UPDATE 3-Bulgaria's GERB set for coalition talks on Tuesday
* GERB party set to start coalition talks as soon as Tuesday
* Likely partner is Blue Coalition of small rightist parties
* Party leader Borisov: budget, graft reform is first task
(Recasts, adds EU's Barroso, details)
SOFIA, July 6 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party was set for coalition talks as soon as Tuesday after winning Sunday's national election, officials said, with the new government's top tasks being tackling corruption and recession.
Victory for GERB -- Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria -- came on a promise to uproot the deep-seated crime that prompted the European Union last year to cut aid, capitalising on voter anger over the Socialist-led government's failure to stem graft and prevent economic pain.
Party leader Boiko Borisov, 50, a burly Sofia mayor nicknamed Batman after the fictional superhero due to his zeal for action, said he would lead the next government and reiterated his campaign promises to move fast on reforms.
"Those who have stolen should be very afraid ... The thieves will go to jail," Borisov, a former bodyguard, told reporters.
CHRONIC PROBLEMS
A new government must quickly convince Brussels it can overhaul the judiciary to avoid fresh EU sanctions on aid, badly needed to fund Bulgaria's cash-strapped economy.
The EU executive Commission reminded Sofia on Monday about the importance of pushing ahead with reforms.
"(Bulgaria) is now in the critical phase of its European reform and its European membership," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
GERB's government will also have to win back the trust of investors, many of whom sold off Bulgarian assets this year, by slashing government spending and probably also negotiating on loans with the International Monetary Fund.
Borisov was quick to reassure investors that "updating the budget was the first thing" his government would do, addressing concerns that Bulgaria might jeopardise its currency peg to the euro by moving into deficit after years of surpluses. Continued...
