site.btaSocial Economy in Bulgaria Provides over 85,000 People with Work, Incomes - Deputy Labour Minister

Social economy in Bulgaria provides jobs and income to over 85,000 people, said Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy Nataliya Efremova at the opening of the 12th European Forum of Social and Solidarity Economy here on Wednesday. At the European level, social economy contributes to the creation of about 8% of GDP and over 13 million jobs, she added.

The Forum is jointly organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the National Union of Worker Producers' Cooperatives, the Ministry said on its website. 

Efremova said further that in the conditions of demographic crisis, people from vulnerable groups are a valuable resource on the labour market, activation of which can help to cope with the shortage of personnel. "We are purposefully working to create an enabling environment that encourages the entrepreneurial activity of disadvantaged groups and turns social solidarity into a real economic tool," she noted. 

Six regional centres have been set up in Plovdiv, Lovech, Varna, Burgas, Blagoevgrad, and Gabrovo to support local actors of the social and solidarity economy under the project "Development of the Social Economy" with funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Ministry said. As a result of their activities, 84 new social enterprises have been registered, more than 4,000 meetings and consultations have been held, and more than 200 events and activities have been organised. In 2025, activities to modernize and digitize the production processes of social enterprises are to begin in order to make their products and services more visible to society, the Ministry further said.