Relaxed visa regulations for holders of diplomatic and official passports, as well as business travellers and tourists from Russia and Ukraine coming to Bulgaria, came into force on Monday, announced the Council of Ministers.

The decision was announced by deputy foreign minister Meglena Kuneva, who is also Bulgaria's chief negotiator with the European Union.

"Businessmen will receive one-year multiple-entry visas, following submission of required documents," said Lyubomir Todorov, acting director of the Foreign Ministry's Consular Relations Directorate. A visa will cost an applicant $20 instead of $50.

Temporary visa offices will operate every summer in places in Russia serving as starting-points for frequent charter flights to Bulgaria. Their location will be determined on the basis of statistical information of the Ministry of Economy. Tourists will only be charged the administrative costs of visas, following the submission of the required documents.

Staff members of the diplomatic missions of Russia and Ukraine and their families will be allowed free entry and exit, and holders of diplomatic passports who do not work with these missions can travel visa-free.

"Bulgaria will probably be ready to introduce EU-standard visas in the first half of 2002," Todorov said. These will be the first visas in the world with an integrated photo, he said. There will be four types of visas: for airport transit, country transit, short-term stay, and long-term or permanent residence.

On Monday, Russia introduced a full-scale visa regime for Bulgarian travellers without any reciprocal relaxed visa regulations. "The reasons for this move, cited by the Russian authorities, are not political - they pertain to the functioning of Russian legislation," Todorov said. "Bilateral talks on an agreement to this end are currently underway. The agreement may be signed in January 2002 at the earliest."

Prices of visas for Bulgarians wishing to visit Russia will not be higher than prices set for entrance visas to Bulgaria. The Russian side will issue visas free of charge to locomotive brigades, participants in international schools and student exchanges below 16 years of age, and to students who have already registered in universities.

On their side, Ukrainian authorities introduced alleviations of the procedure for issuing visas to Bulgarian nationals. This decision came in response to the unilateral decision by the Bulgarian government to alleviate conditions for issuing visas to Ukrainian nationals, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesperson. In cases of emergency, visas will be issued to Bulgarians free of charge within a day.

Bulgarian nationals holding diplomatic and business passports will be allowed to enter, pass through and stay in Ukraine visa-free for 90 days at every visit, said Volodimir Kosii, general consul of Ukraine in Bulgaria. Bulgarian nationals, who hold diplomatic or other kinds of national passports and work at diplomatic or consular representative offices, in international organizations or trade-economic missions with a diplomatic representative office, are allowed to enter, stay and leave Ukraine visa-free for the whole term of their accreditation. Ship crews as well as crews in civil aviation are also allowed to enter Ukrainian territory visa-free.

According to Kosii these alleviations are introduced temporarily and will be valid until the new agreement on mutual travel for Bulgarian and Ukrainian nationals is in force.