Covid-19 recoveries exceed the newly-confirmed cases in past 24 hours

51 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, out of 1,794 PCR tests made. The total number of Covid-19 cases in this country reached 3,341, data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal show.

There are 1,381 active cases of the novel coronavirus. 253 patients are receiving medical treatment in hospitals, of whom 14 in intensive-care units. 1,784 Bulgarians recovered from the virus until now. 54 people were cured in the past 24 hours.

The Covid-19 death toll rose to 176 people. Two people died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours- a 41-year-old man with pneumonia and pulmonary respiratory failure and an 82-year-old woman with many underlying conditions.

45 million euros of compensations paid under 60/40 measure because of Covid-19

Two weeks before the deadline for applying for the support measure for business affected by the pandemic, known as “60/40”, total compensations paid so far have reached just under 45 million euros. This is nearly 9% of the planned BGN 1 billion (about EUR 511 million), according to information from the National Social Security Institute. The largest sums were received by companies from the spheres of mechanical engineering, trade and tourism.

IME: Bulgaria’s revenue falls by 3.6 billion euros because of Covid-19

The Bulgarian economy will receive about 3.6 billion euros less in revenues, a forecast of the Institute for Market Economy and presented to BNR by analyst Krasen Stanchev, shows.

This figure is equal to the income and property of 100,000 households in Bulgaria, Mr. Stanchev illustrated the data. Closing the economy in March, which happened not only in Bulgaria, led to a very deep decline in economic activity. The fact that currently the number of people starting work is higher than that of people registering as unemployed is a seasonal factor, the analyst added. According to him, a second wave of unemployment was very likely to occur.

Pandemic crisis provides economic chance for Bulgaria and the Balkans

Bulgaria and the Balkans have the potential to become the new industrial zone of Europe and the world. The active advertising of Bulgarian and regional enterprises should start now, because everyone wants to find a new supplier in addition to China, Martin Yordanov has told BTA.

Now the world has stopped and it is very important to quickly show who we are and what we can do, adds the entrepreneur, who owns two companies in Bulgaria and one in Italy. The project "Bulgaria and the other Balkan countries - new industrial zone of Europe" could bring fast results within 6 months.

According to participants in the press conference, tools for achieving the goal should be media events, exhibitions in European countries and business tours of potential partners to Bulgaria.

Parity of tourist flows between Bulgaria and Greece

Queues at border checkpoints of Bulgaria with Greece after lifting of the quarantine were not an assessment of the quality of tourism or a sign that Bulgarians preferred Greek beaches to the Black Sea coast, said Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Valeri Simeonov and Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova. The two believe that the increased traffic was due to foreign transit tourists, Bulgarian seasonal workers or people with real estates in Greece.

According to statistics for 2019, Greek tourists coming to Bulgaria were 1.3 million, which is almost equal to the number of Bulgarians who visited Greece - 1.4 million, Minister Angelkova added.

Summer tourist season in Bulgaria to be extended until October

Bulgaria's Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova stated at a press conference that this summer the control over the tourist sector would be uncompromising. As of next week, all major tour operators and air carriers operating on the Bulgarian market are expected to start their flights schedule, the minister said.

The planned charter flights from June 25 to the end of September for Burgas Airport are over 10,600, and for Varna Airport - over 6,400.

"The possibility of subsidizing by 35 euros per seat for charter flights will allow us to extend the summer season until the end in October ", said the Minister and added that in mid-July it will be confirmed how many flights and from which markets will take place in October.

Compiled by Darina Grigorova and Radio Bulgaria's News Team

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