31 octobre 2007
Jeder Million ihre Partei
Bulgarien erlebt einen beispiellosen Gründungsboom neuer Parteien. Sie heißen "Berg", "Meer" oder auch "Führer" und vertreten ausschließlich das Profitinteresse einzelner Unternehmer
VON IVYAYLO DITCHEV
Privatisierte Armeen im Irak oder Regenwasser, für das die bolivianischen Bauern Steuern zahlen müssen - das kennen wir bereits. Aber auch Bulgarien leistet seinen bescheidenen Beitrag zur allgemeinen Privatisierung: Wir bieten schon seit 2003 Business-Parteien an, ins Leben gerufen eigens für die Kommunalwahlen (die nächsten stehen am 28. Oktober an). Normalerweise entstehen diese Parteien in Touristenorten, also dort, wo der Baugrund wertvoll ist. Während nämlich etwa in Russland Öl oder Aluminium feudale Leidenschaften befeuern, müssen im armen Bulgarien hierfür gemeinhin die Sanddünen, die Frischluft oder der ein und andere Skihang herhalten.
Um die Tätigkeit dieser Geschäftsparteien zu verstehen, muss man sich zunächst Folgendes in Erinnerung rufen: Die Hauptbeschäftigung der Stadtverwaltungen seit der sogenannten Transition (dem Übergang vom Kommunismus in die Marktwirtschaft) besteht in der Privatisierung von öffentlichem Eigentum und nicht zuletzt städtischen Grundstücken. Aus Unternehmersicht macht es daher natürlich Sinn, auf die Entscheidungen der kommunalen Verwaltungen direkten Einfluss zu nehmen. Am besten, man sitzt gleich selbst im Stadtrat und erteilt der eigenen Firma den Zuschlag für diesen oder jenen Küstenstreifen. Das spart Schmiergelder.
Inzwischen tauchen diese Business-Parteien aber auch in den großen Städten auf. Die radikale Privatisierung des Politischen hat damit die Provinz verlassen und auf die urbanen Zentren übergegriffen. Denn auch hier ist der Grundstückspreis teuer und die staatliche Regulierung streng - was die Bestechungsgelder in irrsinnige Höhen treibt. Es ist schlicht billiger, eine eigene Partei zu gründen, als regulär die politischen Repräsentanten der Stadtverwaltungen zu "sponsern".
Die Namen in der neuen Parteienlandschaft sind Programm, und sie machen Schluss mit traditionellen politischen Labels. Statt für links oder rechts zu stehen, für konservativ oder liberal, offeriert man den Bürgern einen poetischen Namen. Was sollte auch die Alternative sein zu, zum Beispiel, der "Initiative Schwarzes Meer"? Vielleicht "Berg"? Dieser Name schmückt bereits eine Business-Partei in Nessebar (die reichste Stadt Bulgariens, die auch an der Küste liegt) und formuliert zudem noch geschickt eine Kritik aus dem Feld der Anti-Politik, indem es mit "Berg" das bulgarische Synonym für "Fakten" ins Spiel bringt. Wer könnte sich einem solchen Programm entziehen? Die jüngste Parteien-Kreation mit einer Abkürzung, die im Resultat "Führer" ergibt, geht übrigens auf das Team des wahrscheinlich reichsten Mannes Bulgariens zurück: Herrn Hristo Kovachki. Seine Partei findet sich überall dort, wo er ökonomische Interessen verfolgt.
Aber nicht nur die suggestiven Namen der Parteien subvertieren Demokratie und Wahlfreiheit. Sie ebnen auch zahllosen Parteien ohne jede politische Identität den Weg. Erinnern wir uns: Die schmerzhaftesten Debatten der letzten 17 Jahre drehten sich in Bulgarien darum, wer unter den neu gegründeten Parteien als liberal gelten konnte und wer neben den europäischen Volksparteien sitzen würde. Mit der Gründung von Parteien wie "Stimme" (die der Baufirma "Planex" in Varna gehört) wird die Anzahl der politischen Akteure unüberschaubar. In anderen Worten: Jedes private Interesse kann zum politischen Projekt werden. Was für eine prächtige Herausforderung für die klassische Demokratie: Jeder Million ihre eigene Partei!
Doch machen wir uns nichts vor: Die kommunalen Geschäftsleute werden aus seriösen Gründen gewählt. Zunächst einmal hasst die Provinz die Hauptstadt, wo die nationale Politik ihren Sitz hat. Weswegen der Boom der Business-Parteien auch eine Art Revolte der Peripherie gegen das Zentrum darstellt. Die wiederum spiegelt eine grundlegende nationale Krise wider: Bulgarien ist im Begriff, sich in feudale Königreiche aufzulösen, in denen die Trennung zwischen Politik und Geschäft obsolet ist. So ähnlich übrigens wie damals unterm Kommunismus, als der Provinzsekretär gleichfalls für Politik und Ökonomie verantwortlich war. Überraschen dürfte diese Entwicklung daher wohl auch nur die vielen Hausbesitzer aus dem westlichen Europa - die übrigens bei den Kommunalwahlen auch ihre Stimme abgeben dürfen.
