Businessman Krasimir Nikolov was shot in front of his home in the town of Vratsa on Thursday night.

Nikolov was shot six times by a masked gunman, with the bullets wounding him in the arms, legs and abdomen.

He was immediately transported to the emergency department of the hospital in Vratsa where his condition was stabilised.

At the request of his relatives, he was transported to Sofia and admitted to the Military Medical Academy where he is undergoing treatment.

Nikolov, who is considered as one of the wealthiest people in Vratsa, runs a transport business and is not known to have a criminal record.

The police is still searching for the perpetrator and weapon of the crime.

The shooting occurred despite the heightened police presence in the city and it comes as Vratsa has not yet recovered from the death of 18-year-old Todor Yordanov, who died after being beaten by two men in the centre of the city last week.

This is the latest in a wave of crimes across the country since the beginning of the year, including the murder of suspected mobster Veselin Stoimenov and the owner of a fashion company Aleksandar Antov in Sofia earlier this month.