At its regular meeting on Wednesday, the Bulgarian government approved additional expenses to the budget of the Sports Ministry for 2016 amounting to BGN 2.6 M.

The financial aid is provided for organising and holding the men's volleyball world championship in 2018 which will be co-hosted by Bulgaria and Italy

Bulgaria needs a total of USD 5 M to co-host the championship, which will be paid over the 2016-2018 period, with the sum allocated this year amounting to BGN 2.6 M.

Four Bulgarian cities will host matches from the tournament – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Ruse, while the final match will be played in Turin.

A total of 24 teams are expected to compete at the 19^th edition of the championship, which is expected to attract great interest among Bulgaria and foreign spectators and to consolidate the country's authority among the world sports community.

The tournament is also to have a positive impact on the development and popularisation of Bulgarian sport and provide Bulgarian sportsmen with opportunity to show their skills.

Bulgaria and Italy are expected to have no problems in organising the tournament after having co-hosted the men's volleyball European championship last year.

Also on Wednesday, the government allocated BGN 35 M to the construction of the multi-purpose sports hall Arena Burgas.

The cabinet amended a decision from 2014 which had allocated BGN 35 M to the reconstruction and modernisation of the Winter Sports Palace in Sofia.

However the reconstruction of the Winter Sports Palace has not been realised in the past years due to arising administrative proceedings.

Therefore, the government decided to redirect the funds and invest them in the realisation of an alternative project of national importance – the hall in Burgas.

In 2014, Burgas municipality began the project for the construction of the multi-purpose sports hall.

The municipality secured the initial funding, but the project was suspended as there is need to provide additional funding and find suitable partner to manage the project.