Hinzu kommt, dass sich auch die nationalen Parteien schon seit vielen Jahren in einer schweren ideologischen Krise befinden. Keiner weiß mehr, wo und wofür wer steht. Man muss sich nur die Debatten vor Augen führen, die derzeit geführt werden: Unlängst hat der sozialistische Präsident Herrn W. Bush seine uneingeschränkte Unterstützung in Sachen Militärbasen etc. versprochen; die Rechten fanden, dass er dieses Angebot mit mehr Begeisterung hätte unterbreiten sollen. Die von den Sozialisten geführte Regierung hat entschieden, zukünftig Dumping-Steuern von rund zehn Prozent einzuführen, was Bulgarien dem Status einer Sonderwirtschaftszone annähert. Die Rechten erklärten, das sei ihre Idee gewesen und man solle bitte noch weiter runtergehen. Die Linke ist nationalistisch; die Rechte ist noch nationalistischer.
Last but not least ziehen sich die lokalen Geschäftsmänner ihre Wählerkundschaft mehr oder weniger problemlos heran. In einem kleinen Touristenort, wo die Mehrheit der Einwohner Saisonarbeiter ist, ist es einfach, ein paar tausend Stimmen zu kaufen: Man muss die Leute nur zum richtigen Zeitpunkt einstellen. Manager werden dann zu Parteiaktivisten, das Unternehmen organisiert Festivitäten, kleine Geschenke und Drohungen begleiten den monatlichen Gehaltsscheck. Außerdem zeigt der Chef menschliche Wärme, indem er die örtliche Fußballmannschaft unterstützt, ein bisschen Geld für Pop-Konzerte spendet, und vielleicht kann man sogar seine Nichte in irgendeinem Club treffen.
Die Frage ist natürlich, warum solche Parteien in den älteren Demokratien nicht wie Pilze aus dem Boden schießen. Immerhin gehorchen sie dem neoliberalen Geist unserer Zeit. Doch offenbar bedarf die Politik dort der soliden Verbindungen zum Zentrum, also einer Parteistruktur, -disziplin und -ideologie. Selbst wenn solche Business-Parteien auftauchten, sie würden sicher schnell marginalisiert und wieder verschwinden. Bei uns aber erlaubt Geld unterm Tisch, jede gewünschte Politik zu realisieren, ohne sich mit so etwas wie einem Parteiapparat abmühen oder gar veralteten Ideen die Treue halten zu müssen. In einem kleinen Land wie diesem "sind wir" - um den früheren Premierminister Ivan Kostov zu zitieren - "alle Cousins".
Nach Aristoteles ist die Oligarchie - also die Regierung der Reichen - schlecht, weil sie in das Chaos der Demokratie führt. Im Postkommunismus läuft es genau anders herum: Das Chaos der Demokratie verhärtet sich nach und nach zur Oligarchie.
Der Autor ist Professor für Kulturwissenschaften an der Universität Sofia. Aus dem Englischen von INES KAPPERT
http://www.taz.de/index.php?id=digitaz-artikel&ressort=ku&dig=2007/09/14/a0199&no_cache=1&src=GI
24 Chasa: Bulgarians visit movie theatres, museums least of all EU members - Eurostat study
| 31 October 2007 | 05:35 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. Every second Bulgarian goes online to read newspapers, shows a Eurostat study cited by 24 Chasa daily. 48% download music and games, 43% listen to the radio and watch TV. 59% chat and entertain themselves. Only 1/3 gain knowledge online. Bulgaria comes last in terms of number of PCs (21%) and access to the Internet (17%). The Danish and Dutch are best in that criteria. Annually Bulgarians go 0.3 times to the movie theatre. Surprisingly, the country is last in terms of visits to museums, historic monuments and galleries. |
1/3 of Bulgarians get by without debts
| 31 October 2007 | 00:02 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. 29.6% of Bulgarians citizens believe ‘they can get by without borrowing money’, 28.9% say they don’t like the feeling of being indebted to someone, while 25.1 % share they resort to taking loans in cases of contingency. Just 3% of the country’s population are reported to live on credit. This is what a recent survey of GFK Bulgaria shows. |
15 septembre 2007
Business Insight: Bulgarians Take to Life on Credit
06 09 2007 Credit boom bolstered by bank deregulation, easier loans, rise in real estate prices and growing confidence on overall economic outlook.
