N. Mikhailova Criticized President Parvanov and Dogan.
Standartnews
UDF leader Nadezhda Mikhailova accused President Georgi Parvanov that the latter did not defend Bulgarian interests during his visit in Moscow. Later Mikhailova attacked also MRF leader Ahmed Dogan. "Dogan is seeing pink elephants," she said in line with the MRF reprimands that the UDF were promulgating a fabricated investments program to discredit the Movement.
J.E.Bush Teaches Sofiansky How to Win Local Elections.
Standartnews
Anti-drugs combat was high on the agenda of a meeting between Sofia Mayor Stephan Sofiyanski and Florida Governor John E. Bush. One of the achievements of Governor Bush is the tangible curtailing of the illegal drugs business in Florida, Stephan Sofiyanski said back from a visit in the US Monday. He believes that this achievement has been the result of hard work in schools. Bush and Sofiyanski also talked about the local elections in Florida in early October and the reelection campaign of John E. Bush, the brother of President George W. Bush. Other issues they discussed were corruption, the work of the administrative structures and the role of local self-government. Sofiyanski briefed Governor Bush on the economic and political situation in Bulgaria and invited him to come on a visit. During his visit Sofiyanski also had meetings at a leading banking corporation where the two sides discussed a project for development of the software of the Sofia Municipal Bank.
BULGARIA-NATO.
BTA
Bruce Jackson: Bulgaria Fully Meets Requirements for Getting Invitation for NATO Membership at Prague.
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - Bulgaria fully meets the requirements for getting an invitation for NATO membership at the Prague Summit, US Committee on NATO President Bruce Jackson told reporters at the Bulgarian parliament. On Tuesday he met with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov, Vladimir Donchev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Security and Public Order, and the leaders of the parliamentary groups of the left- and the right-wing opposition, the Coalition for Bulgaria and the United Democratic Forces.
Jackson believes that Bulgaria fully meets the requirements for getting invited to join NATO at Prague. Asked about possible obstacles in internal policy, Jackson did not name any, adding that he was strongly encouraged by the government's and Parliament's common resolve to carry through the reform.
Bulgaria deserves to be invited to join NATO, Jackson said after a one-hour meeting with the prime minister. The two discussed Bulgaria's position in international relations, the UN Security Council, the success of military reform, and Sofia's contribution to peacekeeping operations. These achievements should be noted at the Prague Summit, Jackson said.
During his visit Jackson was impressed by the complete agreement among the MPs, the prime minister and the president on the priorities to which Bulgaria sticks.
Corruption and organized crime are the two worst threats to the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, Jackson warned several times during his visit. Answering a question about the Russian businessmen expelled from Bulgaria some time ago, he said the New York Stock Exchange and the EU have rules which ban international organized crime from participation in privatization and acquisition of assets. It should not participate in the privatization of the Bulgarian economy, either, Jackson said.
After an invitation is extended, reforms, the fight against corruption and organized crime should continue, Jackson said in conclusion.
Georgi Petkanov familiarized Jackson with the Interior Ministry's activity relating to Bulgaria's NATO membership: the fight against corruption, tighter border control and the fight against organized crime. "We realize that these policies must be of a lasting nature, that things do not end with an invitation to join NATO at Prague," the interior minister said.
The National Assembly and the Council of Ministers should take an official stand on the unacceptability of Bruce Jackson's statements, the Association of Prosecutors stated in a fax to BTA. It was read on National Television by Prosecutor Ilona Krustenyakova of the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office in the time reserved for the prosecutor general.
On Monday Jackson said it was a mistake to set a seven-year term for the prosecutor general and recommended structural and personnel changes in the state prosecution.
Bulgaria is a sovereign state and its Constitution depends on the will of the Bulgarian people, not on instructions by foreigners, however senior positions they may hold, the prosecutors said.
BULGARIA-EU-ENERGY CHAPTER.
BTA
Bulgaria Should Decide about 90-Day Petroleum Reserves, Liberalization of Energy Market by Year's End.
