Interior Minister Roumen Petkov said that the police had prevented five contract killings over the past year and busted five organised crime groups.

Petkov refused to specify the names of the potential victims and to give information on the uncovered groups, mediapool.bg said.

On June 16 Petkov had to present to the National Assembly the work done by his ministry over the past year and its efforts to fulfill European Commission recommendations.

The police had data of only nine murders and one attempted murder for the period from September 1 2005 to May 12 2006. Petkov said that there was evidence of only one contract killing in 2006. Crimes against children were 2726, mainly thefts. Over 1 800 of the cases had been solved, Petkov said.

The number of crime victims reduced by 1885 people compared to 2004. Petkov said that crime level in Bulgaria remained low and was below the European average.