Bulgaria implements anti-corruption measures to exit FATF grey list

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has reported progress on measures intended to remove the country from the FATF grey list. The government is focusing on combating money laundering, corruption, and the shadow economy ahead of an upcoming FATF report and visit to Bulgaria.

A key component of this strategy is the ‘Sigma’ initiative, a tool designed to increase transparency in financial flows. The system has already processed nearly 200,000 public procurement contracts, revealing that over 30% of these had only a single bidder. The government aims to reduce this figure and plans to link the Sigma system with the Commercial Register to trace connections that could lead to corrupt practices.

Further measures include monitoring for price anomalies in public procurement and introducing reference prices for water, sanitation, road repairs, and construction. The administration is also working on digitalizing and coordinating data between the toll system, customs, and the National Revenue Agency to prevent corruption rather than just investigating it after the fact.