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - Before closing the Energy chapter of the talks with the EU Bulgaria should come up with a decision on the accumulation and maintenance of 90-day reserves of petroleum and petroleum products, the liberalization of the energy market, the reimbursement of irrecoverable costs, and the early closure of units 3 and 4 of Kozlodoui N-plant, among others.
The country has the ambitions to do so by the end of this year.
Additional information is being prepared in response to the problems listed in EU's common position, on the basis of which agreement can be reached to close the talks on the Energy chapter. The information will be deposited officially with the Intergovernmental Conference in early October.
Talks between Bulgaria and the EU on the Energy chapter opened November 28, 2001 during the Belgian presidency. The country has deposited with the Intergovernmental Conference secretariat its negotiations position and its stand on the Nuclear Safety Report in the context of enlargement, including a timetable for the implementation of the measures which it will take to achieve a high level of nuclear safety.
The report was drafted by the Atomic Questions Group with the Council of the European Union. It contains recommendations to the applicant countries, including Bulgaria, on reaching a high level of nuclear safety. Under the patronage of the AQG a review will be made of the commitments which Bulgaria has undertaken to ensure a high level of nuclear safety. On the basis of this review a common assessment will be made of the state of nuclear safety in the country before the completion of the accession talks.
As concerns the requirement for the accumulation and maintenance of 90-day reserves of petroleum and /or petroleum products, Bulgaria insists on a 6-year transition period. In its common stand, however, the EU proposes that the country consider a shorter transition period.
The Government has already approved a draft bill on petroleum reserves, which Parliament is expected to pass by the end of 2002.
As concerns the liberalization of the energy market, Bulgaria needs to draft and adopt a new Energy and Energy Efficiency Act. It is expected to do so by the end of the year.
The country's expectations for closure of the chapter are based on its progress in the restructuring of the energy sector and the harmonization of its legislation to EU standards. The country's Energy Strategy was assessed highly by the EU; the ordinances on privileged consumers' access to the electricity-transmission network and to the gas transmission and gas distribution networks, too, drew approval. These legal instruments put the beginning of the gradual liberalization of local energy market.
By concluding the talks on the Energy chapter Bulgaria will adopt the principles of the EU's common energy policy, whose aim is to guaranty energy supplies at acceptable prices for the consumers, taking into account the effect on the environment. If the country joins the trans-European energy networks and the EU power grid it will avail itself more fully of its strategic location of an energy centre.
All EU applicants countries have opened talks on the Energy chapter, 10 have already closed them.
KOZLODUY N-PLANT-POSITION.
BTA
Conditional Assent to Decommissioning of Kozloduy N-Plant's Units Three and Four in 2006 Is Also EU Assent to Another Technical Inspection, Milko Kovachev Says.
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - The conditional assent to the decommissioning of Units Three and Four of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in 2006 is also assent by the EU to a new technical inspection of the installations, Energy Minister Milko Kovachev told journalists in Parliament on Tuesday.
Kovachev and European Affairs Minister Meglena Kouneva took part in a joint meeting of the parliamentary groups of the ruling Simeon II National Movement (SNM) and its coalition partner, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). The two briefed the MPs on the progress of negotiations with the EU on the Energy chapter.
Bulgaria might accept any date for decommissioning of Units Three and Four provided it has the opportunity to prove to experts the real state of the installations along objective technical principles, Kovachev said. It is not a problem for Sofia to accept the common position of the EU member states that Units Three and Four should be closed in 2006 at the latest, and to ask for an objective check under the aegis of the EU, he said. "This allows us to provisionally close the Energy chapter, then to reopen it after the inspection, and have objective dates set on the basis of the technical findings," the energy minister said.
"We are ready to agree with the stated opinion of the EU countries, while insisting on the commitment to have an inspection carried out before the end of the negotiations. It is likely to be carried out in 2003," Kovachev said.
There should be a commitment for a new inspection so that the Bulgarian side can be satisfied, Kouneva said. "Without this, we will not be able to reach agreement and we will not sign," she said.
