Bulgaria is struggling to cope with organised crime with a wave of unsolved contract killings and allegations of official collusion in mafia networks

European Union funding worth up to £475 million will be withheld from Bulgaria amid "serious" Brussels concerns that fraud is linked to corruption and organised crime.
European Commission report which criticises Bulgaria over the administration of EU subsidies that are being looted by officials working hand in hand with the mafia.
"Bulgaria itself has to make the commitment to cleanse its administration and ensure that the generous support it receives from the EU actually reaches its citizens and is not siphoned off by corrupt officials, operating together with organised crime," concludes the report. In the run-up to becoming an EU member in January 2007, Bulgaria benefited and continues to receive cash worth £1.7 billion from European programmes – known as PHARE, SAPARD and ISPA - which are designed to help Sofia manage future Brussels funding, not including farm payments, worth £5.5 billion over the next five years.
"Bulgaria is experiencing difficulties in many of these programmes and has this demonstrate that sound financial management structures are in place and operating effectively," the Commission says of the report. "There have been serious allegations of irregularities as well as suspicions of fraud and conflicts of interest in the award of contracts." The Commission is angry at Bulgaria's "lack of or will to use enforcement powers to remedy irregularities and fraud" with public funding aimed at helping the EU's poorest member state by cash transfers from the rest of Europe. "The lack of firm commitment and results in the fight against corruption and organised crime is worrying. It impacts directly on Bulgaria's administrative capacity and hence its ability to ensure the sound management and efficient delivery of EU funds," says the report.
"Bulgaria needs not only to enhance substantially its administrative capacity but also drastically curb opportunities for high level corruption and effectively fight organized crime."
Bulgaria's 7.7 million people face the EU's lowest wages, averaging around £150 a month, the country's and the per capita gross domestic product in 2005 was $3,328, compared with a European average of $29,207.
The country is struggling to cope with organised crime with a wave of unsolved contract killings and allegations of official collusion in mafia networks this year.