News from Bulgaria, 96-10-10

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From: Embassy of Bulgaria <bulgaria@access1.digex.net>

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

10 October, 1996

CONTENTS

[01] RESIDENT ZHELEV RAISES FUND FOR THE MILITARY

[02] PHARE PROGRAMME PROMISES ASSISTANCE TO BULGARIA

[03] PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE STOYANOV RECEIVED BY POLISH PRESIDENT

[04] RUSSIA'S CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF TO VISIT BULGARIA

[05] INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF BORDER TRADE OPENS FOR SECOND TIME

[06] SUCCESSFUL RESTRUCTURING IN INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE

[07] US OIL COMPANY AMOCO LEAVES EASTERN EUROPE

[08] PIETER STEK: THE CRISIS HAS REACHED A TURNING POINT

[09] DOUBLE-DIGIT SEPTEMBER INFLATION

[10] INTERIOR MINISTRY DENIES COMPILING CREDIT MILLIONAIRES LIST

[11] BULGARIAN-BORN RABBI VISITS PATRIARCH MAKSIM

[12] WITNESS CLAIMS HAVING SEEN EX-P.M. LOUKANOV'S ASSASSIN

[01] RESIDENT ZHELEV RAISES FUND FOR THE MILITARY

On this occasion today the President met Bulgarian Chief of General Staff Gen. Tsvetan Totomirov, the commanders of the arms and corpses of the Bulgarian army to set forth the motives for his initiative. The raising of the fund was prompted by frequent press reports and statements on the grave financial difficulties of the Bulgarian army.

President Zhelev said after the meeting that he is particularly alarmed over the living conditions of the military. The armed forces, too, were hit badly by the severe economic crisis. The President said he is happy that his initiative gets the support of top brass. Furthermore, he has held preliminary meetings with representatives of business circles who demonstrated understanding and readiness to provide financial assistance to the army by contributing to the fund.

Some time soon the Head of State will make an address to the nation calling upon all Bulgarians to help the Bulgarian army if they can. The President expects all state institutions, public and civil organizations to follow suit. The Bulgarian army is the backbone of national security; these are not only our sons and grandsons but those on whom Bulgaria will rely to defend national integrity and sovereignty if need be, the President said adding that to meet their constitutional duty, the military should have normal living conditions.

[02] PHARE PROGRAMME PROMISES ASSISTANCE TO BULGARIA

Yesterday the "Zemedelie" Fund sent information via the Bulgarian part of the PHARE programme on the conditions under which it was ready to extend tied credits to wheat growers before the base interest rate was raised to 300% (on September 23, 1996). In the meantime the Central Cooperative Bank offered to extend 850 million leva for sowing.

[03] PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE STOYANOV RECEIVED BY POLISH PRESIDENT

"I was impressed by Mr Kwasniewski's European way of thinking," Stoyanov said. "I was impressed by his crystal clear position on Poland's integration in the EU and its membership in NATO, as well as by the fact that Poland has found a way to tap the potential and intellectual powers of the whole society for the country's integration in the Euro-Atlantic structures," he said.

Stoyanov shares Aleksander Kwasniewski's views on all key issues of the two countries' development. Asked how Poland managed to become one of the most prosperous former socialist countries, Kwasniewski said it owed its success to its clear-cut national priorities, such as EU and NATO membership.

"President Kwasniewski and I agreed that we both belong to the Beatles and Rolling Stones generation," Stoyanov said. Kwasniewski said this generation has the power and ability to run the country because it has no guilt complex and is called to integrate its country in Europe, said Stoyanov. Finally, Kwasniewski said "Fingers crossed!", according to Stoyanov.

[04] RUSSIA'S CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF TO VISIT BULGARIA

The delegation is scheduled to have meetings with President Zhelyu Zhelev, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, Defence Minister Dimiter Pavlov and Chief of General Staff Colonel-General Tsvetan Totomirov.