By the end of September or in early October, Bulgaria will provide additional information in response to the EU joint position, which will state that it is ready to close the Energy chapter on the strength of the results achieved in all areas, including the condition for a new inspection of Units Three and Four, Kovachev said.
This is the first time the ministries of foreign affairs and energy have achieved such a great diplomatic success regarding the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, MRF leader Ahmed Dogan said after the meeting of the two parliamentary groups.
This is the first time since the European Commission made a categoric decision on unconditional decommissioning of Units Three and Four of the Kozloduy plant in 2006 that the Commission has taken a different view, after complex negotiations, to make this conditional, Dogan said. The result obtained is that a technical expert commission will evaluate once again the safety of Units Three and Four before the decision is confirmed, he said.
Dogan said this was one of the greatest successes since this government took office. This great diplomatic success should be turned into a political dividend of the ruling majority and the government, the MRF leader said.
Answering a question, Dogan said the sensible thing for the opposition to do would be to see what this is all about, because this is a chance and an additional instrument for Bulgaria to keep Units Three and Four.
This is a classic example of the government and the ruling majority doing their best to defend the national interest so that Bulgaria can continue struggling to be the regional leader in the energy sector with a view to holding on to its markets and encouraging domestic consumption, Dogan said. Answering a question, he said that it was not in the national interest to talk about dates.
The left- and right-wing opposition parties criticized the new Bulgarian position on Kozloduy.
Nadezhda Mihailova, leader of the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and former foreign minister, said that if there were some new arguments or a change in the situation around Kozloduy, they should be discussed and responsibly presented to the Bulgarian Parliament, and should be commented by the political forces.
The majority's position on the Kozloduy nuclear power plant shows disrespect for the opinion of the political forces and Parliament: Bulgaria's national positions are formulated in the Bulgarian national parliament, Mihailova said.
UDF spokesman Nikolai Mladenov commented that the Union's position on Kozloduy had always been that the realistic time frame for decommissioning of Unit Three was 2008, and of Unit Four 2010. Clearly, the ruling majority has not tried to find a compromise about the Kozloduy plant within the framework of the memorandum between Bulgaria and the EU of 1999, he said. The government and the majority have clearly given up negotiating with the EU and have accepted the conditions set by the Commission, Mladenov said.
"Now we can safely say that the government had no intention to stand up for the national interests regarding the Kozloduy plant from the very beginning of the year," Roumen Ovcharov, deputy floor leader of the Socialist-dominated Coalition for Bulgaria, said in the corridor of Parliament. In Bulgaria, the documents adopted by Parliament are used as an indulgence by which the government justifies its failures, he said. Ovcharov does not accept the position that the Energy chapter will be closed now, only to be reopened later on. This is all about defending the partisan interests of a failing ruling majority,
he said. The Coalition for Bulgaria cannot support such a position, he said.
Early decommissioning of Units Three and Four, before the Belene nuclear power plant goes into operation, means the end of nuclear power engineering in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Nuclear Society Deputy Chairman Georgi Gyoshev said, reacting to the energy minister's statement to the press that there was a conditional assent to the decommissioning of Units Three and Four in 2006 and the EU agreed to a new technical inspection of the installations.
Gyoshev said there were no technical grounds for decommissioning of the two units.
Jon Coniam, Brussels Office Manager of British Energy, told journalists that Kovachev's statement was a step in the positive direction, and that he hoped the results for Bulgaria would be good. The situation at Kozloduy has improved considerably in the last 11 years, especially in the last two years, and it makes sense that the plant current state should be evaluated, according to him.
The Bulgarian nuclear power plant got very high marks from Bulgarian and international experts for the high level of safety and modernization at a technical seminar on "Ten Years of Modernization of Units Three and Four", which ended in Kozloduy on Tuesday.
Bulgaria issues ultimatum to EU: inspect our nuclear plants, or closure will be delayed.
