Bulgaria's consular service and visa bureaus have issued a record number of visas to citizens of a several former Soviet states – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Moldova – the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced.

In the period between January 1 and August 8, 2012, Bulgaria issued more than 341 000 visas to citizens of the Russian Federation, a 11% increase year-on-year, as a total of 307 791 visas were issued to Russians in the same period of 2011.

In all of 2011, Bulgaria was visited by some 450 000 Russians, with tourism officials expecting their total number to reach 600 000 by the end of 2012.

In the first seven months of 2012, the Bulgarian consular offices in Ukraine issued a total of 164 000 visas, a 41% increase year-on-year; only the Bulgarian Consulate in Kiev issues about 3000 visas daily at present, the Foreign Ministry said.

The greatest percentage increase in the number of Bulgarian visas for former Soviet states goes to Belarus with almost 52 000 visas in the first seven months of 2012 – an 80% increase year-on-year, with 29 000 visas in the same period of 2011.

Kazakhstan has also seen a tangible increase even though the absolute numbers are not as great – Bulgaria granted 4 300 visas to Kazakhstan citizens in January-July 2012, an increase of 32% compared with the 3 200 visas issued in the same period of last year.

In the first seven months of 2012, Bulgaria gave 38 760 visas to citizens of Moldova, a 11% increase year-on-year.

Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry points out that there is a permanent growing trend in the number of tourists from the former Soviet countries visiting Bulgaria. It adds that in order to facilitate the visa process it has sent additional 29 Bulgarian employees to its visa bureaus in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Moldova, and has hired temporarily 30 locals.

The ministry reminds that in early 2012, at its initiative, the Bulgarian government eased up the visa regime for these countries by deciding to recognize the so called Schengen visas (even though Bulgaria is not part of the Schengen Agreement yet), allowing them to travel to Bulgaria without a Bulgarian visa.

In a separate new measure, as of July 1, 2012, the citizens of Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova are entitled to receiving a one-year Bulgarian visa for multiple travel if they visited Bulgaria in 2011.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry concludes that it has not received any reports of canceled charter flights or group visits by tourists from the former Soviet states over the lack of visas.