Media packages worth a total of €480,578 were agreed for candidates in the presidential elections who were nominated by groups without a party subsidy. The largest amount – €134,400 – was stipulated in contracts with Fair Bulgaria TV. It was followed by Bulgarian National Television with €75,000 and Eurocom with €66,010. The data was presented in an investigative report by bTV.
A total of 27 presidential pairs took part in the vote. The bTV team spoke to 10 candidates who received less than 1% of the votes about their motives for entering the race.
Panayot Kyuchukov – Patso, a vice-presidential candidate, says he did not expect to win and that his participation increased his popularity on TikTok. “I have always been a realist. I did it with the aim of allowing people to see me in another field as well,” he says.
Plamen Paskov says he wanted to present his political ideas to the widest possible audience. Iskra Nedeva says she is seeking popularity for a cause related to a sports club, free training sessions and collecting food for people in need. Metodi Bachvarov claims that the election result was predetermined by external forces.
Vanya Velikova is the only one of those interviewed who says she expected to win. “I hoped to make it to the runoff and had absolutely no idea that I would not be elected,” she says.
Nine pairs chose the same television station
Fair Bulgaria TV was chosen by nine presidential pairs. According to the bTV investigation, six of them are linked to the Resistance party, which previously went by the names BNO and Bulgari. The candidates mentioned include Nako Stefanov, Iskra Nedeva, Svetozar Saev, Velichka Georgieva and Metodi Bachvarov.
The chairman of Resistance, Kamen Taskov, is simultaneously a presidential candidate and a presenter on the television station. For his campaign, he chose the media outlet for approximately €20,451. bTV also points out that the television station and the party have the same official address in Sofia’s Ovcha Kupel district.
Iva Lazarova of the Institute for the Development of the Public Environment raises the question of whether media packages are being used to genuinely reach voters or for another purpose. “There are formations that between 2021 and 2024 alone received around 300,000 leva solely in the form of media packages, while their votes during election campaigns amounted to around 3,000,” she says.
Television station denies links to the party
In a written statement, Fair Bulgaria TV says that all contracts were concluded in accordance with the established legal procedure. The media outlet points out that choosing a television station is the right of candidates and their initiative committees, and that media packages are not a reward for electoral success.
The television station denies having any organizational, managerial or financial ties to Resistance. It states that Kamen Taskov hosts his programmes without remuneration.
The media outlet also clarifies that the agreed amounts are not funds that have already been paid. According to the statement, the agreed services have been provided, but final reporting and acceptance under the procedure of the Central Election Commission are still pending. The commission has said that it is investigating the case.
Source: btvnovinite.bg