By VESELIN TOSHKOV, Associated Press Writer
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgaria won't obey the European Union's demand that it close two nuclear plant reactors by the end of 2006 unless the union sends experts to inspect the units' safety and to reevaluate the closure demand, a government minister said Tuesday.
Meglena Kuneva, the minister in charge of integration with Europe, said she would not sign a final EU agreement on energy that is part of Bulgaria's pre-accession talks unless EU inspects the plants. Refusing to sign that agreement would likely bring the talks to an end.
Bulgaria agreed with the EU in 1999 to close the two oldest reactors in the Kozlodui nuclear power plant by the end of this year and two other units by the end of 2006 because of safety concerns. As a reward, the EU started accession talks with Bulgaria, which is eager to join.
But Bulgaria now argues that the two units set to be closed in 2006 could be safely used until 2010 and 2012. The EU wants them closed because they lack protective encasements, but Bulgaria argues that assessment is no longer valid because the reactor walls have been enforced and a new safety system designed to prevent radioactive leaks in case of an emergency has been installed.
"Bulgaria will close units 3 and 4 of the Kozlodui nuclear plant till the end of 2006 only if the European Commission sends its experts to inspect them," Kuneva told journalists.
Energy Minister Milko Kovachev said the Bulgarian ultimatum aimed to provoke the EU to assess the units' safety and to extend their operation period.
The four units to be closed are 440-megawatt pressurized water reactors installed between 1974 to 1982. Manufacturers say the reactors have 30-year life spans. Two newer 1,000-megawatt units with safety containment are not affected by the EU-demanded closures.
A mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog group, visited Kozlodui in July and concluded that the units now meet or exceed the agency's safety criteria.
UN-RESOLUTIONS-BULGARIA.
BTA
Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to UN Tafrov: Bulgaria Played Active Role in Adoption of New Security Council Resolution.
New York, September 24 (BTA Special Correspondent Dimiter Anestev) - Bulgaria played an active role in the adoption of the new resolution (number 1435) of the UN Security Council on the Middle East Tuesday, Bulgaria Permanent Representative to the UN Stefan Tafrov told BTA.
Following more than 16 hours of debates the Security Council adopted a new resolution in connection with the tension in the Middle East. Bulgaria holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in September and the Council's sessions are chaired by Ambassador Tafrov. The text of the resolution was moved by non-permanent Council members Bulgaria, Ireland and Norway and permanent members Great Britain and France. The resolution was adopted by 14 votes as the US abstained. Tafrov said that the US diplomats insisted that the terrorist groups involved in the bombings in Israel are named in the document.
"If this had been done there would probably have been a protest and objections on the part of the Arab countries," the Bulgarian Ambassador explained. That would have harmed the unanimity of the Security Council, he added.
Tafrov also said that the texts of the resolution are very well balanced. The resolution says that Israel should immediately lift the siege of Ramallah and the Palestinian authorities should meet their commitments to bring the perpetrators of terrorists acts to justice.
The resolution reiterates the international community appeal for complete ending of violence. It insists that Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories to the positions occupied prior to September 2000. The document also voices full support to the peaceful efforts of the Middle East Four and urges Israel, the Palestinian authorities and the countries from the region to assist these efforts.
The resolution confirms earlier Security Council resolutions as of 1967, 1973, 1997 and 2002 and the declarations of the Council's Chairman as of April 10 and July 18, 2002.
The document voices again the Council's serious concern in connection with the tragic consequences of the violence following September 2000. It condemns the terrorist acts against civilians including the bombings on September 18 and 19 in Israel and against the Palestinian school in Hebron on September 17.
Currently Security Council non-permanent members are Bulgaria, Guinea, Cameroon, Mexico, Syria, Ireland, Colombia, Mauritius, Norway and Singapore. The permanent members include Great Britain, the People's Republic of China, Russia, USA and France.
A draft resolution about Iraq has not yet been submitted but if this happens while Bulgaria holds the Council's presidency this country will make best efforts that it is adopted as quickly as possible, Stefan Tafrov also said.
Hospitals Cancel Operations.
