Vote-buying and other alleged irregularities on election-day - report

Election day 2009 saw countless reports of irregularities with most major parties accusing each other of vote-buying and other attempts to manipulate the election outcome.

World Intellectual Property Day celebrations in Bulgaria

World Intellectual Property Day 2009 was celebrated in Bulgaria with the founding of yet-another collective intellectual property rights organisation.

Solid as a rock

Despite the opposition's repeated efforts to bring down the Government of Sergei Stanishev, the Cabinet has survived a record seven no confidence motions, showing a talent to mobilise the support of the otherwise often disunited three ruling parties

Mall developers flock to smaller Bulgarian cities

Seven of the 20 mall-type schemes currently under development across the country are located in cities with less than 200 000 residents, Q2 market data of real estate consultants Forton shows. Four of the mall developments in progress are in Rouse with one each in Kazanlak, Gabrovo and Pleven, said Forton. No less than six mixed-use shopping and entertainment schemes have been announced over the last

Five men arrested at Bulgarian border points for attempted people trafficking

Bulgarian border police arrested five men for attempted people trafficking, a media statement from the Interior Ministry said.

ORGAHIM REPORTS 149% Q3 PROFIT INCREASE

The trend of increasing growth in financial results continued into the third quarter of 2007, Dnevnik daily said. On November 30, mostly after the local bourse had already stopped trading, more positive results were announced. Biggest growth of net profit reached Orgahim from Rouse, 149 per cent. Late September, profit growth was at 9.8 million leva, compared to 3.9 million leva a year earlier.

BIRDFLU IN ROMANIA, BULGARIA CLOSES POULTRY MARKETS

On November 28, poultry markets in north-east Bulgaria were closed after bird flu was detected in a village across the border in east Romania, Agriculture Ministry said. Markets had been closed in the municipalities of Bourgas, Varna, Dobrich, Silistra, Rouse, Razgrad and Shoumen. For the entire country special measures had been announced to reduce the risk of further contamination. The bird flu had been detected on a so-called 'back yard' farm in the Romanian village of Murighiol.

IMPRISONMENT AND FINES FOR PHARE DRAINAGE IN BULGARIA

On November 26 2007, Rousse regional court issued the sentences in one of the first trials over forged notary deed for the acquisition of property and PHARE programme drainage. Four people were defendants in the trial, investor.bg said. They were charged with 53 indictments. Most of the indictments, 43, were against Yulian Spasov, former leader of the youth organisation of Union of Democratic Forces in Rouse.

ROUND THREE IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TO LAST TILL FEBRUARY

What has become known as round three, the court cases over results in Bulgaria's municipal elections would last at least till mid February, lawyers told Dnevnik daily. In at least 19 of the larger cities, election results for mayor or municipal councillors were currently in the hands of the court. After a ruling by the Administrative Court, most cases would likely be appealed at the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), and the procedural hold there could mean it would take months before a settlement was reached, Dnevnik said.

ROAD TAX STICKERS PRICES TO GO UP IN 2008

A one-year vignette, a road-tax sticker, for cars and transport vehicles with less than eight places would cost 67 leva in 2008, a Government media statement said on November 15. Prices for one-month and one-week vignettes would be at 25 and 10 leva respectively. Prices for vignettes for cars with foreign licenses would remain the same, at 34 euro for a one-year vignette, 13 euro for one-month and 5 for one-week.

Around the towns - Bulgaria's election results at a glance

In both Bourgas and in Yambol, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) candidates won the second round municipal elections on November 4 2007, both received around 66 per cent of the votes. The new mayor of Bourgas will be Dimitur Nikolov over Ataka's candidate Valeri Simeonov. In Yambol, GERB candidate Georgy Slavov won over the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) candidate Dimitur

Bulgaria municipal elections - problems ranging from lack of ballots to vote-buying

Reporting by the sofiaecho.com elections team - Petar Kostadinov, Elitsa Grancharova, Elena Koinova, Elitsa Savova, Rene Beekman, Clive Leviev-Sawyer and Magdalena Rahn

Problems during the municipal elections on October 28 ranged from a lack of voting ballots and vote-buying to accusations of transparent ballots which did not protect voters' secrecy of vote. Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said on October 28 that vote-buying in these elections could not be ignored. In total, he said, 66 warnings had been received by the Interior Ministry, of which so far 16 had led to written statements. Interior Minster Roumen Petkov said "society needs to think about where this is going." It was the first time there had been no tolerance for vote-buying, Petkov said. As a consequence, it had been the first elections with arrests, the first elections where people would be prosecuted and the first elections where the police had knowledge about roughly 30 cases of vote-buying, he said.

