The Interior Ministry is short of over BGN 90 M, according to Interior Minister, Tsvetlin Yovchev.

Speaking in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television Friday, Yovchev stated his institution was working hard on finding ways to pay police officers assigned to provide security at the mass protest rallies, held for three weeks now in the capital Sofia.

He pledged the funds will be found.

The Minister explained police officers have been working for 22 days nearly without breaks with workdays lasting 12-16 hours and with all overtime standards exceeded. In order to provide some shift rotation, police force from around the country has been deployed to Sofia.

"The Prime Minister is fully aware of the problems faced by the Interior Ministry and has made a personal commitment to secure funds for overtime pay ASAP. My subordinates are dealing with the protests in an excellent manner and I thank them. They are under heavy work overload and pressure, and despite colleagues from other cities helping, breaks are not enough, but they remain on duty and do a great job," said Yovchev.

He commented on the increased security measures around the Parliament, saying they were needed to prevent attempts of violence against Members of the Parliament.

The Interior Ministry is celebrating its 134th anniversary Friday.

One policeman died from a heart attack Wednesday amidst mass anti-government protest rallies in Sofia.

Bulgarians are protesting Friday for the 22nd day in a row.

The series of anti-government protests in Bulgaria was triggered by the scandalous appointment of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

Although the appointment was revoked, the people went on to demand that the cabinet resign collectively over ties with oligarchs.

Protesters are also calling for Election Code amendments which will guarantee greater representation of the people in Parliament.