Standartnews
Tania Krassimirova
We turn patients away for want of medicines, heads of big clinics warn.
Hospitals performing major operations are facing insolvency. For want of medicines and consumables, the University Hospital St. Ekaterina turned away urgent cases on September 20, which resulted in the death of one of the patients, the CEO of the hospital Andrey Markov said yesterday. The clinic St Ekaterina will have to close down if the Health Ministry does not allot funds in 10 days. The same is valid for the Alexandovska Hospital, Prof. Oleg Hinkov, CEO of the hospital said. The hospital owes 5 million levs, of them 40 percent to the suppliers of medicines. The managements of the two hospitals insist the way of financing the clinics to be reconsidered.
10 BG Airlines Willing to Take over Balkan Functions.
Standartnews
A dozen of Bulgarian airlines show interest in taking over the functions of Balkan Airlines as the national flag carrier, Minister of Transport and Communications Plamen Petrov said at Sofia airport yesterday. He elaborated on the outcomes of the situation of Balkan Airline, with the liquidation of the company among them.
Bulgarians Survive Eating Bread and Salads.
Standartnews
Stephan Kioutchukov
Salaries in Bulgaria equal pensions in the rest of the EU candidate-countries.
Bulgarians survive eating bread, salads and drinking brandy, shows a survey made by the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), Velichka Rangelova, manager of the Center for Analyses and Prognoses with 'Promyana' trade union released yesterday. The analysis is drawing a parallel between the 7 EU candidate-states. The BG per capita bread consumption is twice as much as compared with that of Czechia, Poland and Hungary. While the consumption of meat and milk is twofold less. Bulgaria has the same rates as the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary only concerning the quality of salads in the daily ration. The only difference is that Bulgarians drink brandy while eating salads, Rangelova elaborated. Salaries in Bulgaria are the lowest ones among all the CEFTA countries - $114, while the average pension is merely $42. Bulgaria has the shortest railway network and the World Bank insists on even further closure of the railway lines, Rangelova said. BG unemployment rates accounted for 19 percent in 2001, the highest one within the CEFTA states.
PORTUGAL-PRESIDENT-VISIT.
BTA
Portuguese President Sampaio Arrives on State Visit to Bulgaria Wednesday.
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - Portugal's president Jorge Sampaio will pay a state visit to Bulgaria Wednesday. This will be the first visit by a Portuguese head of state in the past eight years.
The most recent visit by a Bulgarian head of state to Portugal was paid by former president Peter Stoyanov four years ago in connection with EXPO'98.
He conferred with the then prime minister Antonio Guterres and with President Jorge Sampaio, who supported Bulgaria's desire for EU and NATO membership.
A year later a Portuguese prime minister visited Bulgaria for the first time following the restoration of relations between the two countries: Antonio Guterres was in Sofia from May 29 through 31, 1999. By the end of that same year and also in 2000 the then Bulgarian prime minister Ivan Kostov made working visits to Lisbon. Ex-foreign minister Nadezhda Mihailova visited Portugal three years ago at the invitation of her Portuguese counterpart.
In 2000 a Bulgarian parliamentary delegation, headed by Yordan Sokolov, then National Assembly chairman, paid a visit to Lisbon.
Bulgaria and Portugal established diplomatic relations for the first time in 1925. Following a break on September 15, 1945 they were restored in June 26, 1974.
The more important visit by Portuguese officials in the recent years include: the visit by foreign minister Durao Barroso in 1995 and by state secretary in charge of European integration Francisco Seixas da Costa in 1997. During his visit here in late 2001, the then Portuguese defence minister stated: "Bulgaria has Portugal's full support for its integration into EU and NATO."
Last year Portugal invested 132 million euro in Bulgaria. In 1998 Portuguese direct investments in Bulgaria amounted to 1.255 million US dollars and were made mostly in wine production and trade.
Metals and chemical products account for the biggest share in bilateral trade.
Imports from Portugal include cork and cork products. A Bulgarian-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established in Lisbon in 1993.
The two countries have signed a bilateral agreement on avoidance of double taxation and agreements on cooperation in defence, employment and tourism as well as an accord on the promotion of investments.
GREECE-ARMY CHIEF-VISIT.
BTA
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - The Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, General Nikola Kolev, will pay a two-day official visit to Greece as of September 25 at the invitation of his Greek opposite number Georgios Andonakopoulos.
Topical issues of the cooperation between the Bulgarian and Greek armed forces in Bulgaria's preparation for NATO membership will feature on the agenda of the discussions, the Defence Ministry press office said.
General Kolev will meet Greek Defence Minister Yiannos Papandoniou.
CROATIA-FAIR-BULGARIAN COMPANIES.
BTA
Zagreb, September 24 (BTA) - The participation of six Bulgarian companies - TLL Media of Sofia, Kirkovo OOD of Kirkovo, ITD of Suedinenie, Iskra Silatronic of Sofia, Preciz Inter Holding of Rousse and Zhiti of Rousse - at the 78th Autumn Fair in Zagreb was very successful, the Bulgarian Industrial Association's press centre told BTA. The Fair opened September 16.
The six companies received a collective diploma.
The country's stand was visited by Croatian President Stipe Mesic, Prime Minister Ivica Racan, World Bank Country Director for Croatia Andrew Vorkink and other officials.
The Bulgarian companies had 113 meetings with other exhibitors, the bulk of whom from Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were interested in the opportunities for import of Bulgarian products. The Bulgarians expect some 30 per cent of the meetings to breed concrete results.
Their participation in the Zagreb Fair became a fact thanks to the bilateral Free Trade Agreement which entered into force January 1, 2002.
The Bulgarian Trade and Economic Relations Office in Zagreb reported that exports to Croatia in January-June increased by 89 per cent as against the like period a year ago. Some 85 per cent of the inquiries by Croatian companies at the Office concerned imports from Bulgaria.
The Fair saw 1,750 exhibitors of 40 countries; half of the participants were local companies. Exhibitor space covered 100,000 sq. m. This year's partner to the fair was China. Next year it will be Bulgaria, the BCI press centre reported.
BTC-PRIVATIZATION.
BTA
Two Bidders Submit Final Offers for Privatization of BTC.
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - Turkish consortium between Koc Bilgi Grubu Iletisim Ve Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S. and Turk Telekomunikasyon A.S. offered 235 million euro for 65 per cent of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) in its final offer. The other potential buyer that submitted a final offer was the Vienna-seated Viva Ventures Holding GmbH that bid 250 million euro.
The deadline for submitting final offers expired at 14:00 hrs local time on Tuesday.
Under the social programme of the Turkish consortium 4,470 of all 25,000 current employees will be dismissed within three years while Viva Ventures envisages to make 9,000 people redundant for the same period.
The Turkish consortium's offer of some 235 million euro's total worth involves a cash payment of 185 million euro, to be remitted through bank to a Privatization Agency account, and acquiring of 1,170,447 newly-issued shares of the BTC capital of 50 million euro's total worth by a cash contribution to the Bulgarian company's capital. The bidder offers 42.52 euro per share. These 50 million euro will be invested in BTC through a capital increase pursuant to the Privatization Agency requirements.
Apart from the capital increase, the Turkish consortium offers to invest 400 million euro in the next five years.
According to its social programme, the company's staff will equal 24,010 people in the first year after the privatization, 22,300 in the second and 20,530 in the third year.
The financial offer of Viva Ventures Holding of 250 million euro's total worth includes a cash payment of 200 million euro, that is to be credited to an account of the Privatization Agency, and purchasing of 1,089,726 newly-issued shares of the BTC capital of 50 million euro's total worth by a cash contribution to the Bulgarian company's capital. The bidder offers 45.88 euro per share. These 50 million euro will be invested in BTC through a capital increase pursuant to the Privatization Agency requirements.
Viva Ventures offers investments to the amount of 400 million euro in the course of five years plus the 50 million increase of capital.
