ABSTRACT
This chapter explores organized crime-elite cooperation and the role of law en - forcement in the evolution of certain types of criminal organizations (called silovi grupirovki – ‘groups that use violence’) in Bulgaria during the 1990s.1 The use of violence and intimidation, which helped them dominate markets, has been a trademark for the silovi grupirovki throughout their history. These organizations emerged during the rapid transition from a state ‘command’ economy to a market economy in Bulgaria in the 1990s. While transition to the market economy entailed widespread transfer of state-owned assets into private hands, this transfer was not matched with the social and legal norms or the state institutions protecting the integrity of market transactions and property rights (Hill 2003: 8). This situation allowed the growth of silovi grupirovki, which along with other illicit activities provided extra-legal protection to property rights.
