Bulgarian Hotel, Restaurant-keepers Meet with PM over Smoking Ban Lifting

Source from:  Focus English News (bg)  12/25/2012

The Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) held a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Minister of Health Desislava Atanasova to discuss the possible lifting of the full smoking ban at public places, and more precisely at the entertainment and catering establishments.

"They were both very polite, they heard our position. The meeting lasted for an hour but they referred us to the National Assembly, where we should look for a lobby for our demands," said BHRA Chairperson Blagoy Ragin said for FOCUS News Agency.

Ragin was explicit that representatives of the association will go to the parliament to present the demands of the Bulgarian business, and namely to lift the full smoking ban. The arguments of the business are mostly economic, since the tourist and restaurant business in Bulgaria was strongly affected by the decrease in the number of customers after the introduction of the full smoking ban in Bulgaria. Enditem