol Convention for Cooperation and Safe Air Navigation. The Government approved the Agreement on the importation of educational, scientific and cultural materials, adopted by UNESCO in 1950 and the Protocol to it, adopted on November 26, 1976, which agreement provides for exempting some imports of books, objects of art, audio-visual materials of an educational or scientific nature, scientific equipment to be used by blind people, etc. from import charges.The Cabinet also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Commission on the PHARE programme for facilitating transit; an agreement with the government of Croatia on cooperation in plant protection; a draft memorandum of understanding with the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark; an agreement between the transport ministries of Bulgaria and Romania on ferrying motor vehicles and passengers between the border checkpoints of the two countries on the Danube; a draft agreement with the Greek Government on military technological cooperation. [10] PARLIAMENT'S DECISIONSofia, January 16 (BTA) - At its sitting on January 16, the Bulgarian National Assembly gave its consent that the Council of Ministers guarantees to the US Commodity Credit Corporation the performance of banking operations and the meeting of obligations under the GSM 102 export credit programme in view of the delivery of wheat in the fiscal 1997. At the end of 1996 the US Government permitted the Bulgarian Government to purchase wheat under the guaranteed export programme of the US Department of Agriculture, utilizing a credit line of 35 million US dollars. The Bulgarian Government will provide a guarantee of 25 million US dollars. The credit is repayable over three years at 5-8 percent interest, with first payment due six months after receipt of the wheat.[11] NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RATIFICATIONSSofia, January 16 (BTA) - At its meeting on January 16 the National Assembly ratified the agreement between Bulgaria and Spain for mutual encouragement and protection of investments, signed on September 5, 1996. The accords is in the framework of Bulgaria's practice of signing agreements with the EU states in connection with this country's integration with the European economic structures.The Parliament also ratified a free trade agreement between Bulgaria and Slovenia signed on November 22, 1996 in Sofia, which envisages the establishment of a free trade zone between the two countries and phased liberalization of trade between them starting in 1997 with reduction of customs duties on industrial goods. All customs duties between the two countries are to be eliminated by the year 2000. The National Assembly ratified the Additional Protocol to Bulgaria's Europe Agreement concerning this country's trade in textile goods with the European community. The Protocol was on March 8, 1993 to replace the then effective Agreement between the Community and Bulgaria and ensures better access of Bulgarian textile goods to the EU market. [12] FOUR EMINENT MEMBERS LEAVE RULING BSPSofia, January 16 (BTA) - Four eminent members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), including former MPs Dimiter Yonchev and Rossen Karadimov and political scientists Andrei Raichev and Andrei Boundjoulov said on Thursday they are leaving the ruling BSP. They all are members of the reformist Alliance for Social Democracy. The four said that in their view, for the past seven years since the beginning of the changes in Bulgaria, the Socialist party has not reformed itself and has not started to act according to the values it upheld in its programme. The latest developments showed once again that the Bulgarian Socialist Party is falling behind the social and political events in the country, A.Boundjoulov said. It seems the hitherto largest political force has exhausted its possibilities to reform itself, Dimiter Yonchev thought. In his view, the Socialist party no longer has any potential to reform, although there are some people with Social-Democratic views in its leadership.The position of the four, who resigned their membership in the Socialist Party, is not a position of the Alliance for Social Democracy (ASD, a fraction within the Socialist party), Chavdar Kyuranov, MP of BSP said. ASD, whose members include well-known politicians, MPs, scholars and journalists, urged for changes in government and for appointing a new Socialist government already in the summer of 1996, six months before Videnov resigned. A representative of ASD at the Socialist party congress in December last year that the BSP states in its programme that it is a "Social-Democratic party, inseparable from the European Social Democracy." The congress, however, did not make changes in the programme of the Socialist party. "I rely on a few people in the BSP leadership, who sincerely want to make the party change, to work for its reforming in positive direction," Kyuranov said. [13] PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN ON EVENTS ON JANUARY 10Sofia, January 16 (BTA) - "At 17:40 hrs on January 10 I signed a letter to Interior Minister Dobrev sanctioning the entering of Interior Ministry personel in the Parliament building to guarantee order and the safety of the MPs," National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov told the press today. He explained that only the Parliament Chairman can sanction the admission of armed psersons in Parliament. "There are no armed policemen in the Parliament building, there are policemen," Sendov said in response to a question.