There are several financial support programs for Ukrainians in Bulgaria:

• one-time financial assistance – 375 leva (€180). For registration, you need to contact the Social Assistance Office at the address of your residence. You must provide for reference a Registration Card of a foreigner with temporary protection, your personal document from the country of origin and an Address Card of a foreigner (issued to you by the Migration Directorate at the Regional Office of the Ministry of Interior or the hotel where you reside). The documents are submitted for reference. An application is filled in, in which data about you and your family members are declared. Within 27 days after submitting the application, you will be notified whether you have been granted the one-off assistance.You can receive the granted assistance in a post office serving the address where you live, or in a personal Bulgarian bank account;
• target payment for issuing an identification card – 75 leva (€38);
• assistance for heating - paid for 5 months, during the heating season.;
• monthly financial support for low-income families;
• payment from the UNHCR.

Only persons with temporary protection status who meet certain criteria can receive a one-time cash payment from the UNHCR.

Requirements for aid recipients

Financial support can be received by families which:

1. Fit under the vulnerable category. This status is determined by the presence of:

• Family members with disabilities or serious health conditions (inability to take care of themselves);
• Children in the risk group (a child who has own kids, under-aged married person, teenage pregnancy, child involved in child labor);
• Elderly people from the risk group (a single person over the age of 60 who is the sole caretaker of a child);
• A pregnant woman or a woman who’s nursing a baby;
• Single father or mother with more than three children;
• A person who has survived torture, human trafficking, or psychological trauma;
• LGBT person who faces certain protection risks.

2. Have limited financial resources or lack of income;

3. Will become less vulnerable after receiving a financial payment.

How to apply?

Employees of UNHCR partnering organizations (BCH, BHK, RZHB, PHAR) or international organizations (UNICEF , IOM) will apply for payment. They will assess your family's level of vulnerability and fill out a questionnaire.

You must leave your correct phone number (Ukrainian or Bulgarian) to receive an invitation to an interview.

Points where you can get help

• Sofia. Information and Integration Center of BCH, blvd. Evlogi and Christ George 165;
• Varna. Bulgarian Red Cross / "Blue Point", str. "Brothers Shkorpil" 3;
• Burgas. Bulgarian Red Cross, g.k. Revival c. 7.

Several Bulgarian banks have announced simplified procedures for accessing their services and some other bonuses for ukrainian refugees.

DSK Bank (OTP subsidiary)

Documents. Identity card and confirmation of the shelter, which was provided to a citizen of Ukraine (application).

Account opening procedure. In the office, addresses of branches and ATMs.

Terms. A debit card is added to the current account (in BGN), there is access to mobile and Internet banking, all basic operations, including cash withdrawals, online transfers. Products and types of cards . Consultations by phone: 0700 10 375 / * 2375, e-mail - call_center@dskbank.bg. Here is an online form to register for a consultation.

Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria)

Documents. Passport.

Account opening procedure. You will need to present your ID and complete all standard paperwork at the office. Addresses of offices and ATMs .

Terms. It is said that opening an account and debit card will be free of charge, and Ukrainians are completely free of the need to pay for monthly maintenance. The fee for transactions in POS-terminals and ATMs has also been abolished. Contacts here .

Raiffeisen, Bulgaria, also said that it was going to introduce an opportunity for our refugees to exchange cash hryvnia for levs. This material will be supplemented as specifics appear.

You can withdraw cash at a bank or at an ATM. You can exchange currencies at banks, exchange bureaus or at an ATM.

Keep in mind that not all currency exchangers in Bulgaria accept Ukrainian hryvnia. If possible, put hryvnia cash on cards or exchange it for another currency before crossing the border.

Irrespective of their citizenship, an individual is considered a Bulgarian tax resident if they fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

• They have a permanent address in Bulgaria (but only if their centre of vital interests is also in Bulgaria, please see below).
• They reside in Bulgaria more than 183 days in any 12-month period. In this case, the individual becomes a Bulgarian tax resident in the calendar year in which the 183rd day was exceeded.
• They have been assigned abroad by a Bulgarian company or the State.
• Their centre of vital interests is in Bulgaria (determined with regard to the individual’s personal and economic ties to the country).

Any income derived as a result of employment or of rendering services in the territory of Bulgaria is deemed Bulgarian-source income, regardless of from where or by whom it is paid.

A flat tax rate of 10% applies to all personal income, with some exceptions.

Read more about taxation in Bulgaria here .

In this case, individual consultation with a professional lawyer is necessary.

Information about taxation here .

There is an ingenious, but not perfect, solution — to prove to the tax authority of the state in which the citizen does not plan to pay taxes that he is a resident of another country where he fulfills this duty.

A natural person has such a right, as Ukraine has valid conventions and treaties on the avoidance of double taxation with 73 countries of the world. Among them are almost all European countries, as well as the USA and Canada. According to these conventions, Ukrainians who pay taxes in Ukraine have the right to avoid taxation in the country of residence.

If such a situation arises in which a citizen falls under the criteria of a tax resident of Ukraine and at the same time another state defines him as its resident, he has the right to contact the tax authorities of the country of residence and make a request to the Ukrainian tax authorities to confirm that he pays taxes.

That is, in order to prevent double taxation, it is necessary to determine the resident status of an individual and, if necessary, obtain a document that will confirm it. But this may require the help of specialists - tax consultants or lawyers. Specialists advise in advance to collect evidence of the presence of a center of economic interests in Ukraine (if you plan to pay taxes only in Ukraine).

Among them may be:

• certificate of payment of taxes in Ukraine;
• certificate of tax resident of Ukraine (soon to be available in electronic form);
• actual place of registration in Ukraine;
• evidence of the presence of an individual entrepreneur registered in Ukraine (registration documents and tax declarations);
• certificates of current accounts in Ukrainian banks;
• certificates about the child's attendance at educational institutions in Ukraine;
• receipts for the payment of utility bills.

If a citizen of Ukraine is recognized as a resident of Ukraine, but paid taxes in another country, the taxes paid can be credited in Ukraine. But if a person does not meet the criteria of a resident of Ukraine, it allows to change the tax resident status and consider another country as the place of tax payment.

It is important to check the registration of a natural person as a subject of entrepreneurial activity in the Unified State Register. Even if the activity has not been carried out for a long time, but the registration has not been terminated, this is a criterion for recognizing a person as a resident of Ukraine, which is accompanied by the obligation to pay taxes on income received abroad in Ukraine.

Being a citizen of Ukraine, but a tax NON-resident, you will still have to pay taxes in Ukraine for some types of income:

• when receiving inheritance and gifts from persons who are not relatives of the 1st and 2nd degrees of kinship;
• when receiving an investment profit;
• when selling/leasing immovable and movable property to a natural person.

Source .

You can transfer money from Bulgaria to Ukraine via an international transfer or money transfer at a corresponding provider or a bank.

For an international transfer at the bank you have to fill out a special form and usually pay fees. Other special money transfer providers (e.g. Western Union, Moneygram, Wise, Revolut, Paypal) are often a cheaper and faster alternative.