14.01.2022

MORE THAN 75,000 PEOPLE WILL KEEP THEIR JOBS

More than 75,000 jobs are expected to be maintained in January and February through the 60 to 40 measure. This was announced by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Georgi Gyokov.

Business support will continue in 2022, and for this purpose the measure "60 to 40" has been extended until the end of February. According to the forecasts for providing support for January - February 2022, about BGN 120 million will be needed "Taking into account the funds of BGN 761, paid per person per month on average for the period August-October 2021, it can be expected that in the first two months of the year the employment of over 75 thousand employees on average per month will be maintained.", informs Gyokov.

After the end of February, taking into account the epidemiological situation and the adoption of the budget for 2022, the measure will be extended in accordance with the temporary framework of the EC for state aid, he added.

The Minister of Social Affairs clarified that the measure was extended only for January and February at the insistence of employers. Otherwise, we could have extended - the funds allow - until the end of June, until the EC's temporary framework for state aid, Gokov said. Employers' organizations are under serious pressure to change the design of the measure, the minister commented, adding that they are in talks with them.

Georgi Gyokov noted that a change in the conditions for receiving these benefits is subject to notification by the EC. I am very worried that even if we agree within the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation on a change in the design of the measure, which will result in a reduction in the rate of decline in turnover, we will not be able to notify the EC to take effect until June, he commented.

The Minister of Social Affairs reported that under the measure "60 out of 40" about 13 thousand employers are supported to keep their staff and continue working, as well as the growth of unemployment is limited. According to the Employment Agency, as of January 10, 2022, the number of registered unemployed in the labor offices is 162,895, and the registered unemployment rate is 4.96 percent, and for comparison, on the same date in 2021 were registered 229 925 unemployed, he said.

The reserved jobs under the measure "60 out of 40" for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2021 are 207,407, and the funds paid are BGN 723,400,000, he said. Gyokov noted that in the middle of last year the requirements under the measure were changed. For the period July 1 - December 31, 2021 the reserved jobs are 150,926 and the funds spent are BGN 324,700,000.

The decrease in disbursements in the second half of 2021 compared to the first is about 55 percent, and the decrease in the number of reserved jobs is 27 percent. In this way, the introduced change improves the effectiveness of the measure, he commented.

14.01.2022

ROMANIA AHEAD OF POLAND?

Romania could overtake Poland in gross domestic product per capita by the middle of this decade if it accelerates public reforms and digitalisation, as well as if it makes more efforts in the field of development investment, according to a report by Banca Transilvania, quoted by Romania Insider.

"Poland and Romania have faced comparable economic and historical challenges over the last decade," said its author, Andrey Radulescu, director of macroeconomic analysis at the bank.

The analysis also shows that Romania has achieved strong convergence towards the levels in Poland in terms of the prospect of an annual rate of potential GDP from 2010 to 2019.

In the last year of this cycle, GDP per capita at purchasing power parity as a percentage of the EU average was 75.7 percent in Poland and 72 percent in Romania. And the annual rate of potential GDP in Romania exceeds the levels in Poland in 2020.

For 2021/3, the analyst expects the trend to converge.

According to the World Bank, in 2020 the indicator in Romania reached a level of $ 31,945.70, which is ahead of Greece ($ 28,377.40). Bulgaria is located between Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago with $ 24,620 GDP per capita. However, the biggest of the expected decline in the population will probably increase the levels.

14.01.2022

CITIZENS CAN OFFER ROADS FOR REPAIRS UNDER A NEW PROGRAM FOR 2022

Citizens can make suggestions on which roads to be included in the new program for repair of the national road network for 2022.

The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Grozdan Karadzhov announced the beginning of a four-year program aimed at qualitative improvement of the difficult condition of the road network in the country. Over 3,100 km of the road network will be repaired this year, and the necessary funding of BGN 2.8 billion will come from the budget and revenues from tolls. Minister Karadjov sets himself the ambitious task of repairing about 60% of the national road network in 4 years, which covers 80% of all traffic in the country.

At a working meeting with Minister Karadjov from the Road Infrastructure Agency, they presented the sections of the national road network, which are designated for urgent repairs in 2022.

In the next two weeks, citizens will be able to make suggestions for including other roads on the list that they travel on and consider to be in serious condition.

The maps with the determined routes by districts are published on the pages of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and of the Road Infrastructure Agency.

Citizens can send suggestions and signals, including photos and videos, to the email address: signali@api.bg. The proposals will be considered and the final lists of roads for repair will be published on the websites of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and RIA.

