Bulgarian duty-free shops could be managed by foreign partners, or they could continue to function by including duties, excise taxes, and VAT in their prices.

These measures were proposed by the chair of the Duty-Free Traders' Association Radostin Genov, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

"If there are any suspicions let us find an honest partner approved by the government from any EU member state to manage these stores", Genov said with respect to the decision of the three-way coalition council on Sunday to close all duty-free stores in Bulgaria.

The governing coalition took this decision after the European Commission criticized Bulgaria for failing to achieve progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime in its interim report. The Commission pointed explicitly to the duty-free stores on Bulgaria's external EU borders as pockets favoring and aiding organized crime activities.

Genov also stated that the closing down of duty-free shops meant the taking of economic decisions with political decrees.

The government approved the coalition's decision to close the duty-free stores on Wednesday with a special bill tabled by Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski.

As Oresharski had announced on Tuesday, the cabinet decided formally on Wednesday that all duty-free stores and duty-free gas stations on Bulgaria's land borders were to be closed within three months of the approval of the bill by the cabinet.

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