Susannah Mitchell wrote to us after reading Red Tape Unwound (on car pounding) in our June issue to tell us that she had been able to leave her vehicle in Bulgaria without car pounding and without fees.
This situation has now been clarified by customs authorities who confirm that cars can be left anywhere in accordance with Ministerial Act No. 725. So readers can now disregard the information on this particular subject in our June issue.
Susannah then wrote to us again.
Dear VAGABOND,
I think customs and car pounds are slow to respond as they stand to lose revenue. This was demonstrated to me in Varna when the customs guy expected an ex gratia payment to allow me to travel. I had already given the BA representative the relevant act number so they were scuppered in their attempt to extract 200 euros from me.
Your magazine is well written, well balanced and appears to be un-biased. I have spent most of my UK working life in media and magazines (a lot for the government and euro funding issues) so I think I have a critical eye and understanding. I look forward to the next issue. I love the history and political sections.
Yours, Susannah Mitchell
Dear VAGABOND,
Thank you for your article on road rage. I believe road rage is just the tip of the iceberg: the bulk of the problem is the culture of impunity surrounding the mutri. Since they hardly risk being judged or imprisoned for their actions in general, why should it be any different on the roads? The bigger and the more expensive their cars (with all the “right” licence plate numbers), the more recklessly they drive. The problem is that they set the tone for young drivers, not mutri themselves, but who tend to be easily impressed by big cars and influenced by the underlying machismo as well as for foreigners, who, I'm sorry to say, tend to change their attitude on the roads once they are in Bulgaria. Since we know that men, especially young ones, are “driven” by their testosterone rather than actually driving their cars properly, the only solution is deterrence, that is heavy sanctions, applied effectively and equally to everyone.
Benedicte Contamin-Gantchev, Sofia
-
COMMENTING RULES
Commenting on www.vagabond.bg
Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.
Add new comment