Beaten Bulgarian Agriculture Head Curbs Corruption - PM

Rumen Porozhanov, the CEO of Bulgaria's State Agriculture Fund, was physically assaulted because he stopped the widespread corruption practices in his institution, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov believes.

In an interview on Friday, Borisov pointed out that the State Agriculture Fund has absorbed 54.5% more money in 2011 than it did in 2010.

"That has surely made some people angry and I sincerely hope the Interior Ministry will find out the culprits," the Prime Minister added.

According to Borisov, "hundreds of millions" disappeared in shady deals in Bulgaria's agriculture sector, but Porozhanov succeeded in stopping al that.

Rumen Porozhanov was assaulted and severely beaten by two unknown assailants in front of his home in Sofia around 9:00 pm on Thursday. The police are yet to discover the perpetrators or their motives.

The official's condition is stable and his life is not in danger, the Bulgarian National Radio has informed.

Porozhanov took over the Bulgarian institution in charge of distributing EU agricultural funding in March 2011 following an embarrassing scandal involving its former head, Kalina Ilieva.

In 2010, Ilieva resigned after hiding her pregnancy, and was subsequently revealed to have acquired the position with a forged diploma from a German university.

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