Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
Former PM and leader of the Bulgarian rightist DSB party, Ivan Kostov, has called for a ban on all forms of gambling in Bulgaria. Kostov, leader of the right-wing Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB), stated that the current taxes on gambling companies fail to contribute significant amounts to the state budget. He added that the damage gambling cause to Bulgarian society is huge....
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
The so called 'Galeria' spying case aimed to crush the free Bulgarian media, to threaten them in order to mind what they were writing. This was announced Monday by Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for control of DANS, Ivan Kostov, in an interview for bTV. In his words, the Galeria case was started wrongly as an informational case with the argument that there was a leak of classified...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | yesterday
A scandal regarding distribution of state subsidies has broken out at the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) party conference Tuesday. The Head Secretary of UDF, Ivan Sotirov, stated that when the rightist Blue Coalition was formed between the UDF and the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) earlier in 2009 financial parameters were set in a pre-coalition written agreement by the party leaders...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Right-wing party Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) may demand the impeachment of the President Georgi Parvanov over an alleged letter to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Ivan Kostov, leader of DSB, which is part of the rightist Blue Coalition supporting the GERB government, said Monday that if it was proved that Parvanov in his capacity of a Chair of the Bulgarian Socialist Party...
Transitions Online (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
... the transition period after communism’s demise, they were furious opponents. Former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov of the right had clashed with former Speakers Georgi Pirinski and Blagovest Sendov of the left, as well as fellow party members Stefan Sofianski, a former prime minister himself, and former Vice Premier Evgeny Bakardjiev (who in turn used to quarrel between themselves). Paradoxically,...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
During his first 100 days in office Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has distinguished itself with his swift and oftentimes very proper reactions. This is the opinion of Ivan Kostov, former PM (1997-2001) and Co-Chair of the rightist Blue Coalition, which supports the government of Borisov’s party GERB in the Parliament with its 14 MPs. (GERB has 116....
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
Bulgarian rightist Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party leader, Ivan Kostov, has stated that a State National Security Agency (DANS) report warns that crime in Bulgaria is set to increase substantially over the financial crisis. Kostov who is also the Co-chair of the rightist Blue Coalition and the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for control of DANS, said that he has...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
The approval for the cabinet of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, reached 62% in October, growing by 11% from the 51% right after its appointment. The data is revealed through a poll conducted by the National Center for Study of Public Opinion (NZIOM). In comparison, the Cabinet of Ivan Kostov had 53% support in the third month of their rule, the Simeon Saxe-Coburg cabinet, for which the...
The Sofia Echo (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
Gambling did not bring revenue, caused damage and the only people to benefit from it were gambling bosses, Ivan Kostov says.
The Sofia Echo (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
... Blue Coalition, with the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, the party led by former UDF leader Ivan Kostov, its October 17 event showed it had lost none of its traditions of bitter fighting in public. Martin Dimitrov, the fifth person to lead the UDF since its 2001 parliamentary election defeat, was subjected to open hostility among some delegates. Dimitrov, who sought to assure the...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
Bulgaria’s right-wing Blue Coalition leader Ivan Kostov has urged the GERB government to tell the truth about the “chaos” left by the three-way coalition government. Kostov read in Parliament Friday a declaration of the Blue Coalition prompting his rightist allies from GERB to name the serious problems inherited from the Stanishev government, “which are...
The Sofia Echo (Free subscription) | 10/13/2009
Fractious debate within Bulgaria’s centre-right Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) has ended with a decision by its Sofia branch to endorse Yordanka Fandukova, the candidate of Boiko Borissov’s GERB party, in the November 15 2009 by-elections for a new mayor of the capital city. There is to be a trilateral deal involving GERB, the UDF and the UDF’s partner in the Blue Coalition, Ivan Kostov’s...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
The so called Galeria case in which Bulgaria’s national security agency DANS spied on leading journalists has been started without any legal grounds. This has been announced by MP Ivan Kostov, a Co-Chair of the rightist Blue Coalition, and a Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for control of DANS, citing a position of the Committee. “As a result of the starting and execution...
Sofia News Agency (Free subscription) | 10/03/2009
The ruling GERB party is a populist organizations, and so far it has not conducted a thorough investigation of the previous three-way coalition government. This is the opinion of Ivan Kostov, one of the leaders of the rightist Blue Coalition, and leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB). Kostov said he meant no offense by announcing his conclusions....
Bulgaria Gazette (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
... mayor, and there could be an excuse for an investigation at any time. Regarding the criticisms of Ivan Kostov (DSB) on the government’s actions, the prime minister said that the only thing he’s sure of is that the democrats from DSB support the candidate from GERB for the mayor elections in Sofia. Borisov says that this alone is a proof of their opinion on the government of GERB.
