Professor named as Bulgaria's interim premier

Sofia - A Bulgarian law professor and former Socialist lawmaker was named caretaker prime minister on Tuesday for two months as the Balkan state grapples with the fallout of its worst banking crisis since the 1990s.

Georgi Bliznashki, 57, took over as premier while Rumen Porozhanov, a 49-year-old former senior civil servant, will be finance minister, President Rosen Plevneliev said in a televised statement.

The interim government follows the resignation of the Socialist-led coalition at the end of July, paving the way for a snap election on October 5, the second in less than two years.

Full audit

Bliznashki inherits huge problems to sort out. Bulgaria has in the past year struggled with sluggish economic growth, months of street protests against corruption, a diplomatic dispute over the Russian-led South Stream pipeline, deadly floods and a sovereign credit rating downgrade in June.

Most pressing is the fate of Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank), Bulgaria's fourth largest lender, which was hit by a run on deposits in June. It remains shut pending a full audit into its books ordered by the central bank.

Efforts by the outgoing government to rescue the lender were scuppered by parliament last month and there is no agreement yet on to what extent the bank's depositors and bondholders will be protected in a possible state rescue.