Ta nea toy BTA 22-Mar-95[*]
From: [email protected] (george kapodistrias)
Ta nea apo thn Presbeia ths Boylgarias sthn Washington, D.C.
[01] . FOREIGN MINISTER PIRINSKI BACK FROM PARIS
[02] . PRESIDENT ZHELEV RETURNS AMENDMENTS TO LAW
[03] . FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO BULGARIA
[04] . LORD CARRINGTON VISITS BULGARIA
[05] TUESDAY NEWS BRIEFS
. AT ITS REGULAR MEETING TODAY THE LEADERSHIP OF THE
BSP HEARD A REPORT ON THE GOVERNMENT'S FISCAL AND INCOMES
POLICY IN 1995
. BULGARIA AND SAUDI ARABIA SIGNED A PROTOCOL ON THE
ESTABLISHING OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS IN NEW YORK TODAY.
. THE GOVERNMENT'S PRIORITY IN THE SPHERE OF THE STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
OF THE ECONOMY, PRIVATIZATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENTS.
. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CHAIRMAN WILL VISIT UKRAINE IN THE SECOND HALF OF
1995
. AT THE END OF A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE, 23 EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY POLITICAL
PARTIES AND PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS TODAY SET UP A NATIONAL POLITICAL
CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL.
. AMBASSADORS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF SOME 20 DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS TODAY
VISITED THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN BLAGOEVGRAD.
. THE CREATION OF A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
MANAGEMENT IS A PRIORITY OF THE MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
[06] * WHITE PAPER
[07] * WHITE PAPER - INDUSTRY, ENVIRONMENT
[08] * WHITE PAPER - AGRICULTURE
[09] * WHITE PAPER - BULGARIAN ARMY
Giwrgos Kapodistrias
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From: [email protected] (Embassy of Bulgaria)
Subject: BTA inf/ Mar. 22, 95
Date: 23 Mar 1995 09:23:02 -0500
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA -
WASHINGTON D.C.
BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY
BULLETIN OF NEWS FROM BULGARIA
MARCH 22, 1995
[01] FOREIGN MINISTER PIRINSKI BACK FROM PARIS
" The Stability Pact demonstrated that Central and
Eastern Europe cannot be treated as some gray zone, where
instability reigns and special measures are needed,' Foreign
Minister Georgi Pirinski said upon his arrival from Paris
today. In Paris Minister Pirinski attended the International
Conference on Stability in Europe. He believes the
Conference helped get a broader understanding of the
problem facing this part of the European continent. " The
problem is above all an economic one, a problem of
providing the social basis of the transition," Minister Pirinski
said. He stressed that the Bulgarian government approved
the Stability Pact as a document that strengthens the
principles of good-neighborly cooperation among the
European states, that helps find solutions to open problems
by means of negotiations and develop projects for
promotion of cooperation.
[02] PRESIDENT ZHELEV RETURNS AMENDMENTS TO LAW
President Zhelyu Zhelev issued a decree to return the
amendments to the Environment Protection Act for further
consideration by Parliament, said the President's
Spokesman. The amendments, passed on March 8,
authorize the government to launch constructions of major
importance only on the basis of expert valuation on the
effect on environment. The amendments were backed by the
Socialist parliamentary majority. The opposition Union of
Democratic Forces, Movement for Rights and Freedoms
and the Popular Union, voted against. The amendments
sought to legalize a cabinet decision to give a go-ahead to
the construction of the Djerman-Skakavitsa water intake
system in spite of the vehement protests of local people and
environmentalists. The facility, whose construction was
completed yesterday, will take spring waters from the Rila
mountain, Southern Bulgaria, to Sofia that has been
suffering a sever water shortage for several months now.
President Zhelev last week had consultations with
Environment Minister Georgi Georgiev and
environmentalists that brought to the surface strongly
diverging views. The President dismisses unconditionally the
amendments to the Environment Protection Act because
they eliminate the public control on activities having an
adverse effect on environment, said the President's
Spokesman. The amendments deprive citizens of the right to
receive information which is granted to them by the
Bulgarian Constitution and a number of international
accords effective in this country, he went on to say. The
amendments to the law on environment contradict the 1992
Environmental Convention that has yet to be ratified by the
Bulgarian Parliament and the provisions of the 1992 UN
Convention on the Conservation of Biological Diversity,
said the Spokesman. As for the Djerman-Skakavitsa water
intake system, it already there and its existence does not
depend on the passage or nonpassage of the amendments to
the Environment Protection Act. Another question is if
parliament could not adopt a legal instrument to address the
construction of the facility without amending the law on
environment, the Spokesman went on to say. Sofia is in a
disastrous situation and each drop of water that will relieve
this city's plight, is welcome. Therefore, all attempts to
politicize the water problem are ludicrous, said the
President's Spokesman.
