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The suspension of the Ukrainian refugee accommodation program is further proof that tourism is not a priority for the state.

The Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) is categorical about this in its position to the media.

The hoteliers were the first to lend a hand to the refugees and the state, some of them taking out loans and taking overdrafts, but the state all the time transferred the responsibility of housing the mothers and children fleeing the war to the hoteliers.

The funds that were allocated to a person staying in the hotel bases were certainly not enough, but nevertheless, the business did not turn its back on those in need.

That is why we are surprised by the incorrect statement of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev that the refugees will be relocated so that in winter conditions such as are ahead, these citizens will be accommodated in safer places, the association points out.

On the condition that the hoteliers provided perfect accommodation conditions for the Ukrainian refugees, provided them with nutritious food and even animation for the children, so that they would forget the horror of the war, and without clarity of payment and at their own expense for three months, said the chairman of BHRA Georgi Shterev .

Dissatisfaction among Ukrainian refugees in our country because of their transfer to state bases

We do not agree with the expressed disbelief, given the fact that since the beginning of the conflict and the waves of refugees, it was the hoteliers who supported the victims, since the state not only paid the promised funds for accommodation with a delay of 3 months, but also this money, that were provided were not enough.

It is insulting the behavior of the state at the end of the period to come to groups of all kinds of institutions for mass simultaneous checks instead of making periodic checks on the conditions of accommodation during the whole period.

There is no logic in paying the same money to hoteliers as for refugees housed in vans.

The hotel service in our country, which is at the European level, cannot be compared with the conditions in the refugee accommodation vans and the corresponding centers.

During the inspections, they want us to offer hotel-level services and service, and in terms of price, they compare us to refugee centers with shared bathrooms and vans, Shterev pointed out.

And the difference is huge.

Once again, it appears that tourism is not a priority, as if the program had continued in its current form, it would have supported the tourism sector as a temporary solution to one of the most serious problems in the sector, which contributes an average of 13 percent of GDP, namely - seasonality.

The state continues to do nothing to help seasonal workers and immediately after September 15th they are left to fend for themselves.

And as every year at the end of the season, when hotels close and release seasonal workers, the state and in particular the Ministry of Social Affairs explain that the money in the budget has run out and they cannot allocate funds for the qualification and retraining of seasonal workers.

Such money is actually available, but a desire on the part of the Ministry of Social Affairs to invest it effectively is also necessary,

instead of just calling the number, Shterev pointed out.

And not for another year to wait until February/March and possibly invest funds in the new budget, and until then seasonal workers and their families rely on photosynthesis, added the chairman of the BHRA.

Repeating the same mistake over the years and expecting a different result, that cannot happen.

The state created a problem with its program for housing Ukrainian refugees, and with every cash transfer they pride themselves on solving a problem of their own making.

Instead, they could transfer 50 percent of the sums needed to house the refugees in advance, and not humiliate the hoteliers and force them to take out loans because they have made a commitment to these mothers and children and cannot throw them out on the street because of the carelessness of the rulers.

The state has decided in this way, it is a commitment of the state, said the deputy chairman of BHRA Veselin Nalbantov.

According to him, the managers should have solved the issue earlier, and not transfer the responsibility to the hoteliers and postpone the solution.

As a society we cannot be ashamed, especially the people in the industry, we did everything we had to as people, he pointed out.

There is currently a labor shortage across Europe.

And instead of the rulers doing pointless PR, they should organize training and retraining courses for these people, so that at the same time they find their place in a foreign, albeit hospitable, country.

And so, at the same time, to provide staff to the business for the next tourist season - waiters, bartenders, administrators, Nalbantov pointed out.

And he rhetorically asked how these people would integrate in isolated settlements with bases - without schools and kindergartens, without opportunities for mothers to work.

There is no thinking on the part of the state, he was categorical.

We are looking for people from Africa and Asia, and these Orthodox people, with a close culture and traditions and mostly suitable for the Bulgarian market, we find them in an elementary way.

The Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association

Ukrainian refugees