The Bulgarian Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) said on December 7 2009 that it needed four million leva from the state Budget over three years to continue operations.

If the requested funds are allocated, the four million leva would be used towards the modernisation of the mountain rescue services' headquarters and for the purchase of new equipment, Hristo Grigorov, head of the Bulgarian Red Cross, was quoted as saying by Focus news agency. The MRS is part of the Bulgarian Red Cross and is the sole entity mandated by the Government, to carry out rescue operations in mountainous areas.

The Bulgarian state had the obligation to create an emergency helicopter rescue network that would cover the entire country, which required additional funding, Focus said. Currently, helicopter mountain rescue in Bulgaria is performed on a sporadic basis, amounting to just one or two cases annually, according to Grigorov.

The MRS could face a shortfall in revenue for the 2009/10 winter season if it was a warm winter, as the service is paid based on the number rescue operations it carries out. More than 40 per cent of the MRS budget is tourist-generated revenue, funds collected from tourists who were provided medical assistance following ski and other incidents.

In March 2008, the MRS and the Bulgarian Red Cross sent a joint letter to the Finance Ministry asking for additional funding, which was rejected.

This time around, the MRS said it was hopeful that the new Cabinet would be more co-operative, so that the safety of tourists could be improved, the organisation said.