By Nikolay Petrov in Sofia
Bulgarians are on a shopping spree, buying homes, cars, home cinema and household appliances on credit and loans that were far from accessible until the turn of the millennium.
Recent statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank indicate mortgage loans rose by 78 per cent for the first half of 2007 alone, after a similar 74-per-cent rise in 2006 compared to 2005.
The credit boom started a few years before Bulgaria joined the European Union on January 1, 2007, as banks switched from traditional credit operations to less regulated and sometimes exotic lending schemes.
Banks have cut interest rates as a result from an average of 10.5 per cent in 2003 to less than 7 per cent today. Bulgaria’s accession to the EU only boosted the trend.
A typical mortgage loan of 38,000 euros, therefore, now requires a monthly repayment of some BGN 500 (250 euros), down from around BGN 700 (350 euros) four or five years ago.
In a country where monthly salaries average only about 200 euros - amongst the lowest in Europe - these offers are a significant incentive.
Officially, banks are supposed to insist on certain criteria when studying mortgage applications, requiring clients to show their projected monthly repayments will be less than 60 per cent of their monthly income.
However, families are paying up to 70 per cent of their declared earnings these days and a frequently aired commercial makes it clear at least one bank does not require any data on a client’s personal income, as it is interested only in the price of the property.
According to official statistics, the average combined household income in Bulgaria is around BGN 614 (315 euros), a figure that has risen by less than 10 per cent on an annual basis.
Some 59 per cent of all consumer credits are now being obtained by households earning less than BGN 1,000 (510 euros) per month and a substantial 29 per cent went to households earning less than 250 euros per month.
IT specialists, pharmacists and civil servants top the list of borrowers, while members of the medical profession, teachers and journalists are at the bottom. The share of Bulgarians, who have found jobs or who are permanently living abroad, in the overall credit portfolio of the banks is on the rise.
Some recent growth in loans can be attributed to clients borrowing money to refinance older credits obtained at higher interest rates, or to pay the initial amount required for financial leasing schemes. This portion of new loans stood at 24 per cent in 2006 and will remain at a similar level in 2007.
The steep rise in credits has obviously not exhausted its growth potential. As a precautionary measure, as of September 1, the Bulgarian National Bank, BNB, raised the level of compulsory provisions – the so-called “sleeping money” - that the commercial banks will have to keep in interest-free deposits with the central bank from 8 to 12 per cent.
Several banks duly responded by raising interest rates on credits by an average of 1 per cent. But these small rises in interest rates are not expected to slow the overall expansion in credit provision.
Banks are constantly coming up with new bonuses to tempt fresh clients in to the field. These include cuts in debt servicing fees and longer repayment schedules of up to 35 years for some mortgage loans. Banks are increasingly ready to finance 100 per cent of the price of clients’ property purchases as well.
Most banks have also set up their own leasing and mortgage operations to provide a better mix of options to clients.
Besides, surveys show about 50 per cent of Bulgarians have yet to obtain any form of loan, there is still a vast pool to tap.
The more aggressive market stance of the lending community matches the fact that many Bulgarians have clearly shed their traditional psychological reluctance to assume long-term financial commitments.
People increasingly want to settle personal or household needs now, not in the distant future. This reflects a general realization that, in terms of longer-term stability, the economic situation in Bulgaria has become more predictable.
The growth in savings in Bulgarian banks, now worth at BGN 15.6 billion (close to 8 billion euros) is a fair match for credits expansion as deposits are often used as collateral on loans. A token 14 per cent of the deposits are managed by collective investments schemes or are invested in stock.
But in terms of long-term personal finance strategies a mortgage loan, regardless of its price, remains a much better option for future gains, given the expected rise in real estate prices.
Nikolay Petrov is an editor with the Foreign News desk at the Bulgarian News Agency, BTA and Balkan Insight contributor.
http://www.birn.eu.com/en/102/10/4088/
14 septembre 2007
Holy Cross Day Spells End of Summer in Bulgaria
14 September 2007, Friday
 Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency) | buy photo | |
Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria celebrate the day of the Holy Cross on September 14, which is believed to spell the end of summer and the beginning of the autumn.
The folk calendar says that starting from September 14 people get ready for the grape harvest. They repair the hoops of the kegs in which the wine will be poured, the wheelbarrow to carry the grapes and the vessel to press it. That is why in some places the Holy Cross Day is called "Grape-picker".
This is the nameday of Krastyo, Krastina.
Thousands of pilgrims flocked late on Thursday to Krustova Gora (the Cross Forest), where a piece of the crucifixion cross is believed to have been buried.
