SOFIA: Bulgaria on Friday recalled its envoy to the United Arab Emirates over his alleged links to a corruption scheme and private jet flights worth millions taken by a sanctioned MP. The move followed a demand by Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who has pledged to fight graft. Bulgaria is among the lowest ranking EU countries on watchdog Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Radev’s government has opened a probe into opposition lawmaker Delyan Peevski, who is accused by critics of having shadowy influence over the media, the judiciary and the security services. Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said Friday the probe found that a shell company was used to pay for more than five million dollars’ worth of private jet flights taken by Peevski. The company — owned by the father of UAE ambassador Ivan Yordanov — received funds from four firms that won state contracts for supplying and installing road guardrails, Demerdzhiev told a press briefing. The contracts were worth more than 400 million euros and were subsequently indexed upward by more than 150 million euros. Peevski, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom for corruption, told reporters in parliament that the allegations were false and that “my family and I paid for my flights”. Radev became prime minister after his Progressive Bulgaria won parliamentary elections in April on promises to fight corruption.