Dmitrii Minev aka the Russian, one of the founders of Bulgaria's obsolete ex-grouping SIC, who was shot dead in 2004, held an American citizenship as well, a diplomatic cable of the US embassy in Sofia has revealed.

"The Bulgarian Ministry of Interior estimates that 110 organized criminal groups presently operate in Bulgaria, and their influence and power appear to be growing. In the past two years, Bulgaria has experienced approximately 30 high-profile assassinations between rival organized crime groups, with law enforcement manifesting little ability to intervene," the then US Ambassador to Sofia James Pardew writes in the cable, sent in April 2004.

Two of the assassinated were Bulgarians who had acquired U.S. citizenship: Iliya Pavlov, owner of MG Corporation, a major Bulgarian organized crime cartel that also operates numerous legitimate businesses; and Dimitri Minev, founder of SIC insurance company, which engaged in extortion, racketeering, trafficking of humans and drugs, money laundering, and other illegal activities.

Dmitrii Minev, dubbed Dimata Rusnaka (the Russian), was shot dead in broad daylight on a flocked downtown street in the capital city in October 2004.

There are three main versions on the way of shooting Minev, including that the murderer fired out the deadly bullet from the second storey of a department store, from a car passing by or right on the street from a place close to the outgoing man and his dozen bodyguards.

The murder was the eighteenth deadly case of a spate of killings of alleged underworld figures in Bulgaria since the beginning of 2004.

In the diplomatic cable Ambassador Pardew comments that Bulgarian criminal activity already has a direct and increasing impact on the United States, which is likely to continue even after Bulgaria's planned EU entry in 2007.

The Embassy in Sofia requests continued U.S. criminal justice assistance following SEED graduation.

According to the Ambassador while Bulgaria has made progress in fighting transnational crime, due in large measure to U.S. assistance, reform of its criminal justice system will be far from complete by 2007 and Bulgaria will not then be in a position to protect U.S. interests.

FULL text of the diplomatic cable READ HERE