Bulgaria adopts national anti-corruption strategy

The Bulgarian government adopted a five-year national strategy on Wednesday to prevent and counter corruption in a bid to tackle the key issue at all levels, officials said.

The strategy contains 33 specific measures in six primary areas, with the fight against corruption at the highest governmental levels a top priority, the cabinet said in a press release.

The other five target areas include establishing an effective anti-corruption system; combating political corruption; preventing corruption in the judiciary, ministry of the interior and supervisory authorities; eliminating "petty" corruption in everyday life; and creating an environment of public intolerance to corruption.

In particular, the strategy proposes a reform of the institutional framework for preventing and combating corruption, aimed at greater efficiency and better coordination between existing bodies and departments, and the establishment of a single authority which would analyze and investigate assets and conflict of interest of persons occupying high state positions, the press release said.

According to the strategy, by 2020, Bulgaria hopes to be a country where petty corruption is at European Union average levels, high-level corruption does not remain unpunished, anti-corruption institutions work efficiently and have a real deterrent effect, and perceptions and experiences of individuals and companies regarding the level of corruption in Bulgaria are significantly reduced, the government said.

The latest European Commission report released in January on Bulgaria's progress in this area found that "corruption remains a serious issue in Bulgaria" and "there are so far very few final convictions in cases involving substantial corruption, despite the scale of the problem." Endit