The introduction of the euro at midnight on New Year's Eve puzzles restaurateurs

Restaurant owners and hoteliers, whose establishments will welcome customers on New Year's Eve, warn that they are seriously worried about how payments and revenue reporting will be handled. Until midnight, they must accept payments and return change only in Bulgarian levs, and a minute later - orders will be made in both levs and euros and change must be in euros only. Because of these concerns, the tourism business in Bansko has requested a special meeting with experts from the National Revenue Agency and the Ministry of Tourism.

"The tourism industry is the first to bear the burden of switching from lev to euro on days when it is full of tourists and banks are closed. Hoteliers and restaurateurs in Bansko have a number of specific questions," Marin Bistrin, chairman of the Union of Tourist Businesses, told the Bulgarian National Radio.

For some restaurateurs, the rules for changing from levs to euros remain unclear and they have decided not to work on New Year's Eve to avoid problems.