Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil got his apology from architect Georgi Yanev who said that the level of corruption within Kabil's ministry was "frightening".

Yanev was the architect responsible for the corruption tip-off which led to the arrest of two directors of the National Road Infrastructure Fund (NRIF). The two had demanded bribes of 50 000 leva and were arrested shortly after receiving the first tranche of 25 000 leva on January 25.

Yanev made his allegation at a ceremony at the Interior Ministry, where Interior Minister Roumen Petkov handed him a ceremonial dagger for his "valiant deed".

Kabil had demanded that Yanev produced proof of his allegations by February 5. When he did not receive this proof, Kabil demanded an apology from the architect within 24 hours, threatening to go to the prosecutor if Yanev would not apologise.

"Under immense pressure I made a statement which I could not prove. I apologise to Kabil for damaging the image of the ministry” Yanev told Bulgarian news agency BTA on February 5.

Yanev said after his name had been exposed, despite a promise of anonymity by the police, he had been afraid for his life. He said he had not received concrete threats, only hints. At his own request, police protection he had received after his tip-off, had been lifted.

Yanev asked to have the documentation of his application, which had been the cause of the bribes, returned. At the moment, he said, he could not continue with his application to change of status of this plot of land.

Meanwhile, the union of architects in Bulgaria issued a media statement in it said it would "support every civil or professional act which would oppose corruption in Bulgaria."