Aid

Turkey has sent medical aid to 80 countries to fight the novel coronavirus, the country's vice president said May 14.   

"We have had the opportunity to help 80 countries that have asked us for help so far," Fuat Oktay said in an interview with online channel Yozgat Çamlık TV.  

The main demand from these countries was face masks, gloves and respirators, Oktay said.  

A survey by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) among 580 enterprises in the sphere of services and trade shows that more than 80% of them say that the 60/40 anti-crisis measure (sharing the cost of staff salaries between the state and employers) is inefficient, Dimiter Brankov, BIA Vice President said for the Bulgarian National Radio.

The Council of Ministers has allocated BGN 860 568 to international organizations with a leading role in the fight against COVID-19. These include the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The European Union Court of Justice has ruled in favor of awarding a total of 435 million euros in farming subsidies to Greece after upholding Greek appeals against previous convictions that had led to the aid being withheld.

The court made two decisions, one issued on February 13 and another on April 30, in response to two appeals by Greece's State Legal Council.

Turkey is the third biggest supplier of medical aid worldwide amid the coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on April 28.  

The country also provides the largest amount of humanitarian aid in the world, he said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday the next seven-year EU budget linked to a recovery fund was the only way to steer the bloc out of the COVID-19 crisis and that its size had to increase.

The European Commission has approved a BGN 1.5 billion (approximately €770 million) Bulgarian wage subsidies support scheme for preserving employment in the sectors most affected by the confinement measures put in place due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The fallout from the coronavirus spread that has killed more than 83,000 people and wreaked havoc on economies around the world could push around half a billion people into poverty, Oxfam said on Thursday.

The fallout from the coronavirus spread that has killed more than 83,000 people and wreaked havoc on economies around the world could push around half a billion people into poverty, Oxfam said on April 9.

The government approved the provision of BGN 195 583 additional humanitarian aid for the reconstruction of Albania after the earthquake of November 26, 2019.

The decision is an expression of Bulgaria's solidarity with Albania and our comprehensive commitment to support our priority region in the Western Balkans.