100% increase of Ukrainian citizens arriving at the Bulgarian "Durankulak" border checkpoint has been noted in recent days. The situation has changed dramatically due to the increased flow of people who, after the strike against the railway station in Kramatorsk, prefer to leave Ukraine by bus rather than by train.

Additional staff from both the Bulgarian Red Cross and the Ministry of the Interior have already been assigned to the Durankulak border checkpoint, as well as volunteers who are doing everything possible to register the people coming. Durankulak already has 11 temporary protection points.

The gathering of people is mainly due to the activity of tour operators operating in Ukraine. In return for a commission, they deceive the people there and promise them that they will be accommodated in Bulgarian hotels. In most cases, hotels are not informed and do not actually have more vacancies to receive Ukrainian citizens. 80% of the buses at the border find themselves in this situation and this is actually the reason for the queues there.

"These buses deliberately bypass the Bulgarian accommodation organization and when they arrive here, we urgently need to seek shelter. However, in order to accommodate them free of charge under the program, they must have temporary protection", explained Valeri Rachev, head of the operational coordination group established at the Council of Ministers.

The authorities also ask anyone who has information about irregularities in the transportation and accommodation of Ukrainian citizens to send a signal to the Crisis Staff at the Council of Ministers or on the national 24-hour telephone line (+359) 02 9055555.

Bulgaria ranks second in Europe in the percentage of people registered for temporary protection fleeing the war in Ukraine, based on the total number of people staying in the country. In recent days there has been a significant increase in the number of people deciding to stay in Bulgaria.

April 15 is the deadline by which the hotel accommodation program will pay them, regardless of whether the people accommodated there are registered or not. After this period, there will be no way to accommodate in the hotels people who have not sought registration for temporary protection or are not already registered for such

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/Council of Ministers