Project ERIAS – examples of positive integration in the labour market

The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry gathered a collection of examples of positive integration of people from third countries in the Bulgarian labour market. The aim of the initiative, implemented under the ERIAS project – European Refugees Integration Action Scheme, is to convey a positive message about the integration of foreigners in the host society. These examples are key to achieving subsequent benefits for the labour market.

The examples will be combined in a collection of stories about integration /Vade Mecum/ from different European countries. BCCI will publish some of the examples in its “Infobusiness” bulletin. If you want to share your story - as an employer or employee, see more information here.

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Anastasiia Dehtiarova is head of Content and Events and a co-founder of Open Sofia Foundation.

She is busy building a brand-new platform for the international community, both foreigners and Bulgarians in Sofia. Herself a foreigner – born in Ukraine she decided to stay in Bulgaria 2 months after her first visit to the country.

After studying linguistics in Ukraine she moved to Italy to get another Bachelor's degree in communications. Anastasiia spent two years there, finished her education and moved to Brussels. In the heart of Europe, she was targeted by the work itself. First, she did an internship, then got employed, then became a freelancer. Her field of activity – marketing, public relations, communication, production of content requires to be active and to do your homework regularly.

In June 2019 she came to Sofia and decided to stay. She was positively surprised – liked the life. She felt comfortable in Bulgaria. According to her this is a hidden gem for foreigners, still not so popular so there are many opportunities for new projects especially in her business field. First, she was running her own company in Bulgaria and working on different projects. After teaming up with the foundation creator and another co-founder, the idea for opensofia.org became a reality. It is a platform for people from all over the world that live in Bulgaria and Sofia. The Open Sofia Foundation operates with an international team of 35 people – volunteering foreign contributors, as well as Bulgarians.

Knowing several languages like Russian, Ukrainian, English, Italian and French, made her feel comfortable in Bulgaria but she is still struggling with the local language.

For her the integration was somehow smooth. Her soft skills, the ability to work in a team, to communicate and to listen helped her a lot. Anastasiia says she would be fully integrated in Bulgaria if it wasn’t the language.

She met some obstacles after moving to Bulgaria like a confusing way the big business works and the impossibility to get the right answer to your questions. On the other side she marks the positive – there are some companies with great customer care services in Bulgaria.

Her advice to foreigners from third countries that intend to come and live in Bulgaria is simple: “Have an open mind. Life and opening a business here are easy. Try not to expect anything and you will be positively surprised.”