The cost of living of one Bulgarian Ambassador is estimated at EUR 65 000 a year, according to data of the Foreign Policy Ministry from its budget 2011.

The amount includes business trips, health insurance, rent and family expenses.

Bulgarian missions in Switzerland, Korea, and Australia are among the most expensive. Rent amounts to BGN 150 000 a year and is the highest in New York, Munich and Rome.

The Foreign Ministry plans to save on expenses by hiring local people as maintenance at missions abroad instead of sending employees from Bulgaria. The Ministry has so far saved BGN 300 000 from this measure.

The terms of nearly 40 Bulgarian Ambassadors (including 14 for the month of January) expire in 2011. The situation remains unclear over the refusal of President, Georgi Parvanov, to recall Ambassadors who were exposed as agents of collaborators of the former Communist State Security (DS).

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