The salaries of all the employees of Pirogov emergency hospital will be raised by 30 percent, starting May 20 2008, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev announced during his visit to the centre on May 5.

According to the PM, eight million leva were to be allocated for the emergency centre, for new equipment and for repair of the old in 2008.

Stanishev and new Health Minister Evgeni Zhelev visited Pirogov to check how the centre was functioning during the long holidays, mediapool.bg said. Pirogov services nearly 50 000 patients annually.

All other medical workers in the Health Ministry system would receive a 15 per cent increase in their salaries starting May 1 2008, mediapool.bg also said. They would receive another 10 per cent increase on July 1 together with everyone working in state-owned companies and institutions.

Thus, the average salary at Pirogov would reach 1500 leva for medics and 800 leva for nurses, Dimitar Radenovski, director of Pirogov, said.