Bulgaria’s Cabinet appoints new corruption unit chief
Bulgaria’s Cabinet said on December 11 that it has appointed Boiko Velikov as director of the Cabinet’s Centre for Prevention and Countering Corruption and Organised Crime, also known as Borkor.
Set up in 2010 under Boiko Borissov’s GERB government, Borkor has been often criticised for being inefficient and a waste of resources, its only major contribution to the fight against corruption being a report published in 2012, which pinpointed about 300 weak spots in the public procurement legislation and practice.
Reports in Bulgarian media earlier this year suggested that the current socialist-backed government planned to shut down Borkor, but last month the Cabinet decided that the agency would be tasked with reviewing all legislative bills before they are up for Government approval and closing any loopholes that create opportunities for corruption.
Velikov, 59, has a doctoral degree in psychology and was elected member of five consecutive parliaments on the socialist ticket, serving as an MP between 1994 and 2013. He was head of Parliament’s committee on combatting corruption in the 40th National Assembly, between 2005 and 2009.
Borkor had been without a director since April 2012, when Borissov sacked Roumen Milanov. In February, Borissov also sacked deputy Borkor chief Petko Sertov. The other deputy director, Elenora Nikolova, has been acting director since Milanov’s dismissal.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
