Bulgaria's Justice Minister Margarita Popova did not hide her disappointment after parliament rejected a bill for a tougher crack-down on illegal assets, initiated by her and backed by Brussels.

The bill was hampered by the minister's party members in parliament, most of whom just did not turn up for the crucial vote.

The draft can be tabled in parliament again after three months at the earliest and only if significant changes are made in its main provisions.

"I am not going to offer amendments to the bill. Whoever wants to write a new bill, he is welcome to do it," Margarita Popova said after the vote in parliament.

"I do not know whether it would be the right thing to amend this version of the bill as it has been prepared jointly by Bulgarian experts and experts from the Council of Europe," she added.

The minister underlined that the bill has successfully received the seal of approval by the Venice Commission.

"Whoever wants to change the formula will have to sit down and write a brand new law," said Popova.

The law provided for Bulgarian authorities to have the right to seize unexplained wealth, worth more than BGN 150,000, without a conviction as of January 1, 2012.

The Council of Europe's Venice Commission recommended this timeline after approving the final, fifth version of the draft law in the middle of June.The commission called on Bulgaria's parliament to pass the new law by its summer recess.

The European Commission, which sees the legislation as a powerful weapon in the country's corruption combat, had set the same deadline.

The bill allowed the state Commission for Establishing of Property Acquired from Criminal Activity to probe the property and bank account of members of the families of people who cannot explain their sources of income in court and their partners.

Donations made in order to hide assets from the commission will also be subject to probes. Under the law transactions with criminally acquired property will be void and subject to forfeiture. So if the holders of illegal assets get rid of them by selling them quickly at low prices, buyers can also be held accountable.

The commission will have the right to launch investigations into incomes and acquisitions for the last fifteen years, the draft law says.

The body has seized assets worth BGN 10.8 M since its establishment in 2005.

The current center-right government of Bulgaria, led by Boyko Borisov, was elected almost two years ago on an anti-corruption mandate and on the promise to bring to justice those involved in huge-scale corruption schemes.

Some embezzlement trials against high-ranking officials have been widely considered to be a litmus test for the government's willingness to do so in practice, but most of them have ended with acquittals.

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