Bulgaria announces new one-time heating assistance for vulnerable groups
Bulgaria’s caretaker government said on November 30 that it would support about 50 000 more households with new one-time heating assistance of 300 leva (about 153 euro).
By doing this, the state would support individuals and families from risk groups who until now had not received such support, but needed it, the government information service said.
To pay for the support, the caretaker government approved 15 million leva additional spending by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.
Labour Minister Lazar Lazarov said that eight vulnerable groups would be entitled to the one-time aid.
These include families with children with permanent disabilities, families who receive monthly benefits for a child without the right to an inheritance pension from a deceased parent, as well as children placed in families of relatives or relatives or in a foster family.
People with severe disabilities and people who have suffered in natural disasters in 2022 would also be entitled to the support, as would war veterans and war invalids.
The funds will be paid out by the Social Assistance Agency.
“The people who are entitled to the aid have already been identified and it is not necessary to submit application documents,” Lazarov said.
He said that the amount would be granted through a simplified procedure by the end of the year, so that people could make an informed choice about meeting their heating costs.
The statement said that the new aid was the government’s third measure to support people from vulnerable groups amid significant increases in prices of energy and vital goods.
Lazarov said that so far, about 302 000 individuals and families had received targeted assistance for heating.
He said that at the end of October, one-time aid of 400 leva was granted, and so far had been paid to about 10 000 families.
According to Lazarov, “with the entire package of support measures for the heating season, the state will support nearly 380 000 people”.
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