Former Interior Minister of Bulgaria (2005-2008), Rumen Petkov is presented as a “hard working, hard drinking”, controversial figure, related to political corruption and russian intelligence in a WikiLeaks diplomatic cable released by the Wikileaks partner Bivol.bg also published on balkanleaks.eu

Before his appointment as a Minister, Petkov was the mayor of the central Bulgarian city of Pleven where he was “dogged by scandals, some serious and some — like his late night arrest for urinating in a public fountain –simply illustrative of his unpolished style” – wrote the American ambassador in Sofia.

Rumen Petkov became one of the most influential personalities in the Bulgarian government under PM Stanishev (2005-2009).

His past associations with controversial figures may make it difficult for him to move against certain Organized Crime interests – the Ambassador John Bayrle reported. He also believes Petkov has “long been publicly associated with Russians who are either directly or indirectly affiliated with Russian intelligence,”

While Petkov was a Minister “The five largest organized crime groups in Bulgaria (TIM, VIS, SIC, Nove Holding, and Multigroup) … generally operated with impunity,” Bayrle stated.

Petkov resigned in April 2008 after a huge political scandal following the revelation that he met with The Galevi Brothers, alleged drug lords. Despite the strong evidence that Petkov protected alleged criminals and shady alcool business from justice, Petkov was never investigated by the prosecutor office.

In November 2008 Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed dismay at former Bulgarian interior minister Rumen Petkov’s public insult of journalist Jurgen Roth and call for violence against him. Petkov said of Roth: “The liar, the slanderer, the spineless swindler must be hit in the mouth, the hands and all parts of his body.” The tirade by Petkov, was prompted by Roth’s book, “The new Bulgarian demon”s, that has just been published in Sofia.

In the past months, Petkov and current US Ambassador James Warlick have engaged in a furious war of words that flared after the US envoy alleged the Socialist’s visa was withdrawn on grounds of an investigation carried out against him, but refused to specify the details. – Bulgarian news site Novinite.com wrote.

“In an interview for the private TV channel bTV, Petkov, who is currently a Member of the Parliament from the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), called the Ambassador “trash, liar, and drug addict,” fueling further the long-running battle between the two.”

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