Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Retirees account for more than 10% of Bulgaria’s armed forces personnel

Photo: archive

Retirees account for more than 10% of the personnel of the Bulgarian armed forces. This is made clear in a written reply given by outgoing Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov to a question by Democratic Bulgaria MP Martin Dimitrov.

There are 4,107 pensioners serving in the armed forces of Bulgaria, 3,153 have been working in the army for over 5 years. 1,325 have active military ranks, the remainder work as civilian experts. The personnel of Bulgaria’s armed forces totals around 40,000 - the exact number is classified information – with around 20,000 directly employed in the army, According to the latest data made public by Minister Zakov, there are around 7,000 vacancies in the army, dnevnik.bg writes. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Most Bulgarians prefer independent tourist trips

In the first quarter of 2025, 1.1 million Bulgarian citizens made tourist trips. 75.7% of them traveled only in the country; 20% - only abroad, and 4.3% traveled both in the country and abroad, according to NSI data. Bulgarian citizens aged 45 -..

published on 5/28/25 5:59 PM
Labour Minister of Tajikistan, Ms Kholmahmadzoda Soleha, meets with Bulgarian deputy Prine Minister, Atanas Zafirov (C) in Dushanbe.

Bulgarian delegation visits Dushanbe to strengthen bilateral relations

An official Bulgarian delegation, led by  Deputy Prime Minister  Ivaylo Zafirov, began its visit to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, with a working meeting with the Tajik Minister of Labour, Migration and Employment, Kholmahmadzoda Soleha. The three-day visit..

published on 5/28/25 5:15 PM
Angel Papalezov

Two Bulgarian migrant traffickers have been arrested for smuggling vehicles into Turkey

In a coordinated operation on 8 May, Bulgarian and Turkish authorities arrested two Bulgarian nationals for their alleged involvement in an organised migrant trafficking network operating along the so-called 'Balkan route'. This route is used by..

published on 5/28/25 3:29 PM