Major repairs of important sections in all districts of the country are envisaged. Among them are the renovation of part of the Varbishki Pass, a major overhaul of the road to Lake Varna, which will be used in the construction of the Black Sea Motorway.

RIA is planning repair works on sections of the Shipka pass, the roads to Tryavna, Lovech and the Uzana area near Gabrovo. The repair of the bridge in Sevlievo is also planned, as well as the construction of a new bridge over the river Vit near the village of Glozhene, which will duplicate the existing historical bridge, which is in poor condition. Major repairs are planned this year on the Zlatitsa Pass in the part from Etropole to Zlatitsa, for which the Minister also receives signals from citizens about the serious condition.

Repairs will be made on a section of the road Montana - Boychinovtsi, as well as this Rudartsi - Kladnitsa. The program also envisages repair works on the section of the Trakia Motorway between the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel and the 66th km.

By the end of the year is the realistic deadline for the start of major repairs of roads in the Bulgarian part of the Danube Bridge, according to estimates by the road agency.

Also this year it is planned to announce a public tender for the development of a project for the construction of a snow protection facility - a tunnel type on the Troyan - Karnare pass.

In Vidin district 89 km of roads are planned for major repairs, in Dobrich - 117 km, in Veliko Tarnovo - 150 km, of which 71 km for major repairs, including sections of the third class road network.

11.01.2022

BOOSTER DOSE: WHEN AND WHAT - EXPLAIN THE EXPERTS FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

The Ministry of Health has published important information for citizens wishing to get a booster dose of the Janssen vaccine against COVID-19.

The ministry clarified that it can be administered 2 months after the first vaccination with the same vaccine.

A booster dose of Janssen vaccine can also be given after a COVID-19 vaccination course with Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines. In these cases, however, the booster dose interval is 3 months.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Register has already created the functionality that allows the introduction of a booster dose of Janssen vaccine. This means that citizens receive their European digital COVID certificate immediately after vaccination.

The Ministry of Health reminds that an mRNA vaccine (manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna) can be given as a booster dose after a completed course of mRNA or vector vaccination (AstraZeneca or Janssen) no earlier than 3 months after completion. vaccination course.

The Ministry of Health and the Expert Advisory Board for Supervision of Immunoprophylaxis recommend that coronavirus survivors be vaccinated with a full immunization schedule no earlier than 3 months after laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis. In COVID-19 patients after the first dose of two-dose immunization vaccines, the second dose of vaccine should be given no earlier than 3 months after confirmation of the diagnosis.

Vaccines protect against severe disease, hospitalization and death, the Ministry of Health emphasizes.

11.01.2022

THE RAPID DECLINE OF THE LABOR FORCE IN BULGARIA HAS CONCRETE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE ECONOMY

Although the publication of the final full results of last autumn's census remains far in the future - perhaps even at the end of the year - the initial (and preliminary) data published by the NSI on the country's population, districts and age structure allow a number of important conclusions, writes economist Adrian Nikolov in an analysis of the Institute of Market Economics (IME).

First of all, we cannot miss the problems with the conduct of the census itself, marked by the extraordinary conditions - in the end, they affect both the speed of publishing the final results and the quality of the data obtained.

Apparently, the biggest problem is the failure of the electronic census, which the statistical institute expected to cover the majority of the population, and has reached only a third - in cases even since 2011, despite the far wider penetration of the Internet.

This in turn leads to a lack of sufficient censuses, delays in the whole process, and ultimately - uncovered areas and households. Whether it's a weak information campaign, a drop in trust due to hacker attacks or problems with the platform itself, the case of the refusal of electronic census will largely mark the way the 2021 census will be remembered.

Leaving aside the problems with the process itself, the first results lead to several important conclusions:

The decline in the population between 2011 and 2021 is more serious than expected, and its pace is accelerating. While the "correction" of the previous census is just under 180 thousand people, this time its size will be over 395 thousand people.

Within three decades, the country's demographic pyramid has practically reversed - while according to the 1992 census, the share of people aged 0 - 17 was 24% and that of 65+ - 14%, today their places have been reversed.

As a result, we cannot expect anything other than the aging and shrinking processes of the population to continue to accelerate over the next decade, with all the consequences for the labor market, social policy, pensions, the tax system.

The return of Bulgarians in the year of COVID-19 was far from enough to eliminate the effect of previous migration processes. As far as the NSI analysis shows, natural and mechanical processes have a relatively equal impact on population decline, it seems that income growth in recent years has not been enough to stop the flow of Bulgarians seeking better employment abroad.

