These are some of the top headlines in Bulgarian newspapers on July 28 2008. The Sofia Echo has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Politics

- The projects that lost funding from the European Union’s Phare, Ispa and Sapard pre-accession programmes because of malfeasances and alleged corruption were now going to  be funded by the budget surplus, Dnevnik daily said.

- A new body was going to control European Union funds utilisation in Bulgaria, Dnenvik said. Seven of the most well-respected audit companies, along with the World Bank, would be invited for the  purpose, as a response to the European Commission’s report on Bulgaria.

- Bulgaria is the only new EU member that has not improved its corruption index after its accession to the union, Transparency International Bulgaria executive director Diana Kovacheva said, as quoted by Sega daily. Society is still convinced that political parties and the judicial system are the most corrupt institutions in the country.

Social

- Two high-level officials in the Customs Agency were going to be dismissed, Monitor daily said. According to the agency’s head Hristo Koulishev, both did not meet the new standards  introduced in the agency.

Economy

- Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov prolonged by one year the ban on construction and other activities in the coastal region of Irakli-Emine, Dnevnik said. The region is included in the European environmental network Natura 2000.

- A total of 20 malls are being constructed at the moment, seven of which are in smaller cities with a population of less than 200 000 people, consultancy company Forton data showed, as quoted by Dnevnik.