Vice President of BIA Maria Mincheva in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio
Employers can hire Ukrainian citizens if they have refugee or humanitarian status. Refugees can register with labor offices and exercise all social rights, Maria Mincheva, Vice President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, told BNR. She pointed out the obstacle that foreigners must first obtain refugee or humanitarian status, which takes more than 3 months. Mincheva called for the procedure to be shortened.
"Our legislation stipulates that Bulgarian employers can hire Ukrainian or other citizens, if they have refugee status or humanitarian status, then they are de facto equated to Bulgarian citizens. They can register with the labor offices, they can use all the measures used by the Bulgarian unemployed under the Employment Promotion Act. They can participate in trainings and any other measures to encourage them to enter the labor market," Mincheva commented.
"The problem here is purely procedural. First, these people must be granted some kind of status - refugee status or humanitarian status - in order to be able to enjoy these rights. When they are in the process of granting international protection, they have to wait at least three months after submitting the application in order to be able to exercise these rights. Therefore, it is good to consider a special program that provides for shortened deadlines due to the crisis in Ukraine, so that the documents of Ukrainian citizens can be processed faster and they have faster access to labor", explained Maria Mincheva.
"Humanitarian status is granted to a foreigner who may be in real danger due to serious threats to life in the event of an armed international or internal conflict, which seems to correspond to the situation of Ukrainian citizens," Mincheva said.
"Ukrainians who have dual citizenship are Bulgarian citizens and they do not have the same procedure. They enjoy all the rights of Bulgarian citizens, but they should not seek asylum because they return to their homeland due to their dual citizenship", the expert specified.
Up to 200 000 jobs can be provided by Bulgarian employers to Ukrainian citizens, Dobri Mitrev, President of the board of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, told BTA. He stressed that there is no sector in which Ukrainians do not find work and highlighted tourism, engineering and transport.