[03] FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO BULGARIA
A French parliamentary delegation today met the
Bulgarian parliamentary group on Bulgarian-French
friendship. The French delegation arrived here on a five-day
visit led by Jean Seitlinger, head of the group for friendship
with Bulgaria with the French parliament. The adverse
effect on this country's economy of the implementation of
the UN embargo against Yugoslavia, Bulgaria's integration
into the European structures, including NATO, and the visa
regime, were high on the agenda of the talks. Mr. Seitlinger
believes the Yugoembargo is in the core of the problems
facing Bulgaria. He took the commitment to bring this issue
to the fore whenever an opportunity arises. He believes that
the international community has the moral obligation to
shoulder the responsibility for the aftermath of the embargo.
Speaking at the meeting, Loic Bouvard, deputy speaker of
the French parliament and former president of the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly, said that with its geographical
situation, Bulgaria has a major role to play in European
security. He pledged to mediate for Bulgaria's accession to
NATO and other European structures. Loic Bouvard
believes all countries should be placed on equal footing and
said Bulgaria and Romania should be treated just as the
Visegrad members. There is a trend for expansion of NATO
and the European Union, but there is also Russia, said
Bouvard, adding that Russian Foreign Minister Kozyrev
yesterday spoke firmly against NATO's expansion. " There is
a consistency that will take you into NATO. This is also
what the EU plans and wants to see, but nothing can be
done without Russia," he said. Bulgarian MPs raised the
question of the Bulgarian-French visa regime and cited
cases of unjustified detention of Bulgarian citizens at French
check points. " We do not see why Bulgaria is not among
the countries with which France has visa-free regimes, like
the Visegrad Group, for example," said Jean Seitlinger.
" Together with your Ambassador in Paris, we adopted a
declaration that will be submitted at the National Assembly.
We will also ask Foreign Minister Alain Juppe about this
discrimination of Bulgaria," said Seitlinger. He believes the
April 1 entry into force of the new visa regime under the
Schengen agreement will help eliminate this discrimination.
Later today the French guests were received by National
Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov and Prime Minister
Zhan Videnov.
[04] LORD CARRINGTON VISITS BULGARIA
Lord Carrington, President of Voluntary Services
Overseas and former NATO secretary general, arrived on a
three day visit to Bulgaria today. Upon his arrival at Sofia
Airport, Lord Carrington said that this is his third visit to
Bulgaria, but that this time he was visiting on behalf of the
Voluntary Services Overseas organization. Asked whether
at present diplomacy has a chance in settling the conflict in
Bosnia, Lord Carrington said that this is not the time for
achieving a long-term solution. During his visit Lord
Carrington will meet President Zhelyu Zhelev, Foreign
Minister Georgi Pirinski, political leaders and volunteers of
Partnership with Eastern Europe Section of the Voluntary
Services Overseas organization. Volunteers of this
organization have been working in Bulgaria since 1991 as
teachers and social workers. At present they number 14.
Lord Carrington is also expected to read a lecture at the
Atlantic Club on the problems of the East European
countries after the disintegration of the former Soviet
Union.
[05] TUESDAY NEWS BRIEFS
At its regular meeting today the leadership of the
ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) heard a report on the
government's fiscal and incomes policy in 1995 by the
Socialist leader, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov. The report
will be put on the agenda a BSP plenum which will be held
in about ten days. BSP Spokeswoman Klara Marinova said
the budget deficit may not exceed 45 per cent, while
spending in the social sphere will account for over 40 per
cent of expenditure. The BSP leadership discussed a draft
program of the party's ruling bodies for the period until the
next party conference, as well as principles of the formation
and operation of its Supreme Council committees.
Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia signed a protocol on the
establishing of diplomatic relations in New York today. The
document, signed by the two countries' permanent
representatives at the UN, says this is an important step that
reflects Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia's aspirations to establish
better relations and friendly ties and is sure to promote the
political, economic, technical and business cooperation
between the two countries, Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said
today.
President Zhelyu Zhelev sent a telegram to King Fahd
of Saudi Arabia congratulating him on the establishing of
diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia, the
President's press office said.
