Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria

Bulgaria to Launch Tenders for Silistar, Teres Exploration Blocks in 2 Weeks

Delyan Dobrev, head of Bulgaria's parliamentary energy committee, has presented an upcoming tendering procedure for two Black Sea exploration blocks to representatives of Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil.

Dobrev met Tuesday with Rune Bjørnson, Senior Vice President for Natural Gas in Statoil, and Tony Doré, Senior Advisor to Exploration Management at the company.

Yane Yanev to Advise Bulgaria's PM Borisov on Fight against Corruption

Yane Yanev, leader of the marginal conservative Order Law and Justice (RZS) party, has been appointed advisor at the Council of Ministers.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov issued the appointment order for Yanev on Tuesday, according to reports of Darik radio based on the government's press office.

Bulgarian Village Protests against Landfill Project near Historic Monument

Protesters from the Southwest Bulgarian village of Banya came to the streets on Friday to express their disagreement with a government project to build a landfill close to a historic monument.

Public dissatisfaction is caused by the fact that the landfill will be located next to a 17th century church of historic importance near the village of Debar.

Bulgaria's Parliament Amends National Audit Office Act

Bulgaria's Parliament conclusively adopted amendments to the National Audit Office Act on Thursday.

Under the changes, the National Audit Office will consist of five instead of nine members.

The headcount of the NAO includes a chair, two deputies, and two members, all of which have a 7-year term in office, according to investor.bg.

GERB Backs Holding Referendum on Compulsory Voting alongside 2015 Local Elections

Ruling center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) has made clear that it mulls holding a referendum on compulsory voting alongside the local elections in the autumn of 2015.

The idea, put forth by Nayden Zelenogorski, Deputy Chair of the Reformist Bloc, was backed by Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Deputy Chair of GERB.

Bulgaria's Ruling Coalition Establishes Council for Development

Bulgaria's ruling coalition has merged parts of the executive and the legislature into a new body - the Council for development.

This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and Public Administration Rumyana Bachvarova in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Sunday.

Referendum on Compulsory Voting Might Be Held with Local Elections

It emerged that a national referendum on the possible amendments to the electoral rules is likely to be held along with the local elections, which are scheduled to take place in Bulgaria in the autumn.

The idea is supported by all parties of the governing coalition, together with the oppositional Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and nationalist Ataka, daily Sega reports.

Bulgaria's Ruling Party GERB to Amend over 20 Laws to Propel Reforms

Vladimir Toshev, MP from ruling center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria), has underscored the need to amend over 20 laws to launch reforms.

In a Saturday interview for the Focus news agency, Toshev explained that the law regulating school and pre-school education had been adopted some 50 years ago and had to be replaced by a new one.

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