Organized crime is the most serious problem facing Bulgaria, according to former United States Ambassador to Sofia James Pardew, fresh diplomatic cables on Wikileaks say.

The cables were published by the Guardian newspaper late on Wednesday together with a package of documents on Russia, which paint a gloomy picture of a corrupt country centered around the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

The cable, dated July 7, 2005, to the State Department – including a request that the Homeland Security passes it to the Secret Service – says that since the fall of Communism in 1989 and the turbulent 1990s, Bulgaria's organized crime scene has undergone major changes, much like the rest of Bulgaria's economic, political, and social landscape, but still has connections to Russian organized crime, including the notorious Russian crime figure, Michael Chorny.

"Russia continues to exercise significant influence over the Bulgarian economy through energy imports, including crude oil, natural gas and nuclear fuel," reads the cable, sent at the end of the term of the centrist government of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg.

"XXXXXXXXXXXX Despite the fact that he is no longer the owner of XXXXXXXXXXXX Russian mobster Michael Chorny is thought to retain influence over the company through his ties to members of XXXXXXXXXXXX," it points out (the names are deleted).

According to the cable money laundering, drug trafficking and counterfeiting are hampering the economic development of the country.

FULL text of the latest diplomatic cables on Wikileaks about Bulgaria READ HERE

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