EU freezes Bulgarian road subsidies over corruption scandal

27/01/2008

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- The European Commission (EC) has decided to freeze Bulgaria's infrastructure subsidies due to a corruption scandal involving two senior officials at the country's Road Infrastructure Fund, Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev announced on Saturday (January 26th). EU funds absorbing department chief Lyubomir Lilov and negotiating republican infrastructure department Manager Ivan Vladimirov were arrested on Thursday after they were caught with a 12,000-euro bribe from a citizen who wanted to change the status of his land plot to make it suitable for construction. Mutafchiev said on Saturday that the scandal does not involve absorbing EU funds, but the commission has decided to freeze the subsidies until unconditional evidence is provided that the scandal is not related to EU financing. (AFP, BNR, Sofia news agency - 26/01/08)