An international forum to discuss security and the fight against crime was held on March 1 in Sofia.
The forum was organised by Bulgarian security company Bodyguard Fire K in co-operation with the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF).
The aim of the forum was to bring together business, Government and security representatives to discuss current problems in security and exchange experience in how best to deal with them.
The forum was attended by representatives of security companies from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland and Greece. Topics covered included security of rail transport in Switzerland and the safety of taxi drivers there, drugs and prostitution in the Netherlands, co-operation between security companies and police in Poland, and co-operation between insurance companies and security companies in Greece. Bulgarian actor Todor Kolev and singer Kameliya Todorova spoke about intellectual property theft. An interview with Professor Alexander Chirkov, speaking about trafficking in body parts, was shown.
A key subject of discussion at the forum and a subsequent news conference was co-operation, or the rather the lack of it, between Bulgarian security companies and police. Dimitar Kutsarov, chief executive of Bodyguard Fire K, said that there was no co-operation between such companies and police in Bulgaria. He said that he was convinced that the situation had worsened after Bulgaria joined the EU on January 1 2007. “Before that we had more control, more action. Now, whether we talk about an ordinary policeman or a politician, there is anarchy,” Kutsarov said.
Responding to a question, Kutsarov acknowledged that the work of security companies was directed mainly towards those who paid for such services. But, he said, even if a private company decided to help in the investigation of a missing child on its own initiative, such companies had no legal right to do so, even though they had good detectives.
The Netherlands was given as a good example that a better scenario is indeed possible. Karen Skurl, a representative of a Dutch security company, said that security companies in the Netherlands had much more opportunity to work closely with police, thanks to the country’s laws. Dutch law provides that a licensed investigator is allowed to access much more information than a private individual. “We actually get called by the police to help out in certain situations,” she said. “Now we need to start working together on a European level.”
Manhard Biel, from a security company in Switzerland, said that in Switzerland, security companies not only had good co-operation with the police, but were regarded as an essential supplement to the police.
In the context of the lack of communication between Bulgarian police and security companies, Kutsarov said that it was unacceptable not to have any representative of the Interior Ministry at the forum. M3, the PR company that dealt with the invitations, said that Interior Minister Roumen Petkov had been invited, but apparently had another more important meeting. He did not, however, send a representative to take part. A number of other state representatives were also invited, but no one showed up. “We had representatives of five different European countries here speaking about their security problems and how they deal with them. We are supposed to listen and learn from their experience, but there is no one here to hear them. This is absurd,” Kutsarov said. He said that he was determined to communicate directly through Brussels should he wish to propose any sort of improvement plan regarding security in Bulgaria. “They are afraid only of Brussels, there is no other way,” he said.
Kutsarov also criticised the mainstream media. “As soon as they didn’t see mayor Boiko Borissov and Minister Petkov, they left, while here we are talking of a problem of national concern”, Kutsarov said.
BBLF executive director Stamen Tassev said that the state would eventually have to pay attention to such forums and start co-operating with security companies. “Unfortunately, this time there was no desire from the appropriate sides. But sooner or later European standards must be met,” Tassev said.
While the international security forum failed to attract Government interest, other events in the past week managed to do so.
On March 5, Interior Minister Roumen Petkov, Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski and Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev took part in a conference together with financial intelligence, customs agency and National Revenue Agency representatives, Novinar newspaper reported. The three ministers said that in 2006, 60 money laundering schemes were uncovered. Organised crime groups caused 113 million leva losses to Budget 2006, the meeting was told. Petkov said that capital of questionable origin was being invested in the Sofia, Bourgas, Varna and Kuystendil regions. Turkish, Macedonian, Russian, British and Irish citizens were among those behind the investments. One of the conclusions emerging from the confernce was that in order to deal with money laundering, Bulgaria needed changes to its Penal Code, Petkov said, and investigators should have more rights.
The meeting was told that in 2006, there were five convictions for money laundering but the courts had enforced three of them. Investigations into 42 other cases were proceeding, Novinar reported. A report by the US state department said that Bulgaria had so far failed to convict major figures involved in money laundering.
On March 6, police chiefs from a number of South East European countries met in Sofia. At the meeting, Bulgarian national police chief Valentin Petrov said that drug trafficking through Bulgaria had decreased by 30 per cent last year compared to previous years, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.
Petrov said that the pattern of heroin trafficking from the Middle East to Western Europe and synthetic drugs from Western Europe to the Middle East was continuing.
