The Defense Ministry’s check into the causes of the blasts in the army warehouse on July 3, which caused panic and damages around Sofia was extended by two weeks, Defense Minister Nikolai Tsonev told a news conference on July 8 2008 as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

The results of the check were supposed to be announced today but according to Tsonev it was not thorough enough and it could not make accurate conclusions as to what caused the incident.

He did say that a total of six private companies had worked with the warehouse that used to store army shells and cartridges. The check looked into all that has happened at the warehouse since 2002, Tsonev said and this was why it needed more time.

It was too early to talk about who was responsible for the incident, Tsonev said according to Dnevnik.

Hours before the news conference Nikola Stanev, a former employee at the warehouse, told commercial Nova TV that he sent several reports dating back to 1997/98 to his superiors in the army and to the then Defense Minister Boiko Noev about cases of embezzlement at the warehouse. Tsonev said that he has ordered a probe into Stanev’s claims.

Noev told Nova TV that he has never seen the reports sent to him by Stanev. “If these reports have been stopped somewhere along the line than this is something outrageous,” Noev said.