Russian pensioners who moved to Bulgaria shared their troubles: “We count every penny”

Russian pensioners are the main participants in Bulgarian chats. Judging by the comments, hundreds of elderly people across the country are applying for a residence permit in order to leave Russia in the near future. We talked to those who left.

Ekaterina Nikolaevna moved from Moscow to Varna a year and a half ago. During this time, the woman managed to get comfortable in a new place. Now, on a voluntary basis, he advises compatriots on resettlement issues. In a conversation with us, the woman immediately mentioned: “Don’t think, I love Russia, but I prefer to live in more comfortable conditions.”

– We moved to Varna with our daughter, who entered the local university. Here, studying costs three times cheaper than in the same RUDN, – says Ekaterina Nikolaevna. – Last year, about 5 million refugees from Ukraine came to Bulgaria. In Varna, they rented everything they could rent, and they bought housing that they could buy. Gradually, most of the Ukrainians moved to other countries. By 2023, there will be about a million refugees left. Among them there are many well-to-do people who live in clover, have opened a business: beauty salons, bakeries, restaurants, small factories.

But a holy place is never empty. This year in Bulgaria there is an incredible influx of pensioners from Russia and the CIS countries. I help people find accommodation here. Yesterday I received 54 letters in the mail from those who have already bought a ticket and are planning to move. These are Muscovites, Petersburgers, residents of Kazan, citizens of Kazakhstan, Armenia and Uzbekistan. The other day I met a man from Uzhgorod, at the end of March I am waiting for a woman from St. Petersburg. All of them issue a residence permit.

Many pensioners with grandchildren come from Russia. The first is easy to apply for a residence permit. The second is cheap to study at universities and colleges.

True, there are Russians who have lived here for many years and are returning back. But they are few. As a rule, they leave because of problems with local medicine. Here it is less developed than in the same Moscow. But no one is selling apartments, everyone is hoping to get medical treatment in Russia and come back.

The main problem for us is getting a pension from Russia. For example, my pension is 14 thousand rubles. She comes to my card. I transfer rubles to the so-called “foreigners”, they exchange them for levs. On the exchange I lose 4 thousand rubles.

But it seems to me that few people live on pension in Varna. People find work in hotels. There are many vacancies where knowledge of the language is not required. I do astrology forecasts. My daughter works online, teaches English and Japanese.

Nadezhda Alekseeva moved from St. Petersburg to Plovdiv at the end of last year.

– Our pensions were not enough to live in Russia, this money is not enough in Bulgaria either, – the woman says. – In St. Petersburg, I used to save on everything, the same here. I live on the funds that I have accumulated. Food prices here are lower than in Russia, and the products themselves are much better quality. I am learning Bulgarian with a tutor. If I succeed, I will look for a part-time job. I haven’t had time to miss Russia yet. That’s how I love my homeland, but corruption is killing me. This is the main reason for my departure.

Marina Mikhailovna, a teacher from Vladimir, bought an apartment in Burgas. He receives a pension every three months. He carefully puts the money in envelopes so as not to spend too much.

“It’s hard to live here on a pension,” the pensioner says. – Prices in Bulgaria for food and utilities are about the same as in Russia. The pension is transferred to me through the pension fund once a quarter. That is, I received money once every three months, put it into envelopes and I think so as not to go out of the budget. Mostly pensioners move here to be closer to the children who left for Europe. In other countries, it is problematic for old people to obtain a residence permit, but in Bulgaria it is easy.

The words of the interlocutor are confirmed by one of the subscribers of the Bulgarian chat: “The situation is pushing you to change your life, but the decision is not easy. We are from the Russian province. My husband and I are retired, but we work. Not oligarchs. Children live in an “unfriendly country”. So we decided to change location. There is no way to live next to children, since there is no program in their country that will allow them to officially transfer age parents to their permanent place of residence. We are considering Bulgaria, here pensioners have grounds for obtaining a residence permit.”

Milana Konstantinovna shares her impressions of Bulgaria: “My husband and I live on a pension, we count every penny. Food prices have jumped here, but every week there are big sales in stores, goods are sold at reduced prices, these days we stock up. I met Russians here who want to return to their homeland. But if the apartments in the homeland were sold, there is nowhere to return. And there are other examples. One grandmother had to return to Russia, because the pension for living was not enough. She left Bulgaria with tears in her eyes. We have been living here for six years, received permanent residence, and now we have the legal right to earn extra money. Although reluctant, I just want to live.

Pensioner Sergei Valentinovich has no plans to stay in Bulgaria forever. He prefers to live in two houses – Sunny Beach and Moscow: “Our pension here is quite enough, if you limit yourself in everything. In general, the level of expenses is approximately Moscow”.

But Irina Alexandrovna believes that you can’t live in Bulgaria on a pension: “It’s good here if there is some kind of additional material support. We have been in Bulgaria for almost seven years. At first it was even more profitable to live than in Russia. Then it became more difficult to survive.”

A resident of Burgas, Maria Pavlovna, agrees with her: “In Bulgaria, you can live on a pension just like in the Russian Federation – modestly, without frills and very economically. My husband and I live on two pensions, we do not go hungry and do not even deny ourselves small joys. The pension comes to the card of a Russian bank. To withdraw money, we exchange money with our retired neighbors in a taxi and go to the nearest Turkish ATM to the border, which accepts the Mir card. We rent Turkish lira there, then exchange them for Bulgarian leva. But my friends pass the cards to the drivers they know, who are engaged in transfers to Istanbul and back. Drivers charge them money.”

Most of all, Russian pensioners fear that Bulgaria will join the Schengen and then the shop for easier obtaining a residence permit and permanent residence will be closed.

– If Bulgaria is accepted into Schengen, then the rights and conditions for emigration will change, – one of the interlocutors argues. – And a residence permit on the basis of “wealthy pensioner” can slam in front of our noses. As well as permanent residence. And what are we going to do with our apartments if they tell us: get out, old people, on all four sides, no one is interested in you here. And as a result, it turns out that neither this country nor that one needs us.