The number of foreigners from Asia working in Bulgarian resorts is increasing. "I like the nature and the people the most", says Aisulu Yoldasova from Uzbekistan. Mihail Ivanov meets her and other seasonal workers:
You will meet them at the checkout in the supermarket, while buying a ticket for an aquapark or in the moments when you peek into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant on the beach. They work in the most luxurious hotels, but also in smaller family businesses - from Tsarevo to Balchik.
Over the past three years, workers from Central and Southeast Asia have become a key support for Bulgarian tourism. Thus, by mid-July this year alone, Bulgaria has issued as many work permits to foreigners outside the EU as for the whole of 2024.
These statistics reflect a deeper trend: the short summer season does not offer enough stability for local workers, which leads to a lack of sufficient labor for business. To compensate for this, the sector is looking for security thousands of kilometers outside the country.
It finds it with people for whom Bulgaria is a kind of "All Inclusive" package - a place with a wonderful climate, high salaries and a balance between work and rest. However, structural problems remain, and new ones are looming for the industry - a direct effect of the war in Iran and the weaker tourist season.
"I can relax while I make money"
"Bulgaria is the perfect option for me", says Sofia Moon from Kazakhstan. We meet in Kranevo, where she works as a waitress in a large hotel. She is 20 years old and comes from the city of Kostanay, located about 176 km from the border with Russia. She is studying at a university there - majoring in "piano".
It is already the second summer in Bulgaria. Contrary to local hoteliers, for her the short season is a plus. "I chose Bulgaria because the season lasts three months. In Turkey, it is five to six months, and because of my education, I cannot afford to work that much,” says Moon.
According to data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, cited by "Dnevnik", she is part of the nearly 13,000 foreigners outside the EU who have received a visa for seasonal employment for up to 90 days. In Kranevo, they are mainly from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia.
To get to the resort, Moon, like most foreign workers, trusts an intermediary company. She fills out her documents, pays a fee, and then expects to be connected with an employer in Bulgaria. Last year, she worked in Pomorie, but this year she ends up on the Northern Black Sea Coast. Where she starts working depends on the agreement between the intermediary company and the specific hotelier.
The costs of flights to and from Bulgaria, as well as accommodation and meals during the season, are covered by the employers. "I like that the climate in Bulgaria is completely different and that I can relax while I make money", says Moon. Although she comes from the largest economy in Central Asia, she says that her salary in Kranevo would be slightly higher than in Kazakhstan for her position.
Higher salaries and a good climate
In the same hotel in Kranevo, we also meet Marina Tavaldieva from Kyrgyzstan. She is 61 years old and works as a maid. She has not been able to find work in her home country because she is already over 58, the retirement age for women there.
"My health allows it, so I still work&rdquo,&rdquo, she says. In our brief conversation in Russian, she says that in Bulgaria "it pays well".
According to the Kyrgyz Statistical Institute, the average monthly salary in the country for 2024 is 36,047 soms or under 400 euros - 3 times less than in Bulgaria for the same period. The comparison with Uzbekistan is similar.
In addition to financial assistance for Tavaldieva's family, her work in Bulgaria gives her the opportunity to live in a better climate. "In Kyrgyzstan, my blood pressure rises, I have heart problems, and here I don't even take medication," she shares.
The difficulties facing employers
For Tavaldieva, this is her third summer in Kranevo. For exactly that long, Vera Veselinova, the manager of the hotel in the resort village, has been relying on workers from Central Asia.
This year, it is mainly foreigners, including eight from Asia. There are three Bulgarians, excluding management positions. Veselinova works with a Bulgarian intermediary company, and her criteria for foreign workers are often limited to speaking Russian.
She calls the process "Russian roulette" because there are so many unknowns. She has had to wait four months for workers' visas, and their late arrival in June can affect the hotel's readiness for the season. Sometimes, the description of the staff's skills does not correspond to reality.
Before the start of the season, her expectations were to hire 18 foreigners from Central Asia. When she saw that the season seemed to be weaker, she limited this number.
The impact of the war in Iran
"It is profitable for foreign workers to work here, but it is starting to become expensive for hoteliers," admits Veselinova. According to her calculations, due to the war in Iran and the rerouting of flights from the Middle East, the costs of one-way trips have risen significantly. "The prices of one-way plane tickets that we paid for a worker were around 300 to 400 leva. Now this amount is in euros," she says.
She estimates that for the arrival of a foreign worker in Bulgaria, the costs of administrative fees and transportation to the hotel can reach around 1,200 euros. This does not include accommodation, food and salaries, which she says are slightly lower than those of local employees.
"Hiring foreigners is more expensive for us, but the important thing is that we have reliable staff", says Veselinova, saying that she is satisfied with her work with them. However, the manager does not hide her concerns that the high costs may change established practice.
"If the crisis in the Persian Gulf continues, I expect transport costs to reach 500-600 euros per direction next year, which means that we will not be able to hire them”, she says, adding that it used to be profitable for hoteliers, "but now everyone is wondering if it makes sense".
What do foreigners find in Bulgaria?
Despite the difficulties so far, it seems that the number of foreign workers in seasonal sectors will continue to increase. The alternative for Bulgarian tourism is to report economic losses due to the lack of staff - a scenario that will harm the entire country, since the sector is directly responsible for up to 8% of Bulgaria's gross domestic product and up to 15% when the sectors indirectly related to it are added.
And while hoteliers on the Black Sea coast often talk about the lack of a national tourism strategy, foreign workers from Central Asia seem to be becoming not only part of the solution to the structural problem, but also ambassadors of Bulgaria in unfamiliar places.
"I like the nature and people in Bulgaria the most - especially the sea, because in Central Asia we don't have a sea”, says Aisulu Yoldasova from Uzbekistan, an economics student who works as a cashier at the largest supermarket in Kranevo.
Her colleague Gulsanem Samuratova, a student of translation from Russian to English, says that she had the opportunity to go to work in Latvia, but the proximity of Bulgaria convinced her to came here.
Along with them, 16 other people from Central Asia are engaged. In addition to the higher salaries, they say they are impressed by Bulgarian dances. They use their free time to explore the region between Varna and Kranevo. "My first impressions were that Bulgarians are very harsh, but if you get close to them, if you establish good relations, they open up to you a lot", says Samuratova, adding that "she already feels like family to them". A feeling that contributes to both saying that they would return to Bulgaria again.