The government's priority in the sphere of the
structural adjustment of the economy, privatization and
foreign investments were high on the agenda of today's
meeting between Minister of Economic Development
Roumen Gechev and Ambassador Thomas O'Sullivan of the
European Commission. Gechev said at the meeting that in
April the cabinet will introduce programs on cash and
voucher privatization at Parliament and adopt amendments
to statutory acts regulating the work of the Foreign
Investments Agency and free trade zones. He further
stressed the cabinet would do its best to get privatization off
the ground in the autumn of 1995. The cabinet will also
grant assistance to enterprises in dire financial straits to
prepare their structural adjustment.
National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov will
visit Ukraine in the second half of 1995 at the invitation of
Ukrainian Supreme Council Chairman Alexander Moroz.
The invitation for the visit was delivered by Ukrainian
Ambassador here Alexander Vorobyov.
At the end of a two-day conference, 23 extra-
parliamentary political parties and public organizations
today set up a National Political Consultative Council. It
lays the foundations of a genuine opposition force in
Bulgaria, says a protocol of association. The Council will
run in the next parliamentary elections as a single political
force.
Ambassadors and representatives of some 20
diplomatic missions today visited the American University in
Blagoevgrad (Southwestern Bulgaria), BTA's local
correspondent reported. They met with lecturers and
students at the University, which will confer bachelor's
degrees on its first graduates on May 7. They will be
graduating in a wide range of subjects, including business
administration, applied economics, mass communications,
political science and computer science. The ratio between
Bulgarian and foreign students is four to one. There are
students from 13 foreign countries, most of them coming
from Albania, Romania, Yugoslavia, the US, Macedonia,
Poland and Moldova.
The creation of a legal framework for environmental
protection management is a priority of the Ministry of the
Environment. Speaking at a news conference today,
Environment Minister Georgi Georgiev said a working
group had been set up to negotiate the terms of the first
debt-for-environment deal with Switzerland in April.
Bulgaria is expected to receive a low-interest loan of 10-20
million Swiss francs in six tranches over three years.
[06] WHITE PAPER
We are no judges or arbiters and its is not the
cabinet's business to name the culprits for the present
economic situation in Bulgaria; the " White Paper" just seeks
to show what legacy the Socialist cabinet was left, which
will help it later to give an account of what it has done. This
view was shared by the four deputy prime ministers in the
cabinet of the Democratic Left: Kiril Tsochev, Roumen
Gechev, Doncho Konakchiev and Svetoslav Shivarov, who
spoke at a news conference here today prompted by the
publicizing of the " White Paper on the Situation in
Bulgaria" . The cabinet spokesman said the Prime Minister
was too busy with the drafting of the 1995 national budget
to attend the news conference. The news conference heard
no names and specific data in spite of the journalists'
attempts to get them. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Construction Doncho Konakchiev said the document was
drawn up by all cabinet ministers. He said they used
materials of the National Statistical Institute, scientific
articles, information of ministries and other competent
institutions, as well as some serious press reports.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Economic Development Roumen Gechev, the " White
Paper" seeks to identify the achievements and failures of the
reform in Bulgaria launched in 1990 after the fall of
communism. He placed among the achievements the
consolidation of the banking system and the abundance of
goods on the market. The transition in this country,
however, did not have a clear economic model, according to
him. This is how the deputy prime ministers described the
results of the reform over the past five years:
pseudoliberalism, crippled agriculture, internal and foreign
debt way above the 1994 Gross Domestic Product, loss of
markets. Roumen Gechev said 1992 saw the collapse of
Bulgarian economy, rash and unjustified liberalization of
prices and unwise cut of government subsidies for the
industry. All this should have been done step by step, said
Gechev. " No economic liberalism. Voting for the program
of the Socialist party at the December 1994 election, people
said " yes" to the regulated transition, and not to liberalism,"
this Deputy Prime Minister went on to say. He also said that
the cabinet is in favor of cooperation with the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank, but this will be a
cooperation of mutual benefit where Bulgaria's interests are
taken into consideration. " We will not agree to unacceptable
conditions," said Gechev. He further described the
international financial institutions' policy in Bulgaria as a
fiasco, saying that not a single project has been completed.
