The Bulgarian government has suspended the agreement on a visa-free regime for Russians with official passports, RIA Novosti reports with reference to Bulgarian National Television.
The country's authorities have decided to partially suspend one of the provisions of the agreement between the two countries on mutual trips of citizens. With the adoption of this decision, holders of valid diplomatic and service passports from Russia will be prohibited from visa-free entry, exit, transit and temporary stay in the country.
Service passports are issued, in particular, to employees of the presidential administration and state corporations, as well as employees of the apparatus of the State Duma, the Federation Council and the government, who are sent on a business trip.
According to the channel, the visa regime for holders of diplomatic passports from Russia in Bulgaria was introduced on February 25. Now the restrictions will apply to the holders of official passports.
In April, SOTA discovered a contract on a public procurement website for the purchase of nearly 175,000 forms of strict reporting "for government needs." It turned out that these are diplomatic passports. Holders of these documents can enter a number of countries, including those participating in the Schengen Agreement, under a simplified form.