The stream of scandals implicating former GERB ministers on account of mismanagement and corruption continues unabated. On Wednesday, caretaker government spokesperson Anton Kutev and Sports Minister Andrey Kuzmanov confirmed that millions of leva meant to combat youth gambling addiction had been distributed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to NGOs and sports clubs close to GERB and their coalition partner, SDS.
The money mostly went on mediocre and overpriced posters in friendly newspapers - and to creating Facebook groups with a couple of dozen followers. What is more, the information only became public after an investigation by a 16-year old journalist from a student website.
Foreign Intelligence director dismissed, blames "Kremlin's long hand"
Prime Minister Stefan Yanev's cabinet has formally proposed that President Rumen Radev dismiss the head of the Foreign Intelligence Directorate Atanas Atanassov.
Mr Atanassov responded to the news by blaming "Kremlin's long hand" in Bulgaria and added - just like the former director of the National Security Agency (DANS) Dimitar Georgiev - that his removal is because of his success in fighting the "malevolent influence" of Russian secret services. Both intelligence directors were recommended to be sacked after they took three months-long holidays just before Mr Yanev's caretaker government took over last month.
Plovdiv Airport concession procedure closes after no bids
The government announced it is suspending the procedure to find a concessionaire for the airport of the second largest city after no investor expressed interest in more than a year.
The procedure, opened at the end of February 2020, coincided with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the aviation sector badly. The previous concession procedure ended unsuccessfully in 2018 after the leading partner in the consortium that won the bid - China's HNA Airport Group - withdrew from the deal after the death of its president Wang Jian.
Excess mortality in Bulgaria 76% in April, highest in EU
Bulgaria recorded the highest recorded number of extra fatalities in April among all EU nations, Eurostat data shows. According to the European statistics office, the excess mortality was 76,1 percent, while the EU's average was 21 percent.
Poland and Romania follow Sofia with 65,6 percent and 48 percent, respectively.
This is not the highest monthly excessive death rate recorded by Bulgaria - in November 2020 it measured almost double (94,4 percent) excess mortality rate.
The stream of scandals implicating former GERB ministers on account of mismanagement and corruption continues unabated. On Wednesday, caretaker government spokesperson Anton Kutev and Sports Minister Andrey Kuzmanov confirmed that millions of leva meant to combat youth gambling addiction had been distributed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to NGOs and sports clubs close to GERB and their coalition partner, SDS.
The money mostly went on mediocre and overpriced posters in friendly newspapers - and to creating Facebook groups with a couple of dozen followers. What is more, the information only became public after an investigation by a 16-year old journalist from a student website.
