SOFIA, October 30. /TASS/. A Russian diplomat who Sofia declared a persona non grata on Tuesday left Bulgaria on Wednesday, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.

"The Russian diplomat who had been ordered to leave Bulgaria within 24 hours took a direct flight to Moscow with his family," the statement said.

Moreover, the Foreign Ministry added that following a negative resolution of an agency okaying the issuance of visas for diplomats, an entry visa was denied to a Russian citizen who had been expected to assume the position of military attach· at Russia’s embassy in Sofia. The Russian side has been officially notified.

On Monday, the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office declared that criminal proceedings had been launched against a Russian diplomat suspected of spying. At the same time the case was suspended because the person in question had diplomatic immunity. At a meeting on the issue at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on October 25, the Bulgarian side expressed the wish the embassy staffer should be revoked on Monday on October 28.

On the same day, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said that the person in question had already left the country. However, on Tuesday, the foreign ministry told TASS they had been notified by Russia’s embassy that the diplomat was still in Bulgaria. Later, the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to be handed a note setting a 24-hour deadline for the Russian embassy staffer to leave Bulgaria.