The Bulgarian government has launched a new ‘anti-corruption portal’ aimed at providing citizens with a convenient – and anonymous – means of reporting incidences of corruption. Officially announced just before Christmas, the government's anticorruption portal – www.anticorruption.bg – had already received 90 corruption reports by mid-January. Complainants are given the option to decide whether they wish to identify themselves or not. The government guarantees anonymity and has assured users that it has not installed any software capable of tracking down the source computer. The greatest number of complaints received to date concern medical professionals, policemen and customs officers. School teachers, managers of state-owned enterprises and municipal officials are also among those reported for corruption offences. However, so far there have been no complaints against senior government officials. Most of the cases reported seem to concern small-scale corruption. The web portal has implemented measures to ensure that each case is properly followed up. Once submitted, a corruption report cannot be erased from the system. The site offers track-and-trace functionality enabling complainants to see what happens next. Once the ball starts rolling, it becomes quite serious. Rather than just being published, the submitted reports are forwarded to the internal compliance units of the institutions concerned (known as inspectorates) for detailed investigation. There is a statutory period of two months within which the inspectorates must provide feedback. The period can be extended for cases of greater complexity.

At the end of the day, if the circumstances of the case are duly verified and confirmed, the wrongdoer is penalised. Depending on the gravity of the case, sanctions can vary from administrative measures to imprisonment.

The site is sponsored by USAID and forms part of the government's overall anti-corruption strategy. Other key state institutions in Bulgaria also maintain their own facilities for citizens to submit corruption complaints. These include the Ministry of Interior (http://nocorr.mvr.bg/), the Ministry of Defence (hotline), and the Commission for Protection of Competition (http://www.cpc.bg/public/index.php?id=2363).

Further information:

• Government Portal (in Bulgarian)
• Anticorruption Portal (in Bulgarian)
• Ministry of Interior (in Bulgarian)
• Commission for Protection of Competition (in Bulgarian)