site.btaCoordination Centre on Euro Adoption in Bulgaria Holds Briefing

The Coordination Centre on Euro Adoption in Bulgaria will hold a briefing later on Tuesday at the Council of Ministers, the government press service announced.

During a briefing last week, Vladimir Ivanov, Chair of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Wholesale Markets and Head of the Coordination Centre, stated that giving change in Bulgarian levs when euro banknotes are available is absolutely prohibited by law. He described the practice of traders returning change in levs despite having euros on hand as “extremely unpleasant” and characterized it as “self-initiated actions by certain traders.” Ivanov added that both citizens and businesses should ensure they have sufficient quantities of euro banknotes and coins without waiting until the last moment, as all necessary conditions for exchanging levs into euros have already been put in place.

Fines for refusing to give change in euros range from BGN 600 to BGN 7,000, Alexander Kolyachev, Acting Chair of the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), said. He said he expects that over the next 15 to 18 days all traders will act in good faith and comply with the law. Legislation clearly states that change must be given in euros, and only in cases of insufficient availability is it permissible to give change in levs. Where violations are identified, the law provides for sanctions. Kolyachev added that the CPC has already initiated a significant number of proceedings, mostly following complaints and reports from citizens.

Defaced or damaged euro banknotes will not be reimbursed by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), instead they are retained, which is why traders are advised not to accept such banknotes, BNB Chief Cashier Stefan Tsvetkov said.

More than one hundred bank branches are operating on Saturdays to exchange levs for euros, James Jolovski, Secretary General of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria, said. He added that a full list of bank branches open on Saturdays is available on the Association’s website, as well as on the websites of the individual banks.