There is a very big decrease - with over 885 thousand people - in the group of the population in active working age, or between 18 and 64 years. The rapid decline of the labor force brings with it concrete consequences for the Bulgarian economy - in the future more work will have to be done with fewer people, which pushes the country towards more capital-intensive industries with higher labor productivity and a clear need for raising the qualification and skills of employees.

The sharp decline in population creates the illusion of "getting rich" if we use relative indicators. The smaller population means, for example, that the GDP per capita of the country increases without the volume of GDP having increased.

If we take the data from 2020, when according to the "old" data GDP per capita was BGN 17.3 thousand, then with the "new" population its volume would increase to BGN 18.4 thousand, or an increase of more than thousand levs, not including the growth of 2021

This, in turn, leads to a "convergence" of a few percentage points compared to what Eurostat has so far reported to the average European level of GDP per capita - without, of course, anything that has changed in the real well-being of the population.

All districts, except the capital, lost population in the period between the two censuses, with the least economically developed parts of Northern Bulgaria being the most severely affected, with declines ranging between one-fifth and one-quarter within a decade.

Conversely, thanks to more favorable migration processes, the leading regional economies - Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas - manage to slow down the shrinking population.

The case of Sofia is interesting - it was expected to report a larger population, but the capital has managed to increase its population by 15%, after reporting the outflow to neighboring municipalities during the pandemic.

Population change also affects the macroeconomic indicators of the districts. With the necessary stipulation that the final data will be different - at least because the latest available regional data are for 2019 - GDP per capita is in the range of 10-15% higher in most areas, as the most visible is the effect in poorer areas.

The exception is the capital - due to the larger population than reported in the current estimates, the average level of GDP per capita decreases by just over 10%. In other words, among the consequences of the census will be the reporting of shrinking economic inequalities between the districts and faster catching up with the leader Sofia than the other districts.

The initial data released this week by the NSI are just a small part of what the census will provide to analysts and policy makers. However, the sharp decline in the number of able-bodied people, the reversal of the demographic pyramid and the concentration of the population in the capital give a lot of food for thought and lead to urgent changes.

11.01.2022

FROM FEBRUARY, BANK TRANSFERS WILL BE FASTER

One hour. This is how much it will take all the transfers that consumers and companies make to each other through the Bulgarian banks since February. At the moment, such a fast transfer is paid extra, which costs more to companies.

The BNB assures that banks will no longer have grounds to charge extra for fast transactions.

Currently, payments are made three times a day through the BISERA system and if they are transferred in the afternoon, for example, they may not arrive until the next day. For instant translation is the RINGS system, the use of which is paid extra.

With the changes, transfers will take place through the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). In practice, payment orders will be executed 24 hours a day, on all calendar days of the year.

For now, payments to the budget are excluded from the innovation. There, the BGN transactions will be transferred to SEPA at a later stage.

However, facilitating the bank transfer will cost money, as at present. Withdrawing and depositing money at cash desks in bank offices is traditionally many times more expensive than online banking.

Since the beginning of the year, in addition, a number of banks have again increased their fees. According to the BNB, withdrawing money from an ATM of the bank from which the card was issued costs an average of BGN 0.25, and from a foreign bank - BGN 1.15. When this is done at the counter, the service costs an average of BGN 2.81, or 0.41 % of the withdrawn amount, with a minimum payment of BGN 3.50.

According to BNB data for the 11 months of the past year, banks received net income from fees and commissions of BGN 1.12 billion, and for the whole of 2020 they received BGN 1.04 billion.

10.01.2022

WE CAN FILE OUR TAX RETURNS TODAY

The 2022 tax campaign begins on January 10. The submission of the income declarations of the individuals by electronic means, by mail and in the offices of the Revenue Agency starts today.

In early March 2022, after the submission of data by employers and payers of fees, will be released and pre-filled declaration of income, which is submitted with a runway or electronic signature through the Portal for electronic services of the NRA.

It will automatically enter data on income from employment received in 2021, civil contracts and fees, rental income for properties whose tenants are legal entities and others.

The deadline for using the 5% discount for early declaration and payment is March 31, and the deadline for declaring income and paying the tax due this year is May 3, the first working day after April 30, reminded by the Revenue Agency.

Persons operating as traders, sole traders and farmers who have chosen this order of taxation shall submit their declarations from 1 March to 30 June.

This is the period in which companies must also declare corporate tax (Article 92 of the Corporate Income Tax Act), tax on expenses, tax on income of budgetary enterprises, as well as tax on the operation of ships. The deadline for payment of these taxes is June 30.

Additional information about the tax and insurance requirements can be obtained on the website of the Revenue Agency www.nap.bg and on the phone of the Information Center of the National Revenue Agency 0700 18 700 at a price according to the tariffs of the respective operator.