The bidder envisages to ensure jobs for 22,000 employees in the first year, 19,000 employees in the second and 16,000 in the third year.
According to the preliminarily announced criteria, the proposed cash contribution will be most important: it brings a maximum of 80 points. The additional investments, to be made from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006 can be rated with up to five points. Maximum of 15 points will be given for the three-year employment programmes.
Privatization Agency Executive Director Apostol Apostolov told journalists that the announced criteria cannot be used as a basis at this point to rank the bidders because a comprehensive analysis of the BTC business and the relevant legal framework is also to be made. After taking into consideration all these requirements, set into the tender documents, the Privatization Agency will say who the successful bidder will be, he added. He voiced hope that this will be done within two weeks.
Late last night representatives of the third bidder, that submitted an indicative bid, the Warsaw-registered AIG - CET Capital Management investment fund, notified the Agency's management that they failed to reach an agreement regarding the required bank guarantee of 3 million euro and that was why they would not submit a final offer, Apostolov also said.
In the talks between the first and the second stage of the privatization procedure the representatives of the bidders raised the issue of the legislation regulating the BTC operation with view of Bulgaria's commitment before the EU in regards with the breaking of the BTC monopoly and the issue about the company's technical and functional restructuring, Apostolov stated.
"These questions concern mainly the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the executive and legislative branch and we hope that they will be find a reasonable solution within the state policy so that the future owner of BTC could carry out business, that would be acceptable for the Bulgarian consumers both in terms of prices and quality," the Privatization Agency CEO also said.
Members of the team in charge of the negotiations said that there will be problems during the talks since the new telecommunications bill, drafted by the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, has not yet been adopted. It has already been approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the National Assembly.
Attending the opening of the offers were Finance Minister Milen Velchev and Transport and Communications Minister Plamen Petrov. They would not comment the publicized details of the two offers.
Representatives of the Communications Federation with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria were also present. However, they also declined any comment saying that they have not expected such restrictive social parameters. They were reportedly particularly shocked by the offer of Viva Ventures and said that they will probably come up with an official stand within one day.
Two Bodyguards Guard Stephen Segal in Sofia.
Standartnews
Only two bodyguards guard Stephen Segal in Sofia. According to the hosts from "New Image" the star shows himself as a humble person and he is not pernickety about food and service. He arrived in Sofia Sunday afternoon to shoot his new action drama called "Out for a Kill". The film has the greatest budget ever seen in Bulgaria. The shooting starts on September, 29. Bulgarian beauty Steliana Yordanova is still being expected to arrive for the filming.
BTA-ISO 9001:2000.
BTA
BTA's It Department Gets Quality Management Certificate ISO 9001:2000.
Sofia, September 24 (BTA) - News will reach the users faster and hitch-free after the IT Department of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) received Tuesday an ISO 9001:2000 certificate for its quality management system.
The certificate was granted by the State Agency of Metrology and Standardization as a recognition for the quality management system operating at BTA.
BTA is the first Bulgarian media organization to have a quality management system, said Standardization Agency chief Evelin Bourov.
BTA Director General Panayot Denev added that it has also been the first quality management system in a purely electronic format.
The system records all complaints from subscribers or other users, the reasons for the problem and the measures taken to eliminate it, explained BTA's IT chief Georgi Vulchev. It also offers steps to prevent future problems.
According to Vulchev, the information and communication technologies BTA introduced in 2001 and 2002 make it a leader in the Balkans and put at on an equal footing with the best news agencies in Europe.
Over a period of 24 hours BTA releases some 600 pieces of information, over 300 photos and graphs and several newsletters.
By August 31, 2002, BTA has had 328 subscribers, including 243 local and 85 foreign, 130 media and 198 non-media organizations.
News are published on-line and in e-newsletters that are sent to users by e-mail. Only in rare occasions are they printed on paper. 65% of the subscribers use the on-line service of BTA.
The BTA team were congratulated by the chairperson of the parliamentary media committee Milena Milotinova.
