Interior Minister Mihail Mikov refused to comment on the reports that the son of businessman Kiro Kirov has paid a total of 620 000 euro to the kidnappers who got away with money after police failed to stop them, Bulgarian news agency Focus said on April 13.

Kirov, 73, has been missing since March 27, with neither the police nor his family admitting that he was kidnapped and held for ransom. Speculation in the Bulgarian media have said that kidnappers have asked for at least one million euro in ransom.

On April 13, Bulgarian-language daily Standart said that in the late hours of April 11, Kirov's son left a bag with 620 000 euro under a bridge on Trakiya highway near Sofia. That happened after Kirov received several orders from kidnappers to change the place of the drop because they could see that he was being followed by the police.

Kidnappers lifted the money with a hook and disappeared in the night driving a 4x4 BMW with police failing to make an arrest. Kirov has remained missing, Standard said, quoting unnamed sources at the Interior Ministry.

Asked to comment on the report, Mikov said that he could neither confirm nor deny the information about a police operation regarding Kirov. He said that Kirov's disappearance was a subject of too much media attention and he did not find it appropriate to comment on the issue.

Concerning the newspaper's allegation that at least one police officer was involved in the kidnapping, Mikov asked the newspaper to present proof of its claim.