site.btaBulgarian Employers Can Provide Up To 200,000 Jobs to Ukrainian Nationals

Bulgarian employers can offer up to 200,000 jobs to Ukrainian nationals seeking safe haven in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) Chairman Dobri Mitrev told BTA. Mitrev said that there is hardly a sector in which Ukrainian nationals could not find work, citing tourism, mechanical engineering, and transport as examples.

The BIA currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers (AOBE).

Ukraine has a good education system, Bulgaria and Ukraine are close in terms of language, culture, and religion, and many other things are bringing the two countries even closer, Mitrev said. He mentioned the large Bulgarian diaspora in Ukraine that, according to him, can rapidly become part of the Bulgarian economy.

Employers and the Bulgarian government are discussing the opportunity to add job-seeking features to the information portal the latter opened to help those leaving Ukraine.

Bulgaria lost a large portion of its workforce in the past years due to the pandemic and migration to Western Europe. The demographic crisis has forced Bulgaria to seek staff and offer jobs to thousands, why not to those escaping the war too, Mitrev said. He stressed that employers are taking the necessary action to facilitate employment for Ukrainian nationals.  

Mitrev said employers are preparing their positions on how in practice to integrate Ukrainians seeking refuge in Bulgaria. Employers will guarantee employment, but the social conditions, health care, and education for those arriving in Bulgaria are the state's responsibility, Mitrev stressed. He mentioned the information portal set up by the Bulgarian government as the first step towards helping those fleeing Ukraine and how many are seeking asylum in Bulgaria. The next step, according to him, is a discussion on social and living conditions and job places. Together with the State Employment Agency, business will make proposals to the government, adding to the platform the opportunity for employers to seek data on people with a profile corresponding to their needs in terms of education and professional qualification. 

Employers are also updating their proposals for amendments to the Labour Migration and Labour Mobility Act and the Foreigners Act, but they should be assessed in the context of pan-European decisions, Mitrev said. 

According to Mitrev, there are no visible proposals for protective measures of the economy at European Union (EU) level. The European Commission does not have any suggestions for solving the issue of natural gas supply and leaves each country to fend for itself. If Bulgaria cannot prepay its gas deliveries because of the imposed sanctions and the removal of Russia from the SWIFT system, Russia can be expected to terminate its deliveries to Bulgaria, Mitrev commented. He stressed that Bulgaria should look for alternatives quickly, but warned that the rest of the countries relying on gas deliveries from Russia will be doing the same, which will inevitably raise natural gas prices to "unfortunately impossibly high levels."    

It is unclear how and from where European companies will obtain the raw materials and supplies hitherto imported from Ukraine and Russia they vitally need. 

Employers will propose the establishment of green corridors for the transport of such goods, Mitrev said, but is not optimistic that this could be achieved without negotiations and consensus between the EU and Russia. 

Mitrev said that compensatory measures at a national level are important and recalled the employers' request for compensations for electricity bills to continue as long as electricity prices remain at the present high levels and circumstances are uncertain. 

The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on Monday are the only hope for the business and all reasonable people in the 21st century, Mitrev commented, adding that negotiations are the only way to save the world from war. 

According to Mitrev, if the situation does not de-escalate quickly and no diplomatic solutions are found, people can expect heavy consequences on socio-economic life, including in terms of inflation.  

The cost of military actions will be paid by innocent people - the citizens of Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, and the whole EU, Mitev said, adding that he hoped it could indeed be paid.