The week: Why cities need problem-solving capabilities

This, together with the terribly polluted air, is a measure of something deeply broken. Plovdiv's economy attracts people from 50 km and more in the surrounding area every day. The district has a little over 600 thousand inhabitants, and if we count Pazardzhik and other cities, the number jumps sharply. They all flow into the arteries of a city that was planned and built for 200-300 thousand people. And they do it with cars, since public transportation is broken and privatized, rail transport is hellish and underserviced and a regional S-Bahn is just a pipe-dream.

This is not a new problem.

It requires several simultaneous counter-measures: expanding the ring road, building a city railway, strengthening urban and intercity transport, and a hefty fee for entering the center. All of them have been discussed, some have been designed. Nothing has happened or will happen in the coming years, because preparation and financing are needed. This condemns Plovdiv to a slow but sure blockade that will affect everything - from business to quality of life.

The most interesting thing is why they did not happen. These are measures that will dramatically improve the lives and health of residents. Every mayor should embrace them from day one. They are, as Americans say, "no brainers".

They are also not very hard to plan and implement. We're speaking of a region of 600 thousand people and of investments spanning several years and worth several billion euros. This should be within the grasp of local authorities if they get their act together. Plovdiv S-bahn for example, could have been already done if it was jointly created as an entity by several municipalities, tasked to Sofia's Metro company (the only one with enough expertise) and focused on.

Yet it's not. In Bulgaria, municipalities are small and divided, they do not work together, they have no money and as a result most cannot see further than their noses. And this does not only apply to transport, but to water, air and everything else.

It's frustrating and limiting. Damaging in the long-term. And if something needs to change fast, this should be the first, in my opinion.

Politics this week:

The Rossen Zhelyazkov cabinet kicks off its term in office with a comfortable initial positive rating of 39% against 29% negative, according to an Alpha Research poll published on Thursday. This is much better than the other cabinet in recent history with a positive starting rating, that of Kiril Petkov (2021), which began with a 35% score, but far behind the highest overall positive rating in the XXI century - that of Boyko Borissov's first cabinet (45% positive rating compared to only 8% negative).

The (forgotten) thrill of the first date

But people like the new government not because of its governing program - which, by the way, is still to be agreed to by the parties (they gave themselves a month to do so). "The Zhelyazkov cabinet starts its work with good starting positions. At this stage, however, they reflect rather the relief from the end of the political crisis and the expectation of unblocking processes in a number of areas," the authors of the study comment. So it's more of an expectation really. Kind of like on a first date, only with someone you've already been married to for a decade and then separated because he was lying to you.

F**k the opposition

After an outcry, however, two of them - TISP and MRF-Dogan (known as the ARF now) - decided to give one chairmanship each from their quotas to Vazrazhdane and WCC-DB, respectively. Kostadin Kostadinov's party accepted TISP's offer and took over the Bulgarians abroad committee, but WCC-DB refused the electronic governance committee offer of the ARF (out of hurt ego, we suppose - they never learn, do they).

So, a working Parliament at last!

Economy:

The new government withdrew the draft budget prepared by the caretaker cabinet and will submit its own proposal by February 14. The Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova announced a new financial framework will be prepared "as soon as possible", since the extended budget, with which the state is currently working, is expected to generate over 3.6 billion levs in deficit in the first three months of the year alone.

Off with the euro for now

Petkova's statement also made it clear that for the time being Bulgaria will not request a convergence report from the European institutions for joining the eurozone, since the inflation criterion has not yet been met, albeit only by 0.1 percentage points. When this happens, the government will request the assessment within two weeks, as it has an obligation, Petkova assured.

This comes a few days after the Finance Minister met the presidents of the Eurogroup and the ECB, Pascal Donahue and Christine Lagarde, as well as with European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. The topic of Bulgaria's membership in the eurozone was included in the talks, which means that the country was probably advised to wait another month and meet the criterion without question before requesting a new assessment.

Figure:

Are the total revenues from vignettes and tolls in 2024, but 54 million of them go as commissions to private traders, reducing net revenue. Only 11% of the vignettes are sold through the government website.

Business:

Lidl

There is a new retail leader in Bulgaria: after 13 years Kaufland had the highest revenues, but in 2024 the turnover of Lidl has slightly surpassed that of its competitor. They are part of the same group, of course, so that's a net win for Swartz. While specific numbers are yet unclear, estimates of the results of the champion show a near 3 billion levs gross turnover.

Marketing

NEXT-DC

Business:

The government adopted a program to compensate non-household consumers for high electricity prices, Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov announced after a cabinet meeting. He explained that the compensation will be 100% above the value of 180 levs per megawatt-hour to the average exchange price on the Bulgarian Independent Energy Exchange. Although a totally populist measure, which only aims to help businesses who got used to state aid, the fact that it's the first measure taken by the government gives an idea where we're heading.

Dams with batteries: NEK will invest 120 million levs in four sites

Four dams under the National Electric Company (NEK) umbrella - Topolnitsa, Aleko, Devin and Studen Kladenets - will be "equipped" with electricity storage systems. This becomes clear from the order of the electricity company worth 123.6 million levs excluding VAT, which includes the design, supply, construction and commissioning of the batteries. The aim is to install batteries with at least 280 MWh of storage capacity, which would make the state-owned company the largest operator of such facilities in the region.

Watch out for:

Russi Alexiev

was elected as the president of the Sofia City Court (SCC) despite doubts about a pre-determined election, after the other candidate, Alexey Trifonov, withdrew. This is the biggest court in the country.

Maria Filipova

The blonde head of the Committee for Consumer Protection made headlines again this week, by going against the Telecoms for increasing the prices of their consumer contracts, as well as "systemic problems". For that she requested that their licenses be taken away. This is grand posturing by Filipova who is unlikely to win such a battle, but it's a sign of the times that she's the only regulator in this country who seems to have consumer grievances in mind.

Places:

Bulgarian sailors Lyubomir Chanev and Danail Veselinov, who spent 14 months as captives of the Yemeni Houthi rebels, returned home on Thursday afternoon from the Gulf kingdom, which facilitated their release.

Struma highway

The motorway has long been a nightmare. Although three out of four lots are ready, the last one - through the Kresna Gorge, had turned into a black sheep. On 9 January, the road agency (RIA) terminated the procurement for the study and design of a single-direction section of the highway outside the gorge between Kresna and Krupnik in the direction of Sofia. Instead, RIA ordered the construction of the entire highway parallel to the east of the gorge in both directions, not just in one. For years, NGOs, media, experts and the European Commission have pointed out that the option chosen by the government - to build only one lane outside the gorge and to use the existing road E-79 for the return traffic - is a mistake. The decision might finally unclog the process, blocked by the business interests of infrastructure firms close to the authorities.

Date:

25-26 January

Words of the week:

Фотограф: State Prosecution

Религиозно образование - Religious education

What happens when a high magistrate becomes the sacrificial lamb of the politico-judicial status quo? They suddenly become very religious - it happened with former Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev and now it's happening with the new pariah of the Prosecution, Borislav Sarafov. On the day the Supreme Judicial Council terminated the procedure for his election as regular Prosecutor General, the magistrate held a meeting with the new Orthodox Patriarch Daniel. The two discussed the Bulgarian Church's long-held idea of re-introducing Orthodoxy studies in schools, according to the press release published on the Holy Synod's website.

The prosecutor's office claims that it was a working meeting, without identifying the common work between the church and the prosecutor's office in a secular state and their exact connection with education. However, since we're on the topic of bringing new subjects into our future citizens' books, might we also suggest "Justice and Corruption"? Seems a relevant topic.