RICHARD ALIBEGOV: PEOPLE ARE RELUCTANT TO WORK IN THE INDUSTRY BECAUSE IT'S HIGHLY UNSTEADY

How will the lockdown affect owners and staff and what is their response?

People no longer want to work in this industry because it is extremely unstable - Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Restaurants Richard Alibegov stated on "The Day Begins"

He explained that the situation is the same as a year ago, but with the main difference that in the first lockdown the industry had been prepared with a very solid 2019, whereas now the industry is facing a third lockdown, following a really weak year.

"People are on the verge of a meltdown. We have no finances. We opened up 15 days ago, and it was very difficult because it is expensive. We brought people back from the countryside, provided for accommodation, we thought there would be no new shut-down in our industry. "We are reliving this once again" Alibegov reported.

He clarified that the problem with the staff is huge. And the biggest problem is that they are unsure whether this lockdown will last only 10 days. 

"We are convinced that this deadline will not be met. We have had so many deadlines so far, and none of them turned out to be true" Alibegov added.