Bulgaria and the euro Bulgaria and the euro Bulgaria committed to switching its currency, the lev, to the euro upon its joining the European Union in 2007, as stated in its EU accession treaty. The transition will occur once the country meets all the euro convergence criteria; it currently meets three of the five criteria, the exception being its membership for at least two years of the EU's official exchange rate mechanism (ERM II), which it has not yet joined despite the Bulgarian lev having been pegged to the euro since its introduction in 1999. In 2011 Bulgaria's Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov stated
Prostitution in Bulgaria of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Bulgaria as a 'Tier 2' country. Prostitution in Bulgaria Prostitution in Bulgaria is itself legal, but organised prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings, or other forms of procuring) is prohibited. In the past, the Bulgarian government considered fully legalising and regulating prostitution. The sex trade is a major source of income for Bulgarian criminals. UNAIDS estimates there are 10,000 prostitutes in the country, and in 2013 there were 20,000 Bulgarian prostitutes working abroad and this was a source of foreign exchange earnings for Bulgaria. Because of poor socioeconomic conditions, a high