The European Commission determined to pay Bulgaria 55 million euros through the European Social Fund for social payments. It was announced on Monday to assist the refugees who entered Bulgaria from different nations. The basic requirements of disadvantaged populations, including food and essentials, will be covered by 18.6 million euros. Refugees from Ukraine will also be able to use them. They can use their vouchers to pay for their needs, such as food, clothing, children’s school supplies, and other requirements.
The preservation of jobs and enhancement of care services for people with disabilities will get an additional amount of 36.4 million euros. The Solidarity Project aids 9,000 people who are escaping from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and tries to get blend into the Bulgarian labour market by providing, among other things, psychological support, career guidance, and employment counselling. According to a European Commission(EU) statement, 23.8 million euros will support this initiative.
The data collected from the Bulgarian government indicates that there are 85,483 Ukrainian refugees in the country, of which 21,000 are accommodated in state housing, and the rest live free without paying rent.
The funding comes from the EU‘s pandemic recovery programme, a small portion of which is disbursed through the REACT-EU instrument using cohesion funds. The critical component of the programme, the recovery plan, states that Bulgaria is still awaiting approval of the 1.37 billion euro initial payment that the government has requested.
Mariana Tosheva, head of the refugee agency, stated that Ukrainian refugees had no employment. Less than 5,000 are working in Bulgaria. The European Commission reported that Bulgaria requested a loan of 460 million euros at the end of August to conduct another social programme to cover the costs of COVID measures.
They are in line with the SURE financial instrument, which was developed to support social measures in European nations during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. SURE is a mechanism for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency.