site.btaSome 30 Applications Submitted to Social Policy Ministry by Families Affected by Floods

Nearly 30 applications have been submitted by families affected by the floods, said Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov on bTV in connection with the state aid following the disaster on the Southern Black Sea coast, which was approved by the government on Wednesday. Employees of the Social Assistance Agency are on the ground, visiting homes and helping residents fill out the necessary paperwork, he said.

The Minister explained that assistance for the Elenite resort is being delayed, as restricted access is still in place.

Affected households can receive BGN 1,914. A government decree provides an additional BGN 3,000 if the home is a primary residence, and another BGN 2,500 for destroyed household furnishings. In total, this amounts to BGN 7,500, Minister Gutsanov stated. He emphasised that this support is available only for legally constructed homes for which the owners hold the necessary documentation.

“We want to provide funds to mayors through European programmes, so that unemployed people can be engaged in cleaning riverbeds and streams,” Gutsanov also said. According to him, the goal is both to create employment for the jobless and to help deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

Regarding the possibility of involving unemployed people in waste clean-up in the capital, Gutsanov said he had spoken with the Executive Director of the Employment Agency. “We have that option, but we cannot solve the issue on our own – we can only help,” he commented, adding that the introduction of a programme to provide such support is currently under consideration.

The Social Policy Minister has also proposed to the Finance Ministry that maternity benefits in the second year be increased from BGN 780 to BGN 1,100. “At the moment, we return 50% of the BGN 780 if the mother returns to work. We now want to increase that to 75%, because this encourages women to go back to work and stimulates the economy with young people,” Gutsanov explained.

He also believes there should be an increase in the one-off support granted for the first, second and third child. The Minister wants aid to be extended to all pupils from first grade to eight grade, not just grades 1–4 and eight grade as it currently stands.