Located 45 kilometers south of Assenovgrad, in the proximity of the town of Luki and above the village of Belitsa in the Rhodope Mountains, Krustova Gora is one of the most revered Christian holy places in Bulgaria. Truly religious people believe that if someone overnights there, the man will be cured, if ill.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=85277
10 septembre 2007
Gypsy king says EU must prepare for Roma Gypsies
| 10 September 2007 | 06:38 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Costesi. Thousands of Roma Gypsies may head west in search of jobs and better lives and the EU must prepare for them, Romania's self-proclaimed Gypsy king said. |
Survey Shows Bulgaria Out of Step with EU, Closest to Russia
A survey of 11 EU member states, as well as US and Turkey, shows Bulgarians do not share the concerns of their fellow countries in bloc with the same strength, and is also the least wary of potential threats from Russia.
The Bulgarians rank among the most apolitical among the respondents, with 31% saying they never discuss politics, compared to an average of 22% in the rest of the 12 European states.
Asked to rate their feelings towards a number of countries, the Bulgarians rated the EU top with 76 points on a scale of 0-100, followed by Russia with 65 points - by far the highest score in any of the 13 countries, all of them NATO member states, covered by the survey.
They were significantly less concerned with Russia's role as an energy provider, its weakening democracy and behaviour towards neighbours than the rest of Europe.
The US received a rating of 52, higher than the average among the other European states, while Israel, Palestine and Turkey are all seen with colder eyes than in other countries.
Bulgarians share most of the concerns of their European neighbours, although, as a rule, the intensity of the feeling is weaker, largely due to the large number of respondents, ranging between 10-20%, who did not answer the questions because they are unfamiliar with the issues.
Bulgarians perceive international terrorism, large-scale migrations into Europe, Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons and Islamic fundamentalism as significantly less threatening than their European peers.
On the other hand, they fear the spread of a pandemic, such as the avian flu, or an economic downturn much stronger than respondents from the other countries.
They are also cooler on the role the EU should play in dealing with such threats, with 72% supporting such a view, compared to 88% cumulative in the other member states.
The Bulgarians were also among the least supportive for the use of their military forces in combat or peacekeeping actions in far-flung regions, such as Darfur, Lebanon or Afghanistan.
This year's "Transatlantic Trends" survey was carried out by the German Marshall Fund and the Compagnia di San Paolo, with additional help from other NGO's, including Bulgaria's Tipping Point Foundation.
A total of 13,000 people were interviewed in total, roughly 1,000 in each country, during the month of June, with each sample representative of the population aged 18 years and above.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=85122
09 septembre 2007
Antonina Zhelyazkova: Immigrant societies have been established in Bulgaria
| 8 September 2007 | 17:28 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. ‘At the request of the European Union the International Centre for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations has been working intensively for 2-3 years now on scientific studies, wholly focused on the movement of the population, migrations, immigrants to Bulgaria, as well as in other European countries’, Antonina Zhelyazkova, chairwoman of the International Centre for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations told FOCUS News Agency. |
01 septembre 2007
TENS OF DAILY ATTEMPTS FOR CREDIT TAKING WITH FALSE DOCUMENTS IN BULGARIA
The number of cases when credit companies’ clients try to take credit with false documents has increased recently.
Credit company Jet Finance International director Ivan Hristanov said that the company had dozens of such attempts every day.
Cheaters pay 100 leva to receive forged stolen identity card, including picture replacement, Hristanov said as quoted by investor.bg. One can sign contracts and receive credits with the false identity card.
In case of lost personal documents, one should immediately inform the police, Hristanov said.
Nearly 78 per cent of consumers do not consider buying on credit a sign of poverty, according to a survey of 800 people, investor.bg said.
A total of 60 per cent of people questioned said that they were not aware of the various forms of credit and the conditions for taking credit.
Nearly 50 per cent of the people asked do not use credit and 39 per cent have no intentions to use credit in the next one to two years.
The annual expenditure of consumer credits in Bulgaria is 16 to 17 per cent, Hristanov said.
31 août 2007
Rich Man, Poor Man
| 31 August 2007 | 07:03 | FOCUS News Agency |
There are two different social groups that part the Bulgarian youth – the group of rich youngsters and that of poor young people. The two are isolated from each other, Kolyo Kolev announced. He is director of Mediana polling agency, which has made a survey about the youth, requested by the State Agency for Youth and Sports.
Over 85% of the young people have GSMs, 43% have computers at home. The young are active in sports, illnesses with young people have not increased.
In Mr. Kolev’s words alcohol consumption by youths has not increased, but smoking is still a problem, as Bulgaria is in the world’s top two in smoking after Austria.