10.01.2022

HOW MUCH WILL BE THE HEALTH CONTRIBUTION FOR THE UNEMPLOYED BY MARCH

The unemployed who are not on the stock exchange, as well as the people who pay their own contributions until the end of March 2022, will continue to pay BGN 26 per month for the health contribution.

This is understood from the Bill submitted to the National Assembly for extension until March 31, 2022 of the provisions of the State Budget Act.

Thus, the minimum insurance income, which will be BGN 650 for another three months, and the maximum - BGN 3,000 remain unchanged. They serve to determine the amount of the health contribution, which is 8% on not less than BGN 325. and not more than BGN 3,000 per month.

According to the Health Insurance Act, the uninsured on other grounds are insured on an income not less than half of the minimum monthly income for the self-insured.

The proposals in the bill extend the validity of various payments from the treasury, for example - for additional salaries of first-line physicians, assistance for children with disabilities and other expenses.

At the same time, amounts such as the minimum income of an employee in the state administration, which practically always coincides with the minimum wage, are maintained until this term. At the moment it is 650 leva.

According to the Public Finance Act, if there is no adopted budget for the year, until the vote on it by the parliament and its promulgation in the State Gazette, the state works with 1/12 of the existing one per month.

10.01.2022

THE EIF AND RAIFFEISENBANK HAVE AGREED ON ANOTHER 150M EUROS TO SUPPORT BULGARIAN BUSINESS

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) signed new guarantee agreements for another 150m euros to continue supporting Bulgarian business during the COVID-19 pandemic. The application period has been extended by another year until 31.12.2022, the bank announced.

The agreements enable Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) to continue supporting Bulgarian small, medium and intermediate enterprises. The total amount of the guarantee, supported by the European Investment Fund, reaches 300m euros. The funding provided is provided by the EGF Guarantee Facility, implemented by the European Investment Fund (EIF) with the financial support of the Member States of the European Union, which contribute to the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF).

Under the agreements, the companies will have access to financing with investment loans with a repayment period of up to 10 years, working capital loans of up to 5 years and revolving loans/overdrafts of up to 4-5 years, depending on the state aid regime, the financial institution explained.

So far, as a result of cooperation between Raiffeisenbank and the EIF, there are agreements worth more than 1.1 billion euros, including more than 560 million euros available to Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises to overcome the negative economic effects of the covid pandemic.

"Businesses across Europe continue to feel the economic consequences of the KOVID-19 pandemic. The strengthened partnership between the EIF and Raiffeisenbank under the European Guarantee Fund will provide much-needed funding to meet the needs of Bulgarian companies," said Roger Havenitt, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the EIF.

"Support for small and medium-sized enterprises during the more affordable financing pandemic is the key to Bulgaria's economic recovery and prosperity. Under the European Guarantee Fund, the EIB Group has so far approved 12 operations expected to mobilize more than 2.1 billion Euro investments in the Bulgarian economy", said the Vice President of the European Investment Bank Lilyana Pavlova.

According to Dobromir Dobrev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) in Corporate Banking and Capital Markets, 7,600 projects of Bulgarian small and medium-sized companies have been supported, thanks to the partnership with the EIF, with over 680 million euros.

10.01.2022

THE STATE PAYS FOR THE STUDY OF STUDENTS IF THEY HAVE AN INTERNSHIP CONTRACT WITH AN EMPLOYER

The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) publishes a register of specialties for which the state pays in full or in part the costs of studying under a contract with an employer for the student's internship for the period of study and work after successful completion.

In addition to information about the specialties, students now have access to the list of all companies with which they can conclude an internship and employment contract to receive financial support from the state.

The register allows for a two-way connection between students and business. Students will find it easier to find a place for their professional realization, and companies - necessary specialists for their work.

The information system of the specialties and the employers is maintained by the National Center for Information and Documentation (NACID) at the Ministry of Education and Science.

The state pays in full or in part the tuition fees for students in 96 different specialties, in case they have a contract with a specific company for internship and work after graduation. The list of specialties for which the state covers the costs of training is prepared by universities, forms of education and number of students according to the needs of the labor market. It is updated every year to best meet the needs of highly qualified personnel for the economy.

The Council of Ministers annually approves the list of employers with whom students can conclude internship and employment contracts. At the suggestion of various ministries, 154 companies have been approved this academic year. For 2021/2022, these employers have stated the need for 975 specialists.

You can see the register of employers and specialties for which the state provides financial support in concluding an internship and employment contract HERE.