The Russian guests will also have a meeting with the parliamentary committee on national security. They will visit the "Hristo Botev" school for reserve officers in Pleven (Northern Bulgaria), the Blue Helmets training centre and the mechanized brigade in Karlovo (Central Bulgaria).

[05] INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF BORDER TRADE OPENS FOR SECOND TIME

The event is held under the auspices of National Assembly Deputy Chairman Atanas Zhelezchev, member of the opposition Popular Union coalition of Democrats and Agrarians. Kyustendil was chosen as venue for the fair because of its location only several kilometers away from the Bulgarians border with Macedonia and Serbia. Furthermore, the daily commodity turnover in this town is over 500,000 German marks, the chairman of the local Industrial Association, Yordan Chipev told a news conference two days ago.

The fair was first held last March with the aim of boosting Balkan economic cooperation and cutting short the way from producer to trader. Upon its inauguration the organizers said it does not have the ambition to rival the Plovdiv International Fair with its spring and autumn edition. The Kraishte Fair prioritizes products of the food processing, textile and chemical industry, mechanical engineering and agriculture industry.

[06] SUCCESSFUL RESTRUCTURING IN INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE

A total of 64 enterprises are slated for liquidation.

Eight companies subordinated to the Food and Agriculture Ministry will be wound up through privatization. Some will be sold out, while in others private owners will acquire a majority interest. The assets of some four or five companies will be auctioned off, Trendafilov said.

The Agriculture Ministry has closed 106 privatization deals worth 2,200 million leva, Trendafilov said. Investors have pledged to pay outstanding debts of 1,100 million leva and to invest 4,000 million leva.

Five out of 38 industrial enterprises were privatized, Dachev told journalists. Another five privatization deals, now under way, are almost certain to succeed. Ten companies subordinate to the Industry Ministry have stopped operating and have been declared bankrupt. Fourteen companies will be wound up by a different procedure under court decisions, Dachev said. In a week the Industry Ministry and the Ministry of Social Affairs will proceed with their liquidation, Dachev said. The future of four companies is unclear pending a final decision.

The Industry Ministry posted privatization proceeds of some 13,000 million leva in the last few years, First Deputy Minister Valentin Grozdanov said.

[07] US OIL COMPANY AMOCO LEAVES EASTERN EUROPE

The company will sell four ready complexes: three in Poland and one in Bulgaria, as well as 14 other sites around Europe on which it had plans to construct complexes consisting of petrol stations, supermarkets and car washes, the special address of Amoco Corporation says.

The prices of the complexes offered for sale are estimated at between 1 and 1.8 million US dollars, including the land and the construction works as well as some additional facilities like a car wash and fuel pumps for large buses and trucks, the company manager explained.

Amoco Corporation has tasked the specialized investment company CS First Boston to start negotiations on the sale of its oil operations in Europe. Mr Shields said the company is convinced that the potential buyers of the Amoco petrol stations in Europe will be attracted by the same will for success which the company met in Bulgaria. In his view within five years Bulgaria will develop beyond recognition. Mr Shields described his Bulgarian partners and the builders who took part in the construction of the complex in Bourgas as talented and hard-working.

[08] PIETER STEK: THE CRISIS HAS REACHED A TURNING POINT

The difficult situation in Bulgaria is the reason why it is among the first countries on Mr Stek's schedule. Today he was familiarized with government policies in the field of structural reform and banking rehabilitation in compliance with IMF requirements. He called the liquidation of loss-makers and the fast privatization of large state companies urgent and difficult measures needed for the welfare of the people.

Mr Stek said Bulgaria is going through a crisis of confidence in state policies. "If the government - whichever government - persists with this kind of measure, then there is no reason to have a lack of confidence," he said. If the policies are carried out to their full extent, Bulgaria will move to a higher level of support by the World Bank, he said.

Mr Stek said the country's prospects to receive financing from the World Bank, including a FESAL agreement, by year's end are pretty good. Along with the economic stabilization programme, the World Bank has mapped out measures to mitigate the negative social effects of these policies.

