site.btaCoordination Group to Decide Where to Accommodate Ukrainian Refugees after August 31

A coordination group will decide what happens after August 31 when the current programme for accommodating refugees from Ukraine will end, Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva said on Bulgarian National Television's morning show on Thursday. At present, nearly 26,000 Ukrainians are staying in some 1,000 private hotels and State-owned recreation facilities in Bulgaria.

The hotel owners who hosted Ukrainians in May will start receiving as of next week the state aid owed to them under the programme for accommodating those seeking temporary protection in Bulgaria, Georgieva also said. The payments were delayed due to the huge amount of documentation that had to be checked, but the documents for June, July and August will be processed faster, she noted.

According to information released by the Tourism Ministry late on Wednesday, the payments to hotel owners who accommodated and fed Ukrainians between February 24 and May 31, are now being made. Nearly BGN 80 million will be paid to the 562 approved applicants for 1,831,572 overnight stays inclusive of meals worth a total of BGN 79,734,097.40.