Bulgaria’s right-wing Blue Coalition has urged President Georgi Purvanov to call off a planned trip to Australia and New Zealand, saying that the "exotic" expedition cannot be justified at a time when the Government is trying to cut costs – and in any case, Bulgaria sells the Antipodes little more than a bit of cheese.
 
Speaking to journalists in Parliament, Blue Coalition MP Assen Agov said that estimates were that the trip by Purvanov, who would be accompanied by a delegation, would cost 500 000 leva.
 
Bulgaria was facing an economic crisis and it would be appropriate for the head of state to be seen to be cutting costs along with Government departments, Agov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian news agency BTA. Trade relations with Australia and New Zealand were too scant to justify the trip, he said.
 
Agov said that, in any case, the head of state of both Australia and New Zealand lived in London – England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
 
The plan to go to Australasia was as puzzling as Purvanov having travelled to Izmir in Turkey to watch a volleyball match, and his recent trip to Cyprus, Agov said, adding that there was a lack of clarity about how much money was spent on presidential travel, and how it was paid for.
 
President Purvanov’s office released a 470-word media statement responding to the Blue Coalition’s statements.
 
According to the statement, Purvanov’s visits to Korea, from October 25 to 27, and to Australia from October 28 to 31, had been planned in advance as part of the President’s foreign policy activities for 2009.
 
Purvanov’s office denied that he planned to visit New Zealand.
 
"During the visits to these countries, President Georgi Purvanov will hold a series of meetings with leaders of relevant countries, representatives of executive and legislative authorities, representatives of business circles. The President will be accompanied by ministers, mayors and representatives of Bulgarian business," the statement said.

Korea, for instance, would include meetings with prestigious business associations, a visit to Hyundai factories, and bilateral agreements on culture and education, social security and protection of classified information would be signed, according to the statement. 

Australia, which was being visited at the invitation of its governor-general, would see Purvanov meet the prime minister, heads of the two houses of parliament, and leader of the opposition. Purvanov would speak at a forum organised by the European-Australian Business Council.
 
"President Purvanov will meet with representatives of the Bulgarian community in Australia, numbering more than 12 000," his office said.
 
The President’s administration, the statement said, had ordered savings on spending, first by 10 per cent and later a further 15.76 per cent "on the express order" of Purvanov. The budget cuts ordered came to 31.76 per cent, according to the statement.
 
Spending on foreign trips was within the limits set by Parliament, Purvanov’s office said.
 
Purvanov had gone to watch volleyball in Izmir at his own expense, the statement said, and the visit to Cyprus had been an official one at the invitation of his counterpart.