Next year Bulgaria will witness many new initiatives which will improve the living standards of Bulgarian citizens, Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told a 3000-odd Socialist gathering in Sofia in commemoration of the Labour Day on May 1.

He also promised the state would exercise tighter control to ensure due respect for labourers’ rights and higher income, Bulgarian state-owned broadcaster BNT reported.

Particular attention would be paid to pensioners, he said, adding that workers’ rights would be protected in co-operation with local trade unions.

Representatives of trade unions were supportive of Stanishev’s promises, byut requested that the Cabinet create conditions that would lure young émigrés back home and ensure no one died at his working place, referring to the recent Labour and Social Policy Ministry proposal to raise the age of retirement to 68 years.