Fraudulent scheme related to Ukrainian refugees exposed in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry has uncovered violations in the implementation of programmes providing accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

Source: This was stated by Ivan Demerdzhiev, the Bulgarian Interior Minister, during a parliamentary session on Friday 2 May, reports European Pravda, citing Radio Liberty

Details: After the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes. Hundreds of thousands of them arrived in Bulgaria, where they were placed in hotels, boarding houses, recreation centres and camps.

This was financed by the state budget and funds provided by the European Union.

According to Demerdzhiev, checks by the Bulgarian Interior Ministry have revealed duplicate registrations, as well as placements, exceeding hotels’ maximum capacities, of people who had not entered Bulgaria and children "who had not been born".

Quote: "Sometimes these are hotels, several belonging to the same person, who must know that these refugees are in three different places that they own at the same time," he added. The aim of the sham refugee placements is presumably illegal enrichment at the expense of the state budget and the EU.

Demerdzhiev added that he had discussed the situation with Ukraine’s ambassador to Bulgaria in order to distinguish between people in need of help and "tourists". The data from the Interior Ministry’s inspections has also been sent to the prosecutor's office.

According to Radio Liberty, the narrative suggesting that Ukrainian citizens in Bulgaria who fled the war are in fact "tourists" and are "coming to resorts" is being used by pro-Russian groups on the internet and representatives of pro-Russian political parties and organisations.

There have been problems with the organisation of accommodation for refugees in Bulgaria since the very beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The previous government, led by Kiril Petkov, even accused them of not moving  from private hotels to state-run bases in the manner prescribed by the authorities.

According to official figures, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February, more than 1.27 million refugees from Ukraine have entered Bulgaria, of which more than 51,600 are still in the country. Tens of thousands of refugees did not stay in Bulgaria because an environment conducive to their adaptation was not created here.

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