site.btaAt Least 870 People Expected to Return to Bulgaria under I Choose Bulgaria Initiative, Deputy Social Policy Minister Efremova Says

At least 870 people could be covered by the I Choose Bulgaria initiative, which aims to attract them back to Bulgaria from abroad, said Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy Natalia Efremova in an interview with BTA on Tuesday. “Let's not forget that most of them will probably return with their entire families – partners, children. We expect 1,170 people to benefit from the measures to provide employment and support for living in a town with less than 50,000 inhabitants,” she also said.

The measure is funded by Labour and Social Policy Ministry's Human Resources Development Programme, with applications opening in September.

“With the I Choose Bulgaria initiative, we have tried to cover a large part of the process and organization involved in relocating a person - from transporting household goods to settling in and finding a job. We have even considered the adaptation of family members who are not Bulgarian citizens but want to find work here,” Efremova explained. She said that there are certain requirements that those wishing to return to the country must meet. "To benefit from European support, applicants must meet one of two requirements: either they must have lived abroad for 12 of the last 18 months, or they must have recently completed their education abroad. In both cases, this must be proven with documents at the application stage," explained the Deputy Minister.

According to Efremova, the needs of the labor market have been studied, and the measure could have the effect of providing the necessary personnel for businesses in Bulgaria. "Our goal is to provide a workforce with suitable and diverse labor characteristics for the Bulgarian labor market," she said.