Branches of 12 foreign universities operate illegally in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Education and Science announced in a press release last Friday.

Deputy Minister Atanas Gerdjikov said that those branches do not conform with the Bulgarian requirements for higher education and the diplomas they offer are illegitimate. He added that the list of universities has been handed over to the prosecutor's office.

According to the released document, the Icom-Intellect company grants graduation diplomas on behalf of the U.S. Cook's Institute and is one of the 12 unlicensed branches, the Ministry announced. Anton Georgiev, public relations officer with the local Sofia branch of the university refused to make a statement to The Echo on Wednesday. "We would not like to be misunderstood," he said.

The International Educational Centre issues diplomas of the International University of Moscow. "We see a completely illogical attitude of the Ministry of Education which has not been supported with any arguments at all," said Todor Panov, co-founder of the branch in Sofia. He explained that people lacking the necessary information about distance learning should first inform themselves before commenting. It is absolutely impossible that the type of learning that the branch provides is illegal, he explained. "We are a part of an accredited university and, according to the Educational Law from 1972, all certificates and diplomas issued by both countries are legitimate."

The Distance Learning Centre grants diplomas on behalf of City University in Seattle, U.S. Nikolai Nikolov, coordinator of the university for Eastern Europe, explained that it made no sense to cast doubt over an American accredited university. "We do not grant any diplomas, we simply provide assistance to people willing to get an American accredited diploma without attending the actual university in Seattle," he explained.