site.btaEpidemic Emergency to Be Extended until August 31

July 27 (BTA) - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said at a
news conference on Monday that the state of epidemic emergency
in Bulgaria, prompted by the spread of COVID-19, will be
extended by a month until August 31 by order of Health Minister
Kostadin Angelov.

"We will extend the state of emergency due to the pandemic by
one more month to make the measures work," Borissov said.

The government unveiled a new 2 billion leva package of
socio-economic measures to overcome the coronavirus crisis.

Minister of Health Order

On Monday evening, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov issued an
order that citizens of North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo,
 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Moldova, Israel and Kuwait
can enter Bulgaria for tourism purposes from July 28 if they
present a negative PCR test conducted over the past 72 hours.
For citizens of Ukraine the requirement to submit a negative PCR
 test is valid from July 30.

Foreign citizens from third countries traveling for valid
reasons can also enter the country after submitting a negative
PCR test. This applies to seasonal agricultural workers and
workers in the field of tourism; persons traveling for education
 purposes; humanitarians and representatives of trade, economic
and investment activities.

PCR tests are not required for persons arriving from EU Member
States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, Schengen countries, as well as from Algeria, Australia,
 Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Korea,
Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. They are also not subject to
14-day quarantine.
 
During a press conference on Monday morning  Prime Minister
Borissov noted that, thanks to a reduced VAT
rate, the tourist sector recorded a 28 million leva increase in
revenues by June. The sector's performance in the first
half-year will become known at the end of August. Borissov noted
that Bulgaria is not taking out loans yet.

Borissov further commented, regarding the ongoing
anti-government protests happening on the country over the past
two weeks: "Sadly, the political class is failing to realize
what kind of months lie ahead for Europe and the world, to
understand that days will become shorter, the weather will get
cold and flu viruses will begin to spread. Sadly, there are no
responsible people to say: OK, politics is politics, but where
do we go from here? How do we get out of the situation if this,
and this, and this happens? Protests are a great thing which
attests to the existence of democracy. It is good when  protests
 target a certain type of decision-making". The Prime  Minister
added that the executive government never discusses the judicial
 system.

New economic and social measures

Each pensioner will receive a monthly supplement of 50 leva to
their pension over the course of three months. A total of 318
million leva will be set aside for the purpose. "If the pandemic
persists, and depending on the state budget revenues, we will
discuss the matter again three months from now," Borissov said.

Subsidies for hospital services not covered by health insurance
will be increased. This applies to services for patients with
specific diseases, and hospitals in remote areas. The government
will provide 17.3 million leva for the purpose, as of August 1.
The money will be used to build up capacities for treatment of
COVID-19 patients and to bring wage levels to the levels in the
collective agreement. Personal carers working under the Personal
Care Act will be supported with 122 million leva.

The minimum amount of the daily cash benefit for unemployment
will be increased from 9 leva to 12 leva, effective October 1.
This implies a government allocation of 12 million leva. People
entitled to the minimum unemployment benefit will receive it
three months longer than now, also effective October 1. This
measure will cost 4 million leva.

An additional 15 million leva will be provided to the Culture
Ministry to finance the projects of freelance artists. The money
 
will be made available via the Culture Fund.

Another social measure involving a rechannelling of resources
from EU programmes is the provision of bonuses to medical
specialists who are at the frontline of the fight against
COVID-19. The total allocation in this case is 67 million leva
until the end of 2020.

The Economy Ministry will disburse 1.8 billion leva in resources
 available under various programmes. "The number one task of the
 Economy Minister is to create an electronic register, so that
the 3/10 measure and a more ambitious one can reach
beneficiaries in 10-15 days," the Prime Minister said.

The Economy Ministry will receive an additional 9.5 million leva
 to promote investments by local and foreign entrepreneurs
implementing projects under the Investment Promotion Act. "These
 are large investors who may need a road or a water pipeline to
be built for them," Borissov explained.

The Tourism Ministry will receive an additional 210 million leva
 to encourage domestic tourism.

Persons who have been directly involved in providing medical
treatment for COVID-19 or containing the infection will receive
a total of 8 million leva.

Extremely hard months lie ahead

Prime Minister Borissov warned: "Extremely hard months lie
ahead. Our responsibility is the only thing that keeps us in
power. In just three months' time no one will want to do any
explaining. The money will run out and the sectors will not get
any better. The sectors which function in the summer will be
off. Nothing is being said about that during the anti-government
protests, all we hear is imaginary values."

"Financiers and economists predict an exceedingly tough
recession - and it is a fact," Borissov said. "Everything will
get worse. The only way to handle it is by making concessions
and fostering national unity." NV,RI/VE,DT

/DT/