Nova Televizia, one of Bulgaria's national private television stations, has axed presenter Georgi Koritarov from its daily morning show Zrdavej Balgaria for "failing to meet the principles of journalistic pluralism and for using the show for his own personal purposes," the station said in a statement on November 21 2008.

The statement did not specify how Koritarov had violated these principles or how he had allegedly used the show for his personal purposes. It said only that the show would continue to be hosted by Koritarov's co-host Lora Kroumova.

Koritarov is one of the most popular radio and TV journalists in Bulgaria with long-years of experience behind him. He has been involved in several public controversies of late, mainly because of his aggressive style of interviewing and for his commentaries on political matters, mostly on the Bulgarian Socialist Party and former interior minister Roumen Petkov.

Few years ago he made the news after his on-air public admission that he had served as a secret agent of the former communist secret police, working for Bulgaria's intelligence unit with a focus on former Yugoslavia and China.

Koritarov speaks fluent Chinese and Serbian. His confession on live television was prompted by Petkov's decision to reveal Koritarov's past, hidden in the archives of former communist State Security service which at the time were held by the Interior Ministry at the time that Petkov was the minister.

Koritarov alleged that this was a personal vendetta against him by Petkov because of Koritarov's negative comments about the ministry. Koritarov said that he had been forced by the communist secret services to join them after an incident in which he was involved while serving in the army.