“It is necessary to increase the salaries of the customs officers in Bulgaria, “Jim Williams, head of the team of Britain’s company “Crown Agents,” which was hired to reform the Bulgarian customs said. “You cannot expect from the people to perform their hard duties, connected with expectations for high morale and to pay them that low salaries, “ Williams commented. According to him the goal of the prepared by the company report for the customs aimed to set the basis for a three-year program of intensive reforms. He categorically refused to comment the information in the report that a criminal organization created a bank of its own that drained from the country some USD 20 M. Williams did not announce the name of the bank either. “We are convinced that if Bulgaria chooses to implement the Crown Agents recommendations, corruption will be significantly decreased, trade will become easier and the revenues from the customs will increase," he added. The consultants from British private company Crown Agents handed Finance Minister Milen Velchev their first report on the state of the Bulgarian customs April 12. Scandals related to the contract with Crown Agents shook Bulgaria after a series of transcripts from closed-door governmental meetings were published in Bulgaria’s daily Trud. The shorthand reports showed that the Cabinet was deliberately looking for ways to bypass the Public Procurement Act, which is normally applied for all government contracts. Finance Minister Milen Velchev and Crown Agents Executive Director David Philips signed on November 29 last year a three-year contract on the reform in the Bulgarian customs administration.