Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Greeks and Romanians shop in Bulgaria on mass scale after the Schengen entry

Photo: digi24.ro

The benefits for Bulgaria from full entry into Schengen are estimated at over 800 million euros per year. The largest benefits will be for manufacturers and exporters. But while this macroeconomic effect is awaited, the benefits are already being felt by small businesses. Romanians and Greeks are massively using the abolition of border controls to shop for fuel, food and cigarettes in the country.

Bulgaria has become a preferred shopping destination for Romanians near the border. More and more of them are crossing the Danube to fill up their tanks or buy cigarettes and food, which are much cheaper, the Romanian television station Digi24 reported. In a report titled “Bulgaria - the preferred supermarket of Romanians from the southern part of the country”, the television station points out that about 5,000 cars cross the bridge near Ruse every day. Their number is more than twice as high as in the same period in 2024.

For bargain hunters, border police remind that there are restrictions. A maximum of 40 packs of cigarettes can be exported to EU countries. Penalties for violations start with a warning and can reach 20,000 lei, and if the limit is exceeded, a criminal case is initiated. For alcoholic beverages, the limit is 40 liters.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Myara agency: Crimes and incidents continue to be a major source of tension

Social tensions from 1 July until 30 September this year are estimated at an index of 6.09, meaning “risks that are difficult to control”, on a scale of 1 to 210, indicates a survey by the sociological agency Myara, the Bulgarian news agency BTA..

published on 10/21/25 4:09 PM
Parliament building

The ruling coalition discuss the future of the cabinet behind closed doors

A meeting of the coalition partners took place early this morning, during a sitting of the National Assembly, to discuss the possible reformatting of the government. Such a change was first made mention of by GERB leader Boyko Borissov after his party..

updated on 10/21/25 3:12 PM

Within the space of 1 month, Bulgaria is mentioned 7 times as a country connected with dangerous food

In September, Bulgaria was mentioned as a country connected with dangerous food 7 times, indicate data of the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), BNR’s Vesselina Milanova reports. Over the same period this country has reported..

published on 10/21/25 3:09 PM