SOFYA, April 13. /TASS/. Bulgaria plans to start issuing tourist visas to Russians within 48 hours, Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said in a TV interview on Friday.

"Politics has been influencing [the tourism market] but we are trying to give proper responses to that," she said. "Turkey is our main rival as its tourist industry has government support and it can make particularly good tourist offers as. We cannot do that but we have been making efforts [to keep Russian tourists coming] because Bulgaria remains one of the popular destinations among Russian tourists," the minister added.

Angelkova also said that the Bulgarian Tourism Ministry had transferred additional funds to the Foreign Ministry in order to speed up the issuance of visas. "More consular staff will work in Russia so it will be possible to issue visas within 48 hours," the minister added.