Bulgaria maintains one of the largest and most costly for the taxpayers' armies in the EU, according to a report of the Council of Ministers about the state of the Army in 2009.

The report, published Wednesday, further shows that the amount per serviceman is, however, several times lower than in other countries, members of the European Union, and the army shows a steady trend of being behind in technology and modern equipment.

Bulgaria is second in the EU by the number of servicemen per capita (45 from every 10 000), only behind Greece (119 per 10 000). In comparison, Romania has 35 servicemen per 10 000 people while Austria has 12.

Bulgaria is also among the leaders by the amount from the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slated for defense – 2%, again only behind Greece with 2.5%. Ireland, the last one on the ranking, uses only 0.58% from the GDP.

The report notes that in absolute amount the annual expenses of the country per capita create the impression that the Bulgarian taxpayer is not bearing a large burden when it comes to defense, because the number is 4 times lower than the EU average. However, if one takes into account the population's purchasing power, the expenses equal these of Lithuania, Hungary and Ireland.

Bulgaria spends EUR 10 586 per serviceman per year, compared to Romania with EUR 18 781. The amount is 2 times lower than the one in Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia, 4 times lower than the one in the Czech Republic and 5 times lower than the EU average.

The Army spends for equipment, military research and technologies EUR 4 940 per year per serviceman while this amount in Austria is EUR 34 435, placing the armed forces far behind other NATO members and creating obstacles for their compliance with the Alliance.

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