FAKE
The Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union said on July 22 that several candidates applying for permission to open pharmacies had presented counterfeit diplomas for the required master’s in pharmacy degree. Most of the suspected diplomas are issued abroad, Gabriela Vouteva, chief secretary of the union, told The Sofia Echo. Primarily they come from Russia, Tajikistan and other former soviet republics, she said.

APPROVE THE DEAL
Bulgaria’s Cabinet decided on July 17 to ask Parliament to ratify a contract to buy two E-71 Wielingen Class frigates and a Flower Class minesweeper from Belgium for the Bulgarian navy. The decision comes soon after Bulgaria and France revived discussions about a deal for Sofia to buy four corvettes from France’s Armaris. In a statement after its regular weekly meeting, the Cabinet said that after it had received the Belgian vessels, it would be able to fulfil the goals it has in the context of Nato collective defence planning.

DON’T ASK ABOUT THAT
Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, summoned for Question Time in Parliament on July 18, refused to answer a question whether the freshly amended law on concessions would benefit a project designed by his older brother, architect Georgii Stanishev. The question was not on the official agenda of the session, but Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) leader Ivan Kostov used the opportunity to ask it despite the admonishments of Speaker Georgi Pirinski.

FREE MOBILES
Roumen Ovcharov, formerly Bulgaria’s economy minister and now chairperson of Parliament’s committee on the budget and finance, has suggested that the state give pensioners mobile phones. In an interview with Bulgarian-language daily Sega, Ovcharov is quoted as saying that it would be a good idea to give pensioners mobile phones that they could use to make free calls to emergency numbers and to family members, with time limits on these calls. Bulgaria has about 1.28 million people over the age of 65, making up just more than 17 per cent of the population.

FIRED
Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry announced that six officials had been fired for offences “incompatible with the police profession”. A July 21 statement by the Interior Ministry said that the dismissals had been ordered variously for corruption, leaking of inside information to criminals and driving while drunk.

UNITED/DIVIDED
Some opposition parties rejected the impeachment procedure that could be started against President Georgi Purvanov, finding no constitutional grounds. Others said the opposition should not waste its efforts and should focus only on going after the Cabinet and pursuing snap elections. Both the impeachment procedure and the sixth motion of no confidence in the Cabinet that the opposition parties are preparing are grounded on the European Union funds debacle.

CHARGES
On July 17, when Bulgaria’s national consultative council met to discuss the July 3 2008 explosions at the Chelopechene munitions dump, military prosecutors questioned Major Miroslav Mitov, who has been charged with embezzlement and abuse of office. Bulgarian National Television reported that the charges arose from two cases, 2005 and 2007, of irregularities in the sales of about 250 tons of scrap metal from dismantled old munitions.

NOT FAVOURITE
Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov was hissed at by the crowd while turning the first sod on the site of a future kindergarten in the Krasno Selo neighbourhood on July 17. It turned out that the residents of the neighbourhood did not want the kindergarten because it would destroy one of the few parks in the neighbourhood. The protesters pitched a tent with a sign reading “the city hall = mafia”, website mediapool.bg said.

ENERGY-EFFICIENT
The Bulgarian Cabinet decided to make a normative act to give buildings an energy passport, thus supporting the European Commission’s commitment to promoting renewable energy and increasing its share to 20 per cent by 2020. The energy passport is separate from a building’s technical certificate and will be realised through a system of actions and measures to increase energy efficiency in end users and to progress the energy services market.

SILVER FUND
Half of the revenue from privatisation, a quarter of the budget surplus and all concession royalties would be pooled in the Silver Fund under a bill approved by the national council for tripartite co-operation between Government, employers and labour unions as quoted by dnevnik.bg. Its assets will be structured into investment portfolios that will be signed over to financial institutions for management.