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Trade unions in Bulgaria expect a jump in gray economy due to Covid-19

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The gray economy in Bulgaria in 2019 accounted for 21% of the country's GDP, data from the National Statistical Institute reveals. It amounts to 11.5 billion euros. This money is outside the social and health care system. In the conditions of a Covid-19 pandemic, this share is expected to grow, said the leader of the CITUB trade union Plamen Dimitrov on the occasion of the Week of Action in the European Campaign for Declared Labour.

Bulgaria's state budget loses 200m euros a year from undeclared work. Dimitrov noted that it also exists in the light economy. Employees have employment contracts and social security payments, but work extra hours that are not paid by the employer. "Whoever works in the gray sector, cuts his or her own rights," the unions warn, BGNES reports.



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