GREY ECONOMY YIELDS 1/3 OF GDP Pari - 2003/5/28
THE SHARE of the grew economy in the GDP varies between 30% and 36%, said Ognyan Shentov, chairing the Centre for the Study of Democracy, at a round table seminar on anti-corruption reforms. According to Shentov the grey economy is a huge crime-nourishing area, and again the grey economy is responsible for all the assassinations, explosions and other act of violent crime Bulgaria saw in the last year.
Vassil Kirov, heading the Financial Intelligence Bureau, said the strong bank supervision is an efficient barrier for money laundering, but there have been attempts to clear money of unclear origination through privatisation deals.
There is no organised crime in Bulgaria, said the centre's program director Tihomir Bezlov. There is nothing in Bulgaria at least slightly resembling the organised criminal networks in the Caucus, Turkey, and Russia, he explained.
The research of the Centre had shown that the major sources of corruption are the customs, the exports and the administration. Corruption elements can be seen in the actions of some media, who take care of the image making of criminal groups, thus facilitating their functioning, said Kirov. The participants outlined methods to combat grey economy, corruption and crime.