Almost Half of Bulgarians Pessimistic About Country's Progress

Almost half of Bulgarians are pessimistic about the country's development, and only 4.2% of them think that it is headed in the right direction, according to a recent poll.

According to a survey of the sociological agency AFIS, held between March 31 to April 7, some 42% of the respondents do not see positive signs of progress. The pessimists in February were 45% of all the polled, Dnes.bg informs.

Unemployment is defined as the biggest problem by 27% of Bulgarians. Second comes poverty (16%), followed by the economic crisis (15 %). Only 8.6% of respondents stated health problems as their main concern.

A total of 87% of Bulgarians would like the minimum pension to be BGN 500. Some 92% of Bulgarians insist that the minimum wage should be indexed to the average European rates.

According to 41% of Bulgarians, the events in Ukraine were an act of coup d'?tat, still almost 40% of respondents found it difficult to answer.

Regarding the deteriorating relations between the West and Russia, 44% of the polled believe that the crisis will have a negative impact on Bulgaria, as opposed to 30% who claim it will have no effect on the country.