SOFIA: A top Bulgarian businessman was killed in broad daylight in the capital Sofia on Monday, police said, highlighting the country’s persistent problem with organized crimes only days after the country took over the EU presidency.
Petar Hristov, 49, the owner of a big dairy company with interests also in construction, was shot several times outside his office in an upmarket part of Sofia on Monday morning.
He was rushed to hospital but died from his wounds.
The killing comes three weeks after a high-ranking tax official was shot in his car, also in the capital. He remains in critical condition.
Such attacks have declined sharply since the 1990s and early 2000s when they were a regular occurrence, but Brussels complains that Bulgaria still struggles with organized crime and graft.
Eleven years after joining the EU and despite being subject to a special EU monitoring system, no single high-ranking official has been jailed for corruption and many of the past murders remain unresolved.
The former communist country, not only the poorest in the EU but according to watchdog Transparency International also its most corrupt, took over the rotating presidency of the EU on January 1.
Hristov reportedly had good connections within the ruling GERB party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
National police director Hristo Terziyski said that the probe into his killing will focus on his business interests.
Top businessman shot dead in Bulgaria
Top businessman shot dead in Bulgaria
