The weekend's news focused mainly on the ongoing flooding crisis in central Bulgaria. Seven settlements in the Plovdiv district still have no fresh water supply after downpours in recent days, district governor Angel Stoev said at a briefing on Sunday. These are the towns of Sopot, and the villages of Hristo Danovo, Bogdan, Karavelovo, Voinyagovo, Iganovo and Slatina.
Heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in a number of villages in the district. Dozens of people were evacuated, and several bridges as well as houses were destroyed. Roads passing through the area were also damaged. The flooding, however, did not halt the political storm surrounding the interim government and the election campaign.
GERB ahead of WCC in poll
We Continue the Change and BSP have suffered the greatest damage from the caretaker cabinet's actions. This conclusion comes on the heels of a survey published by Alpha Research over the weekend which shows WCC lagging behind GERB by about 6%. Only 9.8% of those who declared a firm intention to vote in October are ready to vote BSP.
According to Boryana Dimitrova, who heads Alpha Research, Democratic Bulgaria is making slow but steady progress. In an interview for bTV Dimitrova also said that There is Such a People and Vazrazhdane are vying for voters. She says it is not certain if Slavi Trifonov's party will cross the threshold to enter parliament.
Caretaker govt seeks EU approval to buy Russian fuel
Despite mounting sanctions caused by Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Bulgarian fuel market is still completely dominated by Russian oil products. Producer Lukoil Neftohim Burgas has switched to working entirely with Russian raw materials because of its lower price. The huge price difference in favor of Russian Urals oil and finished fuels has made other imports very unpalatable.
However, a European regulation in force since April banned awarding and continuing public procurement contracts with companies that are of Russian origin - or buying from them. Hence the Ministry of Finance now proposes the government to ask Brussels for permission for the state to continue buying fuel from the Burgas refinery at least until 2024.
Former economy ministry chief of staff under scrutiny for conflict of interest
The caretaker government made a request that the anti-corruption commission probe a former representative of the Petkov government over conflict of interest. This is Kaloyan Metodiev who served as Kornelia Ninova's chief of staff at the ministry of the economy. Metodiev is a former adviser to President Rumen Radev, but later became his critic. According to the caretaker government, the ministry under Ninova contracted a law firm where a relative of Metodiev serves as partner.
The weekend's news focused mainly on the ongoing flooding crisis in central Bulgaria. Seven settlements in the Plovdiv district still have no fresh water supply after downpours in recent days, district governor Angel Stoev said at a briefing on Sunday. These are the towns of Sopot, and the villages of Hristo Danovo, Bogdan, Karavelovo, Voinyagovo, Iganovo and Slatina.
Heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in a number of villages in the district. Dozens of people were evacuated, and several bridges as well as houses were destroyed. Roads passing through the area were also damaged. The flooding, however, did not halt the political storm surrounding the interim government and the election campaign.
