Maya Manolova

The signing of a collective agreement Wednesday ended a conflict between the miners at the Obrochishte manganese mine in Northeastern Bulgaria and the mine's owner, announced BNR.

 The signing of the agreement was announced by Natinal Ombudsman Maya Manolova who has been actively involved in the efforts to resolve a dispute between the miners and their employer.

Bulgarian Ombudsman Maya Manolova approached the European Commissioner on Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova, and sought assistance from her European colleague Emily O'Reilly to stop the discrimination and double standards for Bulgarian consumers, the press center of the Republic of Bulgaria's Ombudsman announced on Tuesday.

Last year's legislation which allowed for donated foods nearing expiry date to be exempted from any value-added tax (VAT) does not work as the government has not done its job, Bulgaria's National Ombudsman Maya Manolova has said.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has fended off claims that the vote might be contested due to the lack of electronic voting.

CEC spokesperson Aleksandar Andreev has told the Bulgarian National Radio that the development is far from being the most substantial claim one could lodge over the election.

Bulgaria's Constitutional court has abolished unanimously compulsory voting, reported Praven Svyat. The decision was adopted with 11 votes "for" since Anastas Anastasov was absent from the meeting on Thursday.

Sofia's heating utility Toplofikatsiya has said it is still working to restore supply in several densely populated neighborhoods.

Its announcement follows a statement that heating was restored everywhere in the Bulgarian capital, with disruptions possible in Studentski Grad due to an incident with the grid near Tsarigradsko shose.

National Ombudsman Maya Manolova has called on Parliament to have a say on the results of a referendum on Bulgaria's electoral system held in November.

At a press conference, Manolova has argued the remaining 20 days of work would be "enough" for Parliament to debate and vote on the three issues overwhelmingly backed by Bulgarian citizens.

Ombudsman Maya Manolova has initiated a law suit against Toplofikatsiya Sofia. Manolova is appealing the refusal of the venture to provide information about the collection of payments owed by consumers via judicial procedures.

Ombudsman Maya Manolova and representatives of the initiative committee for the carrying out of a National referendum 2016 will submit to Parliament a draft bill on amendments to the Electoral Code.

Foods donated by retailers to non-profit organizations will not be levied with a value-added tax (VAT) if the products are thirty days or less out of their expiry date, Bulgarian lawmakers have decided.

The tax exemption will only be applied if the total value of donations does not exceed 0.5% of the respective businesses' annual turnover.