[14] 10TH DAY OF PROTESTS DEMANDING EARLY ELECTIONSSofia, January 16 (BTA) - The protests of opposition supporters against the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party and demanding early parliamentary elections are going on for 10 days now. Thousands of protestors gathered at a rally in front of the St Alexander Nevski Cathedral in Sofia Thursday. Protest rallies and marches were held nationwide, token and efficient strikes were staged in many enterprises.The students of Sofia went on a march. They passed by the President's Office and greeted President Zhelev who went out to meet representatives of the students' striking committee. Ivan Vassilev of the striking committee said Zhelev supported the demand for early parliamentary elections. The students said they will insist that early elections are held by the end of May 1997 at the latest, and voiced their hope that President-elect Stoyanov, who is to be sworn in in Sunday will support them. The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) appealed to the political forces to open immediate negotiations. According to BIA, the negotiations should be conducted with the mediation of the President to reach a consensus on major political and economic problems and on the date of the early parliamentary elections. BIA says it is in favour of an urgent adoption of the legislation on the introduction of a currency board and maximum acceleration of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. [15] NATIONAL ELECTRONIC MEDIA ACCUSED OF INCOMPLETE COVERAGE OF EVENTS IN BULGARIASofia, January 16 (Iva Toncheva of BTA) - The national electronic media have come under strong fire over the past few days. They are accused of incomplete coverage of the events last week in which protesters and policemen were injured. Reporters and anchors of Bulgarian National Television (BNT) have blamed the management of this national media for not reporting the clashes live. They argue that claims it was impossible to organize extraordinary newscasts are untrue, because there were TV crews both in Parliament building and in the building of BNT. Rallies staged by the opposition in Sofia and other cities have demanded the resignation of the management of BNT."Sofia Kabel" - a cable TV in Sofia, broadcast an amateur film shot by sports journalist Sasho Dikov, showing the events on the night of January 10. The film was shown to journalists on Thursday. It shows both policemen hitting protesters and demonstrators throwing stones at the police and buses which were to take away the Mps of the Left. The management of National Radio has also come under criticism for lagging far behind the private radio stations in its coverage of the dramatic events and for using reports by its reporters in Parliament building instead of live recordings. The National Radio and BNT Head managers in Bulgaria are elected directly by Parliament. [16] SOCIALISTS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS IN LATE 1997Sofia, January 16 (BTA) - The Left expects President Zhelev to carry out his constitutional duty and very soon issue a decree mandating Socialist nominee for PM Dobrev to form a new government, the leader of the BSP Georgi Purvanov said on Thursday after a sitting of the Socialist party leadership and its coalition partners. Purvanov stressed the BSP wants to see early general election held in late 1997 and added the Socialist party leadership is ready to announce the legal, economic and political reasons for scheduling the election for this time. He also said he has talked over the phone with opposition UDF leader Ivan Kostov and has confirmed the Left's readiness for negotiations with the opposition.[17] OPPOSITION GAINS IN POPULARITY, ITS LEADERS CLAIMSofia, January 16 (BTA) - Union of Democratic Forces (UDF, the largest opposition force) leader Ivan Kostov, UDF Floor Leader Yordan Sokolov, Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski (also of the UDF) and UDF MPs visited Silistra (on the Danube) on Thursday to support the opposition's candidate for mayor in that city. "The prestige of the united opposition forces and of the UDF in particular is constantly growing," UDF Floor Leader Sokolov said. The people have come out to protest into the streets because of their extreme disappointment in their way of life, UDF leader Kostov said. "What the ruling Socialists should realize is that those protesting wish to see a way out for themselves before going home," he added.There have been rallies and protests across the country every day since January 3 in support of the demand of the united opposition for the withdrawal of the BSP from power and the holding of early elections. Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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