Mr. Kirk Kirkov is the Chief Executive Officer of UMICORE MED and the President of the Bulgarian International Business Association (BIBA). Before assuming the position at UMICORE, he was part of the Amylum Group from 1998-2000, as General Manager of the Balkan based (Bulgaria) joint venture Company "Eastarch" (Amylum/Tate & Lyle and Archer Daniel Midland). As a Plant Operations Manager of GNR Technologies, Montreal, Canada, 1996-1997, he managed all aspects of operations and Research & Development for a $5 million plant manufacturing molded rubber products for the highway safety and construction industries.

On August 8, 2003, Kirkov was stabbed twice by an unidentified attacker while in the town of Bansko.

Kirk Kirkov spoke to Milena Hristova, Editor-in-Chief of novinite.com and The News

Q: What exactly happened that night on August 8? Several days ago you commented that some of the reports in the media were not correct...

It was Friday evening, about 10 pm on August 8. Together with my wife and two children I was heading back to the hotel, where we were staying while in Bansko. Before I could understand what was going on, the man stabbed me twice in the back and ran away. The attack came out of the blue. This was no rage incident and was not preceded by any conflicts between the two of us.

Fortunately the wounds turned out to be quite harmless as the knife had landed on muscle tissue.

There were reports that my kidney and lungs have been hurt in the attack and this is not true. Media used initial information not supported by any explanations.

Q: How do you feel now?

I feel fine already and am back to work. As I told friends I am in good shape but the doctors' inspection was obligatory. I stayed at home for a while as I did not want to run the risk of infecting the wound.

Q: What do you think are the reasons behind the attack on you?

A: The investigation is still underway. One of the versions is that one rather unstable person has been provoked in some way by my actions. My initial version was that this was a revenge because somebody's interests have been threatened.

For the last five years we have been making efforts to make more transparent our partnership framework, which is the right approach on our way to global economy, to Europe. This however may not be to the taste of some of the companies we are dealing with. For some traders the line between corporate and criminal interests in very slim. But the rules of the game cannot be dictated by one person.

Q: Is this the first such incident with an official from the company?

A: Yes. All signals about conflicts that we get are referred to a central unit, which works closely with Bulgaria's Interior Ministry.

Q: How do you assess the work of the Interior Ministry in these cases?

A: I assess highly the work of the Interior Ministry. In my case in particular they managed to map out the most important possible motives - from corporate interests to organized crime.

The Interior Ministry is often subjected to a lot of criticism, but it is not always justified. The point is not that we lock up somebody in prison. What matters most is that such incidents are prevented in the future.

Q: Do such incidents hurt Bulgaria's image abroad?

Mass media have an important role to play in this and bear great responsibility. Such incidents hurt Bulgaria's image abroad if the matter is not handled professionally.

I hold a Canada's citizenship and I remember a similar incident in Canada when my roommate was stabbed. This did not turn the city into a dangerous place.

We complain a lot about the high rate of crimes, but forget that what is usually considered serious crimes are not met often in the country. People have unrealistically high expectations and do not realize that considerable improvements will become a fact after ten-fifteen years.

I wish that that this bad incident would not be allowed to hurt Bulgaria's image abroad.

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