Bulgarian government has set aside 10.5 million leva (about 8.3 million U.S. dollars) for the realization of its Olympics program, local press reported Sunday citing Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.

Stanishev announced this during a visit at the Bulgarian National Sports Academy Saturday on the occasion of May 17 - the Day of Sports and the day of those employed in sports in Bulgaria. The PM also participated in the planting of trees in the Sports Academy's Olympic alley.

According to the PM, the state is currently doing a lot to encourage and develop both elite and public sports.

Stanishev also announced that the government and the State Agency for Youth and Sports have the ambition to build a new multi-functional sports complex in Sofia. The procedure for its construction has already been initiated.

The PM believes that the government has been able to create a very good normative basis for the many investments required to create a contemporary sports infrastructure.

The Day of Sports in Bulgaria was celebrated for the first time one year ago - on May 17, 2007. The date was designated with a Cabinet's decision because on this date in 1894, 10 physical education teachers arrived in Bulgaria from Switzerland, breaking the ground of sports in Bulgaria.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2008)