1000's Of Fake Driving Licences In Bulgaria - Accidents Galore the Result

Bulgaria's transport minister said the country's high accident rate is because of tens of thousands of people who obtain drivers licenses on the black market.

Speaking on bTV Tuesday, Alexander Tsvetkov said for as little as $200, citizens can buy a fake license without any exam or road test, the Sofia Echo reported.

He said the estimate of as many as 20,000 people buying fake licenses each year is "very modest" and the real number he is aware of is "truly alarming."

"In the European Union, Bulgaria leads when it comes to fatalities in traffic accidents," the minister said.

Tsvetkov said previous governments had done nothing to combat the corruption.

"As of summer 2009, however, we have initiated radical changes and I can say that in the future this problem will be fixed," he said. "Some amendments to legislation have already been enacted, and the black market will be stopped."

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/03/16/Minister-Bulgaria-awash-in-fake-licenses/UPI-67451268758431/

Bulgarian Doctors Sick For A Change

The Doctors in Bulgaria are sick of not being paid what is due to them. The talking is over and the action has started, who suffers? The sick and the needy of course. With the opposition who supports their cause (if they were in power they wouldn't of course!) Is there an end? Or is it to escalate?

Doctors in two Bulgarian towns began a strike Monday that was set to expand nationally over non-payment of fees by the federal health ministry.

The National Association of General Practitioners warned of the strike during the weekend, saying its members hadn't been paid for their work in January, the Sofia Echo reported.

The strike is scheduled to expand to the capital Sofia and other cities by Tuesday, Mediapool.bg reported.

The doctors are also calling for healthcare reform to streamline the process of obtaining permission to refer patients for further treatment, the report said.

The union said anyone requiring medical care should visit a hospital emergency department, but they would have to pay cash for treatment,

Source: http://www.upi.com

If Could Have Been A Bulgarian Winter Olympic Medal

It could have be a very different story is Bulgaria had been the chosen nationality and the medal became Bulgarian. This would have been the first medal in the winter Olympics for 30 years for Bulgaria and another day of celebration would have been made in the already cluttered days of celebration in late winter and spring. But is isn't and Slovakia claim that accolade.

Anastazia Kuzmina won the Olympics 7.5-kilometre biathlon sprint in Vancouver to give Slovakia its first Winter

Games gold, but only a few months ago she had been ready to compete for Bulgaria, said Bulgarian sports chiefs.

Former Bulgarian biathlon's national team coach Boran Hadzhiev said Kuzmina and her husband and coach contacted him to reveal she wanted to apply for Bulgarian citizenship and to compete for the Balkan country.

"It's true," Hadzhiev told Bulgarian media. "They were in Belmeken (southwestern Bulgaria) last summer and they asked me to help and let our federation know about Anastazia's desire to compete for Bulgaria.

"I discussed the situation with our federation's chiefs, but they decided against applying for Kuzmina's Bulgarian citizenship and her inclusion in the national team after all."

The 25-year-old had never won a World Cup event before her surprising victory at Whistler Olympic Park on Feb. 12. The Russian-born Kuzmina, who also works as a police officer as well as an athlete and a coach, switched allegiances to Slovakia in 2008.

"It's a shame because she's a top performer and could have helped the Bulgarian team," said Hadzhiev.

Bulgarian biathlon is going through hard times after the recent retirement of 1998 Olympic champion Ekaterina Dafovska and 2006 European champion Pavlina Filipova.

"In fact, Kuzmina got in touch with me again a few weeks later, but our officials didn't change their mind.," said Hadzhiev.

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee announced it would award enhanced cash bonuses to athletes who win medals in Vancouver, but despite the incentive the country has yet to record a podium finish with the Games finishing on Sunday.

Source: http://www.theprovince.com 

An Actor May Be Filming In Bulgaria!?

This may be of interests to film fans and 'Hollywood stars' followers, but to me I haven't the slightest interest where this actor is going to film. I'm sure he's a good actor, but many actors are treated as Gods just because they are cloned in Hollywood. There are many other better actors around who are better than Mickey Rourke but because they don't hell raise outside acting don't get noticed. It's actually called attention seeking.

Hollywood hellraiser Mickey Rourke is apparently in negotiations to play Conan’s father in the upcoming "Conan" movie, due to start filming soon in Bulgaria.

Marcus Nispel is directing the remake, which is being produced by Nu Image/Millenium Films and sees Jason Momoa playing the barbarian warrior created by Robert E. Howard.

Shooting is apparently due to start in the middle of March.

The story sees Conan embark on a quest to avenge the slaughter of his people including his father, Corin.

According to the rumour factory, Rourke, 57, had been offered the role but negotiations broke down at the last minute. Apparently, however, talks have now resumed.

Rourke's star status was revived following his Oscar nomination as best actor for his performance in The Wrestler in 2009. Although he won a BAFTA for his role he was pipped at the post by Sean Penn for Milk.

Rourke was previously best known for movies such as 9½ Weeks and Rumble Fish. His career subsequently nosedived and Rourke even became a professional boxer for a while before returning to acting.

Source: http://www.sofiaecho.com 

Tax Officials In Bulgaria Are Also Tax Evaders

This is not unusual in Bulgaria where is use to be normal to evade taxes up until recently so old habits die hard. It will be a long time before all taxes that are due are paid but it will come with computerised systems that will account for everything from source. It seems that tax is becoming a reality for most but not all Bulgarians now.

There were some embarrassed faces at Bulgaria's tax office on Thursday after an investigation found more than 400 tax inspectors had failed to pay their traffic fines.

The Balkan nation has launched a crackdown on civil servants who don't pay what they owe, as part of plans to stamp out rampant fraud and raise revenues during the recession, the national revenue agency said.

Those tax officials caught will have money deducted from their February salaries to pay the fines.

More than 50,000 civil servants also face being checked for unpaid taxes and fines in March, a sign of the pressure Sofia is under at home and abroad to demonstrate results in its fight against graft and crime.

In July the European Union is due assess the government's record and failure to show progress could threaten access to more EU aid after in 2008 Brussels froze millions in aid over fraud.

Some political analysts and EU diplomats say the center-right government, elected last July on promises to restore the rule of law, has so far spared powerful oligarchs and big tax evaders.

"It's good to see things happening in Bulgaria but so far it has only targeted small fry," one EU diplomat in Sofia said.

The cabinet led by tough-talking Prime Minister Boiko Borisov has also been checking musicians, owners of luxury Bentley cars and football clubs for possible tax evasion. No results have been reported so far.

Sofia has own praise for cutting spending and taking action to curb smuggling in a bid to boost revenues and avoid a big budget deficit. Bulgaria ended 2009 with a budget gap of 0.8 percent of GDP, the lowest in the EU.

The poorest EU nation has been hard hit by the global crisis, which ended 12 years of economic growth.

Source: http://www.reuters.com