These are some of the top headlines of Bulgarian newspapers on July 4 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics and Social

- The explosions of ammunition in the warehouses near Chelopechene, which miraculously did not take any victims, could have been an attempt at clearing the terrain for privatisation by firms that have been linked with alleged drug dealer Zlatomir Ivanov-Baretata, Dnevnik daily said. Since March, the base has been in liquidation, the daily reported.

- The programme to dispose of surplus ammunition freed by Bulgarian army cuts could not be implemented due to lack of funds, general Nikola Kolev, head of the President’s cabinet, said as quoted by Nova television. This statement is of doubtful accuracy, considering the budget surpluses in the past few years and the row of transactions concluded, Dnevnik daily said.

- Opposition parties have demanded the immediate resignation of Disaster Management Minister Emel Etem due to lack of timely information about the explosions of a military warehouse near Sofia on July 3 and slow and inadequate reaction on behalf of the government, Dnevnik daily said.

- The Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Judicial Council are drafting rules for preventing external and internal intervention in their affairs, Dnevnik daily reported. The rules have to involve a possibility for a disciplinary punishment.

Economy

- The financing of Belene nuclear power plant is uncertain, Dnevnik daily said. BNP Paribas decided not to commit its own funds to the project because it was risky and controversial, Dnevnik said. Banks could be put off environmentalist' protests against the project and the choice of the Russian company Atomstroyexport to build the power plant.

- The European Comission’s decision to freeze funding under Sapard pre-accession aid programme would provoke massive protests by agricultural producers in the country, many of whom have already contracted loans using future payments as collateral, Dnevnik daily reported.

- Hotel owners in the Bulgarian seaside resort of Zlatni pyasutsi (Golden Sands) predicted bankruptcies owing to the high prices of beach services, which are comparable to the price of accommodation and breakfast in all-inclusive, Dnevnik daily reported.