Bulgaria admits over 28,000 non-EU workers in first five months

More than 28,000 workers from non-EU countries have been granted access to the Bulgarian labour market since the start of the year, Deputy Labour Minister Danail Rusev said at a roundtable on labour migration in Sofia. 

Over the past three years, more than 108,000 foreign workers from 95 countries have entered Bulgaria, reflecting growing interest in the country’s labour market, Rusev said.

Bulgaria has already signed labour mobility agreements with Armenia, Georgia and Moldova, while a similar deal with Uzbekistan is expected to be signed soon as the country seeks to attract additional workers.

“Labour migration is no longer simply a temporary solution. It is a strategic instrument for economic development in an environment of global competition for skilled specialists,” Rusev said, as quoted by the Bulgarian news agency BTA.

He added that the issue had become increasingly important against the backdrop of Bulgaria’s demographic decline and worsening labour shortages across a number of sectors.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov