Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure BG-2022-2/2107 – Updated – measures in Bulgaria
Country | Bulgaria , applies nationwide |
Time period | Open ended, started on 04 January 2022 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Other initiatives or policies |
Category |
Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Access to finance |
Author | Tsetomila Sabcheva and Luboslav Kostov (Citub) |
Measure added | 04 January 2022 (updated 01 April 2023) |
The Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) has launched a new program aimed at helping hotels and restaurants. The recipients are among the businesses which were most negatively affected after the break of the COVID-19 pandemic. Micro, small, medium and start-up hotels and restaurants can benefit from preferential financing, even if they have overdue debts of up to 90 days.
The total program resource equals BGN 60 million (€31 million). BDB divides the program into two separate products: "Liquidity support for restaurateurs" and "Liquidity support for hoteliers". The program provides financing for companies with late payments of debt of up to 90 days. The type of loans covered by the program include: revolving credit line, credit overdraft, loan with repayment installments (for working capital). The loans can be used for:
Under the program, BDB will provide loans to hoteliers and restaurateurs who have not ceased business operations in 2020 and 2021. The maximum funding provided will be determined by the size of the company- BGN 500,000 (€256,000) for companies with staff of up to 49 employees (or 20% of net sales revenues for 2019) and BGN 750,000 (€383,000) for companies with staff of 50 to 249 employees (15% of net revenues from sales for 2019). The maximum overdraft loan provided will be BGN 250,000 (€128,000).
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
07 February 2022 |
One third of the BDB's tourism credit program has already been exhausted and according to the program; BGN 40 million are available as of February 2022. |
The program is adopted by the new coalition government as part of its anti-crisis measures.
The general information about anti-crisis measure for business is that 538 Bulgarian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises have been approved for financing under the guarantee program managed by the Bulgarian Development Bank to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The total amount of loans confirmed for guarantee is nearly BGN 75,5 million, according to BBR data as of October 12, 2020. BGN 83 million were interest-free loans for individuals approved by commercial banks. Loan applications exceeded 31,300. There is no information concerning the restaurateurs and hoteliers that benefited from this measure.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers |
Sector specific set of companies
SMEs |
Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
|
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | No involvement as case not in social partner domain | No involvement as case not in social partner domain |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No involvement registered yet.
No views found yet.
This case is sector-specific (only private sector)
This case is not occupation-specific.
Citation
Eurofound (2022), Liquidity support for restaurateurs and hoteliers, measure BG-2022-2/2107 (measures in Bulgaria), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/BG-2022-2_2107.html
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