In Sofia on 3 November 2026, Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov spoke at a seminar entitled “Strengthening Asset Freezing and Confiscation as Tools in the Fight Against Organized Crime and Corruption,” warning that in a rule‑of‑law state, crime cannot lead to wealth and corruption cannot confer power or privilege. He praised the removal of Bulgaria from the Financial Action Task Force’s greylist, a development announced by Prime Minister Rumen Radev on 30 October, as key to restoring confidence in the state’s ability to combat money laundering and illicit flows.
Minister Naydenov stressed that the fight against organized crime must reach beyond punishing perpetrators to sever their financial foundations, cutting off illicit economic dependencies and access to acquired assets. He said “the goal is to deprive criminal networks of the resources that allow them to continue operating.” The forum, organized by the French Ministry of Justice, France’s Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets, and the French Embassy in Sofia, brought together judges, investigators and experts from France, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkiye.
Emphasizing legislative priorities, Naydenov noted that the correct and timely transposition of the EU directive on asset recovery and confiscation into Bulgarian law is paramount. He explained that former governments had failed to achieve the necessary reforms, and that the Ministry had developed a concept and prepared a bill during the summer. Public consultations on the draft were launched on 30 October.
Only BTA reported the removal of Bulgaria from the FATF greylist; no other outlets mentioned it in the available sources.
