Covid-19 in Bulgaria: 2B leva paid out for ’60:40′ employment support
Close to two billion leva (about 1.02 billion euro) was paid out over 28 months for the “60:40” Bulgarian government measure to keep people in employment during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bulgarian National Radio said on October 11, citing preliminary data from the National Statistical Institute.
The 60:40 measure, initiated by the third Borissov government and continued by the caretaker and Kiril Petkov governments, involved the state in picking up 60 per cent of payroll costs, with employers obliged to pay the remaining 40 per cent.
The first payment was made on April 15 2020 and the final one on August 25 2022.
According to the data, a total of 13 700 employers received support for 342 000 employees.
The payments went largely to hotels and restaurants, trade, the processing and transport industries.
Two-thirds of the businesses that received the payments were in eight out of Bulgaria’s 28 districts, with the district of Sofia city standing out, where a third of those who received support were registered.
The remaining seven districts were Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Blagoevgrad, Rousse, Stara Zagora and Sofia district (as distinct from Sofia city).
(Photo: Interior Ministry press centre)
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