site.btaNew Operational Programme Human Resources Starts Officially

New Operational Programme Human Resources Starts Officially


Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria, January 15 (BTA) - The official
start of Operational Programme Human Resources for the new
programming period, 2014-2020, was announced here Thursday by
Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivaylo Kalfin. The programme
has a total financial resource of over 2.136 billion leva of
which 60 per cent will be spent for labour market measures.

Bulgaria will also use funding from the Youth Employment
Initiative: a total of 232 million leva, including national
financing.

Kalfin recalled that as of January this year, 8,000 youths have
been placed as apprentices with employers. "Our other priority
is to reach the discouraged and those who live in remote areas
where employers are very few. There are whole regions with
overwhelming unemployment," the Minister said.

He recalled that last year the unemployment in Bulgaria was 11.6
per cent, which was slightly over the EU average.

The chair of the parliamentary labour committee, Hassan Ademov,
said that the aim is to meet the needs of the business of
qualified labour. "We have identified high-risk groups on the
labour market," he added.

Over 658 million leva, or 31 per cent of the new programme will
go for fighting poverty and encouraging social inclusion. The
state institutions can improve their capacity by using the
available budget of 86 million leva, or 4 per cent of the
programme's budget.

Deputy Labour Minister Zornitsa Roussinova said that all axes of
Operational Programme Human Resources Development will be
opened before the end of March or the start of April.

Applications for funding and the reports on the fund absorption
will be submitted electronically.

Hassan Ademov said that there is an opportunity for employers to
claim compensations for the retirement packages they pay to
their employees. He reasoned that the requirement for payment of
retirement package is among the key reasons for employers'
reluctance to hire people who are close to pensionable age.

The usual retirement package is equal to two gross wages. It may
go up to the equivallent of six wages if the retiree has been
with the same employer for 10 years prior to retirement.

In Bulgaria, some 500,000 people are close to retirement. A
large part of them are highly qualified but are not attractive
to employers due to their age.