Bulgarians will go to the ballot boxes on October 2 for legislative elections. But their main concern is due to the surge of prices.
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Only 7 Leva (3.50 euros) to travel the hundred kilometers that separates Sofia from TruSa. In Bulgaria, the antediluvian train which links the capital to the poorest region of the whole European Union (EU), the North West, is a good barometer of inflation which is currently raging, at almost 18 % in The economy of this country of the Balkans reputed to be the most modest in the whole EU. “This is the cheapest means of transport, even the bus costs more”, praises the controller, by passing, this Monday, September 12, between the spans filled with travelers ready to pile up more than two hours in cars so much older that some of their outer doors no longer close.
On the armchairs eliminated, discussions quickly derive around inflation, the major concern of the 6.5 million Bulgarians for the legislative elections which are organized on Sunday October 2. “Before, I was traveling by car to go see my children, but I can no longer afford it. Even the bus has become too expensive,” says Tihomir Marimov, thin retiree of 70 years, who has just spent a few nights in the capital .
In Bulgaria, the train remains the only means of transport whose price does not increase. And it is for this reason that Milka Tancheva, 75, chose this option to go to treatment on the Black Sea, 500 kilometers away. “With our discounts for retirees, the night train trip cost me only 35 raised, in the car, it would come back to 200 leva just in tolls, and the price of fuel has increased,” complains this former engineer , who travels tight between his suitcases.
“everyone is gone and all the factories have closed”
“And all this happens when we already live in the poorest region of Bulgaria, the poorest in Europe, where everyone has gone and where all the factories have closed,” adds this nostalgic for Communism, by taking up an antiphon currently particularly widespread throughout central and eastern Europe. Even though they earn less than in the west, the Eastern Europeans are concerned with dealing with much stronger inflation.
A study published Monday September 19 by Eurostat did the “one” of the Bulgarian press: over a year, the price of bread increased by 30 % in Bulgaria, while France, much richer, has experienced an increase “than” just over 8 %. The average in the EU is + 18 %.
This record inflation thus strikes households already in great difficulty. In the northwest region, the gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant does not exceed 5,800 euros, or barely 32 % of the European average.
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