BULGARIAN ANTIQUES TRAFFICKING CHANNEL SHUT DOWN

A large channel for trafficking of antiques to Western Europe and the USA had been closed down by the department for fighting organised crime of the Interior Ministry, mediapool.bg said. Confiscated cultural-historical heritage was estimated to be worth over 10 million leva, though the precise amount was not yet clear. Arrested were 13 people, 25 searches had been carried out in the regions of Pazardjik, Vratsa, Montana, Vidin and Rouse. Among the arrested was the organiser of the group, a well-known businessman from Pazardjik, whose name has been withheld.

National Briefs

INSIGHT: Analysing the IMF deal

Bulgaria's Finance Ministry announced on April 24 that it had jumped ahead of schedule to pay off the last remaining portion of its debt to the International Monetary Fund, worth about $302 million. The move generated nary a ripple, neither in Bulgaria's financial markets nor on the political circuit. The repayment was too small to seriously dent the country's fiscal reserves, which now stand at a comfortable

INSIGHT: COMMENT: Croatia resists reform

Reforms are starting to lag, and the country's leaders are loath to admit it.

On the long and winding road of post-socialist economic transition, Croatia has often outpaced other countries in South East Europe. Yet now, just when it should be roaring ahead as a magnet for investment in the region, Croatia has reached a crossroads between rhetorical fantasy and economic reality. Politicians in Zagreb have a habit of describing as a foregone conclusion the country's future within the

POP IDOL REALITY SHOW TO START IN BULGARIA

One of the most popular music reality shows, Pop Idol, will be launched in Bulgaria in 2007. The Bulgarian version of the show carries the name Music Idol, avtora.com reported. National television bTV will air Music Idol. Local famous anchors Ivan and Andrey will host the show. Preliminary casting will be held in the cities of Bulgaria, Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna Bourgas and Rouse, in January 2007

READING ROOM: The Macedonian question

The Sofia Echo's POLINA SLAVCHEVA engages with the ongoing issues in Macedonian-Bulgarian relations.

On June 25, the ethnic Macedonian party OMO Ilinden-PIRIN (The United Macedonian Organisation Ilinden-Party for Economic Development and Integration of the Population - the Bulgarian transliteration of the latter spells out PIRIN and also fits the name Pirin, a region in southwest Bulgaria which is considered to ethnically be part of geographical Macedonia), re-established itself in the city of Gotse

Public debate lacking on foreign bases in Bulgaria

Ever since the United States announced two years ago a big shakeup in its military presence in Europe, Bulgaria has been among the countries most eagerly lobbying for the stationing of US troops on its territory. These are the words of BBC's South East Europe analyst Gabriel Partos. Now that it has them, or at least what Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin called the priori agreement settling the terms between the two countries, what it is missing is public debate on the issue. And that seems to be hard to rouse.

NOTES FROM HISTORY: `The man who saved the Jews'

Dimitar Peshev is not a very well known name in Bulgaria today, although among historically-minded Bulgarians, it may ring a bell; a bell that tolls that with a tone of honour. Peshev truly belongs in the ranks of the country's heroes, as a man whose work deserves acknowledgement as "demonstrating courage in the face of the enemy". The year was 1943 and Bulgaria was in strategic alliance with Hitler's

EDITORIAL: A second chance

THE decision by Sofia mayor Stefan Sofianski to take up the seat to which he has been elected in Parliament will open the way for municipal elections to be held in the city. Clearly, going by voter turnout and the fact that the entry of Ataka into the National Assembly may be explained in part by a "protest vote", many Bulgarians feel alienated from the upper echelons of those practicing politics in this country.

Russian firm's hot deals

RAO United Energy Systems of Russia was named the winner in the sale two thermal power plants (TPP) in the cities of Varna and Rousse, the Privatisation Agency announced on May 9. The company, headed by former Russian deputy prime minister Anatolii Chubais, will pay 650 million euro for the plants. For 51 per cent in Varna TPP, RAO will pay 198.9 million euro, and will increase its stake to 67 per cent in the same plant with a further payment of 189 million euro.

New index for Exchange

THE Privatisation Agency will offer shares in 181 companies in the tenth centralised public tender on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange - Sofia (BSE). Payment for shares in 25 companies will be made in non-cash instruments (compensatory instruments) and in cash for 147 companies. Shares in nine companies are payable in a combination of cash and non-cash instruments of payment.

Reading Room-2004: Changing patterns of protest

UNLIKE in the first years of transition, when protests against the incumbent government brought together people from all walks of life - from high school and university students to senior citizens - the most recent protests have tended to be organised by and focussed around specific unions or political parties.

New action TV channel

THE Bulgarian branch of HBO will this weekend launch AXN, a new TV channel owned by Sony Pictures Television International.

Museum stages rites

The National History Museum is today re-enacting a typical celebration from Noevski Survakari in Southern Bulgaria.