Sofia  - Under fire at home and from Brussels over corruption problems and the slowness of reforms, embattled Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev reshuffled his cabinet on Thursday, replacing four ministers and introducing a deputy premier to control European Union (EU) aid.

Presenting his new ministers of interior, defence, health and agriculture, Stanishev told parliament that he was responding to the "expectations of Bulgarians."

The reshuffle, agreed earlier this week by the ruling coalition of Stanishev's Socialists, the centre-right National Movement and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms of ethnic Turks, came in the wake of problems which have sent the premier's ratings plummeting.

In the vote, 155 representatives of the ruling coalition backed the proposed reshuffle, while 74 opposition members voted against after describing it as "cosmetic" and "insubstantial."

In recent weeks, the EU suspended 450 million euros (720 million dollars) of aid to its new member Bulgaria and launched a probe into an alleged embezzlement of its funds. Brussels has also demanded that Bulgaria steps up its fight against organized crime.

"Corruption and organized crime have no place in the EU and they will not be tolerated," European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso said when he visited Sofia in late March.

That was followed by a parliamentary committee security paper which revealed links between top cabinet officials and the underworld. That forced the resignation of interior minister Rumen Petkov, and led to two high-profile assassinations in central Sofia.

An MBMD institute survey showed that four out of five Bulgarians believe government ministers are involved with crime, while Gallup pollsters said only 29 per cent of voters still back Stanishev.

After surviving a series of no-confidence motions since the government took over in 2005, Stanishev went into the second, deeper cabinet reshuffle in a bid to extend its life to full term.

In response to criticism from Brussels over the mishandling of funds, Bulgaria's ambassador to Germany, Meglena Plugchieva, was appointed deputy premier to control the spending of billions of dollars the EU has earmarked to help its least-developed member.

Petkov was replaced by Socialist floor leader, Mihail Mikov, while Valeri Tsvetanov replaced Nihat Kabil, who was embroiled in the EU funds scandal, as the farming minister.

Defence and health ministers Veselin Bliznakov and Radoslav Gaydarski were sacked over lagging reforms and were replaced by Nikolay Tsonev and Evgeniy Zhelev. (dpa)