The responsibility for this rests with the Bulgarian cabinets,
who proved unable to state clearly what could be done in
Bulgaria and what not, said he. Journalists did not get clear
answer to the question what, according to the Socialist
cabinet, is the share of the half-a-century rule of the
Communist party, whose successor is the Socialist party, in
crippling this country's economy. Roumen Gechev said the
" legacy" question, which he believes to be widely abused, is
a controversial one. While the cabinets after 1989 inherited
a tangible production basis - not without problems and
disproportions, but still a working one - the sitting cabinet
found crippled major enterprises and shattered markets,
according to Gechev. He believes the consolidation of some
companies and restoration of markets are now among the
major tasks to be addressed. Cabinet Spokesman Nikola
Baltov said the cabinet is ready to give the materials it has
compiled if the court, Prosecutor's Office or investigative
bodies are interested in them.
[07] WHITE PAPER - INDUSTRY, ENVIRONMENT
The inconsistent and inadequate model of transition
to market economy delivered heavy blows on the industry,
according to the " White Paper" , made public by the
Government today. According to its authors, the general
drop in industrial output in the 1989-1994 period was 49
per cent (at comparable prices). Pseudoliberalization of the
economy and " shock therapy" are cited as the main causes
for the present state of the industrial sector. The serious
flaws in macroeconomic policy, the lack of industrial
strategy and the blocking of market and financial resources
brought hundreds of companies to actual bankruptcy. The
collapse of the real economy was one of the main reasons
for the prolonged and deep crisis in the economy as a
whole, according to the " White Paper" . The " White Paper"
cites indebtedness as a major problem of the industrial
branch. The former constitutes 75 per cent of the total
credit indebtedness in this country. The industrial sector
accounts for 43.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product
(G.D.P.) and more than 71 per cent of the state budget
revenues. However, in the January-September 1994 period
alone its losses totaled 1,122 million leva. The authors
accuse the economic teams of the governments of Dimiter
Popov and of Filip Dimitrov in particular, of pursuing a
pseudo monetary financial policy, of an inadmissible
underestimation of the problem of the companies'
indebtedness and of premature total liberalization of prices,
interest rates and foreign exchange regulations, which made
the servicing of the investment loans a heavy burden for the
enterprises. The steep climb of interest rates over the last
four years also contributed to the poor condition of the
enterprises, blocking their production activity on the one
hand and snowballing the interests on their outstanding
debts, on the other, the " White Paper" says. According to
the figures cited in the " White Paper" , the total indebtedness
of the enterprises in early 1995 amounted to almost 300,000
million leva. The former governments are accused of doing
nothing to solve the problem with outstanding debts of
foreign firms to Bulgarian industrial companies, amounting
to more than US$ 1,000 million. The unjustified and hasty
withdrawal from the East European markets coupled with
untimely overliberalization of access to Bulgarian markets
can actually be described as open discrimination of the
Bulgarian producer, the " White Paper" says. According to
its authors, the Bulgarian industry was hit hardest by the
loss of markets for its electronics and engineering products,
electric and I.C.E. trucks, heavy and light soda, medicines
and cosmetics, cigarettes and tobacco, ready-to-wear
clothes, processed feedstock, etc. Moreover, the loss of
Eastern markets was not compensated by enlargement of
trade with the EU countries, the US, Japan, etc. The
complete withdrawal of the state from foreign and home
trade made it possible for some unscrupulous private
merchants to accumulate large profits at the expense of the
state enterprises. The authors cite as an example the import
of raw materials for the biggest Bulgarian industrial
enterprises in the 1991-1993 period, implemented by
parasitic private companies to the prejudice of the producers
and in contradiction of the national interests. Grave
damages have also been inflicted on the military industry.
Not only did the state do nothing to preserve the markets of
special output in Asia, Africa and Latin America but it
actually contributed to these losses, as well as to the failure
of concrete deals and the discrediting of Bulgarian military
production, the authors of the " White Paper" claim. They
accuse the former governments of not finding a mechanism
for compensating the enterprises' losses from the embargo,
imposed on bilateral relations with Iraq and Libya. The
" White Paper" claims that not a single conversion problem
has been solved and there is no national policy in defense of
the Bulgarian military industry. After five years of reforms
the results of economic adjustment are quite modest: almost
95 percent of the industrial sector is still in the hands of the
state, the " White Paper" claims. According to its authors, a
number of privatization transactions, concluded during the
term Reneta Indjova as chief of the Privatization Agency
and of the caretaker cabinet should be referred to the
competent legal authorities. The sharp drop in the leading
industries and the liquidation of intensive farming led to
certain improvements in environmental conditions in 1990-
1994. Some of the " black spots" (16 regions in Bulgaria are
defined as black spots with high pollution levels posing a
health hazard) emissions halved from 1990, the State of the
Environment section says. It stresses that these
improvements in environmental conditions are unstable and
a relapse can be expected with the end of the recession and
the start of economic recovery. It is stressed that since 1992
Parliament has not passed a single environmental act,
though since 1993 the Ministry of the Environment has
drafted seven bills, two of which (on waste and on
protected territories) were introduced in Parliament the
same year. The fact that several important international
conventions were not ratified by Parliament blocked
Bulgaria's access to funds targeted on environmental
programs and projects, the document says. It says
appropriations for environmental protection dropped to
0.23 per cent of GDP in 1993 from 0.93 per cent in 1989.
