LITTLE over a year after joining the rich boys' club, European Union newcomer Bulgaria has seen its reputation hit a low, marred by its failure to tame chronic corruption and crime.
Some observers say the situation in the Balkan country has become worse than in neighbouring Romania, ranked the most corrupt EU nation by Transparency International.
Investing in Bulgaria without paying bribes or encountering the mafia is almost
impossible, they say.
Economists say corruption is damaging Bulgaria's investment image and competitiveness.
With the incentive of EU membership gone, Sofia and Bucharest have succumbed to reform fatigue. Their anti-corruption efforts are also stymied by hesitant politicians, political feuds and inefficient state administration.
Sceptical EU members question the decision to let the two nations join the bloc so early and are pushing Brussels to impose sanctions against Sofia, whose list of misdeeds is mounting: more than 150 unsolved high-profile contract killings in the past eight years; suspected fraud with EU funds and police officers passing secrets to drug traffickers; failure to charge a single high-level official with corruption.
Morale at home is low. Bulgarians say they have lost faith that the EU's poorest country of 7.6 million people can put corrupt officials and crime bosses behind bars any time soon.
"I have the feeling we live in a lawless country," said Maria Georgieva, a retired teacher. "I no longer trust a single politician, their only goal is to enrich themselves."
Opinion polls show corruption has exceeded low incomes as people's biggest problem and a World Bank survey said 46 per cent of companies considered graft the largest hurdle.
"There is a problem with the political elite in this country. New, clean faces are needed," said Rumiana Bachvarova, political analyst with the polling agency Market Links.
Sofia boasts it has attracted some 6 billion in foreign investment annually in the past two years but economists say the quality and composition of the investment is worrying.
Last year, nearly half went into construction and property, which according to surveys have become the top markets for organised crime and money laundering.
A number of foreigners who have businesses in Bulgaria won't risk speaking openly against corruption, pointing to the experience of Canada's Dundee Precious Metals, which launched an international campaign against high-level graft and was made to wait years for licences.
Bulgaria has partly reformed its justice system but has failed to make judges accountable. It has created anti-corruption institutions but has done little to alter a climate of impunity.
Diplomats and analysts say the root of the problem lies in links between politicians and magistrates and criminal groups. That makes corruption a more challenging issue in Bulgaria, even though it ranks below Romania in Transparency International's 2007 survey of 180 countries.
"Organised crime and corruption have intertwined with the state here," said one diplomat. "In Romania they seem to be separate issues which makes it a bit easier to tackle."
Problems with corruption and the judiciary in the Balkan countries were obvious before they joined the EU in January last year.
But both were promised entry in 2007 and Brussels concluded delaying membership might slow reforms further.
Russia's increasing economic influence in the Balkans was another reason to cement their ties with the EU sooner.
Some commentators say only continued strong pressure from Brussels combined with a "carrot and stick" approach can make Sofia clean up its act.
The threat of losing some of the 11 billion the country has been promised in EU aid has prompted the Socialist prime minister, Sergei Stanishev, to sack several cabinet ministers and appoint a vice premier to oversee all EU funds to clean up the government's image.
The western-educated Mr Stanishev, 42, who represents the young generation of the former communist party, has also pledged deep police reforms and measures to raise living standards ahead of an EU report in July which will assess Bulgaria's progress.
The full article contains 671 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
