The Government of Bulgaria and Basel Institute on Governance have signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering long-term collaboration in the country’s efforts to combat corruption and recover stolen public funds.

Through the agreement, the Basel Institute will support the Bulgarian authorities in strengthening the capacity of specialised law enforcement, judicial and other relevant officers to effectively investigate cases of corruption and related financial crime, identify and trace illicit proceeds, and recover them for the benefit of Bulgarian citizens.

In the context of the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme, and building on ICAR’s previous operational engagements in Bulgaria in support of the country’s efforts to tackle corruption, ICAR is partnering with the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria (PORB) to offer technical assistance and guidance in financial investigations and asset recovery. 

ICAR continues to work closely with a series of partner countries increasing their autonomy in the fight against financial crimes and money laundering as well as in recovering stolen public funds. ICAR’s current partner countries in the context of its capacity building services include Bulgaria, Romania, Tanzania and Uganda. 

Experts from Basel Institute participated during a roundtable organised in Sofia, Bulgaria on 14 July 2016 by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), a Bulgarian interdisciplinary public policy institute, on the topic: “Scope and implications of money laundering activities: institutional governance in the fight against money laundering in Bulgaria”. Basel Institute is a partner organisation with CSD under the Bulgarian Thematic Fund Security Project “Overcoming institutional capacity gaps to counter corruption and organised crime in Bulgaria”.

In order to tackle the widespread corruption in Bulgaria, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, a Bulgarian inter-disciplinary public policy institute, has partnered with the Basel Institute to provide technical assistance, under the Bulgarian Thematic Fund Security Project “Overcoming institutional capacity gaps to counter corruption and organized crime in Bulgaria”.