[08] WHITE PAPER - AGRICULTURE
Agricultural production dropped over 55 per cent in
the past years, reads the " White Paper" the cabinet has
drawn up. Meat, milk, grain, fruit and vegetable output
nearly halved over the observable period. Uncultivated land,
dilapidated and plundered farms and irrigation facilities,
crippled animal breeding, desolate perennial plants: this is
the ultimate result of the reform in agriculture, say the
authors of the " White Paper" . According to the " White
Paper" , the major reason for the collapse of agriculture is
the " voluntaristic" precipitation of the liquidation of
cooperative farms before the land has been returned to its
lawful owners. The performance of liquidation councils,
whose number in 1994 reached 2,385, resulted in an
" unprecedented squandering and plunder of property" . The
responsibility for all this rests solely with the agriculture
ministers in the period after 1991, stresses the " White
Paper" . The document further gives detailed data on land
restitution and lists the causes for the sluggishness of this
process. The land reform has to date taken up a total of
1,166 million leva, excluding the debts liquidation councils
incurred. The reform proved to be a costly, complex and
prolonged undertaking, say the authors. They further
identify a problem that has newly emerged: the
consolidation of land and setting up of profitable
agricultural farms, which is sure to cost just as much. There
are no effective laws to regulate the pressing issues of
consolidation of fragmented land and land lease. The reform
model that has been adopted crippled Bulgarian agriculture,
and as an immediate effect, dealt a heavy blow on the food
processing industry, the " White Paper" says in conclusion.
[09] WHITE PAPER - BULGARIAN ARMY
The Bulgarian army succeeded in maintaining the
highest possible combat and mobilization readiness despite
the extremely difficult finance and logistics problems it was
experiencing, according to the section of the " White Paper"
on the Bulgarian Army. " The grave economic and cultural
crisis experienced by this country had an adverse effect on
the situation of the Bulgarian army," the " White Paper"
says. The document lists the following major problems
concerning the fighting efficiency and combat readiness of
the army: - discrepancy between the existing legal
framework on defense and military construction and reality;
- extreme financial and logistics shortages; - failure to solve
the social problems of the military and to provide better
living conditions for the servicemen; - lack of a
comprehensive system for career growth. The financial and
logistics problems of the Bulgarian Army are the direct
result of the tendency to cut the defense budget which has
been continuing for five years now, the " White Paper" says.
The 1990 draft defense budget, for instance, was reduced by
three per cent, the 1991 one by 14 per cent, the 1992 one by
32.7 per cent, the 1993 one by 64.7 per cent, and the 1994
by 65.6 per cent. This trend distorted the budget structure
and increased the relative share of the arms and technical
equipment with expiring service life, the " White Paper"
says. If this tendency continues, this would cast doubt over
the very existence of entire arms of the Bulgarian army. The
operative training of the headquarters and the combat and
mobilization training of the troops is deteriorating. There
are problems in fuel supply. Various combat and command-
post exercises and mobilization musters with large units
have not been held for several years. Flight training classes
in the air force were reduced several-fold, the " White
Paper" says. The army is experiencing grave housing
problems, according to the authors of the " White Paper" .
Though the number of military with housing problems
ranged between 7,000 and 8,000, only 516 flats were built
in 1994 (against 3,000 - 4,000 in the years before 1990 for
approximately the same number of unaccommodated
military). Wages growth is lagging behind the inflation rate.
Social dissatisfaction with these facts and the risks of
military service have had an extremely negative effect on the
social and psychological climate in the army, on discipline
and on training, according to the " White Paper" . More and
more officers of all age groups and ranks are leaving the
army which leads to its undermining, deterioration of its
combat readiness and continuity. These problems of the
Bulgarian army and their deepening may undermine its
ability to guarantee the territorial integrity and the
sovereignty of this country.
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