by emad » Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:54 am
<br>Nikolai Chavdarov in Sofia<br>Thursday October 27, 2005<br>The Guardian <br><br><br>An unidentified gunman yesterday killed one of Bulgaria's richest and most influential bankers in the capital, Sofia, a day after the EU warned the country it had to speed up reforms to curb organised crime and corruption.<br><br>Emil Kyulev, 49, owned a majority stake in the DZI Financial Group and controlled DZI Bank, one of Bulgaria's largest banks. His personal fortune has been estimated at £280m.<br><br>Interior minister Rumen Petkov, said that those behind the murder "do not accept the European orientation of Bulgaria and want to hinder its progress towards the EU".<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,1601402,00.html">www.guardian.co.uk/eu/sto...02,00.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br><br>BULGARIA has consistently been linked with IRA money laundering, especially after last December's £26million Northern Bank heist, when UK cops said Bulgarian financiers were linked. <p></p><i></i>