[09] DOUBLE-DIGIT SEPTEMBER INFLATION

The January-September rise of food prices is 156.5%, of alcoholic drinks 134.9%, of tobacco products 113.9%, of private dwellings 116.6%, of electricity for household needs 275.3%, of household furniture 138.4%, of clothes and footwear 97.5%.

Since January, expenses on health care has gone up 118%, on education and leisure time 113.7%, on transport and telecoms 192.1%.

Last year's inflation was 33%. It rose dramatically this year fetching record high double-digit figures in the summer.

[10] INTERIOR MINISTRY DENIES COMPILING CREDIT MILLIONAIRES LIST

The press office specified that Interior Minister Nikolai Dobrev have filed at the Council of Ministers a report on the present state of the banking system and the dangers it spells for the national security. The report identifies the reasons for the current condition of the financial and lending system and banking and offers stabilization measures. The Interior Minister reportedly used as a source for his report operative information, information from the work of the Interior Ministry group and the Prosecutor General's Office investigating jointly the causes for the present condition of some banks, as well as analyses by Bulgarian and foreign unclassified sources. The report analyzes processes, draws conclusions and makes assessments in principle and does not refer to any specific personalities, the Interior Ministry press office said.

Later today Prosecutor General Ivan Tatarchev said that the Prosecutor General's Office and the Interior Ministry have agreed upon a list of persons who are not to be allowed to leave the country. He said the list features the CEOs of banks placed under special supervision on September 23.

Commenting reports alleging that a "credit millionaires" list is being compiled, Deputy Prosecutor General Vladislav Slavov said it is the central bank, not prosecutors, who have access to information regarding what credits banks have extended. As provided for under the Banks and Lending Act, prosecutors have access to such information only in cases when they have information that a crime has been perpetrated. Only in such cases and with the authorisation of the respective regional court can prosecutors act.

Slavov further specified that materials have been filed at the Prosecutor Genera's Office on five of the banks under special supervision and preliminary investigation has been launched by the competent Interior Ministry bodies.

[11] BULGARIAN-BORN RABBI VISITS PATRIARCH MAKSIM

Rabbi Assa stopped in Sofia en route to Israel where he will attend the October 21 opening of the Bulgaria forest planted in memory of the saving of the Bulgarian Jews from Nazi death camps in World War II.

"We discussed ways for the Bulgarian Church to regain its property in Jerusalem," the guest said after the meeting. "I thanked His Holiness for the role of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in saving the Bulgarian Jews," he said.

Assa was born in Bourgas on the Black Sea. He grew up in Israel and became a rabbi in the US. He was leader of Argentinean Jews for several years, and has led the Beith Tikvah synagogue in Fullerton, California for thirty years.

[12] WITNESS CLAIMS HAVING SEEN EX-P.M. LOUKANOV'S ASSASSIN

Rashkov said there was only one gunman. Asked by the BTA, he said an identikit of the killer might be publicized through mass media. The identikit was first sent to those in charge of the investigation and the tracing of the perpetrator, who know well their regions and the criminals there.

Rashkov denied press reports claiming there is poor coordination between the investigative bodies and the Interior Ministry. The two are cooperating perfectly and know what to do, said he. He also said that some of the reports on the case are not yet ready.

Responding to press reports implying the involvement of the Bulgarian government in Loukanov's murder, the government press office today said that on October 4 it sent a letter to the chiefs of the National Investigative Service and the parliamentary committee on corruption, demanding that allegations to that effect which constitute serious accusations undermining the prestige of Bulgarian state institutions, be carefully investigated. The government expects the investigative bodies to immediately question those claiming to have relevant information; to study the available evidence; to keep the public informed; to lead the case to legal action against the culprit either for the crime or for libel.

The mushrooming of various insinuations on the case can hardly be stopped unless the competent bodies work actively. At present, those claiming to have information on the case seem ready to disclose it only to the press, not to investigators. This hardly contributes to speedily and objectively reveal the truth which the Bulgarian government, like the public, want to see, the government press office says.

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