A man from the western Romanian city of Timisoara makes almost €11,000 by housing refugees in his private residence, news portal Ziare reports.
One of the methods of support for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Romania is the “50/20 Program” whereby the state grants a daily amount of 50 Romanian lei (€10.17) for accommodation and 20 lei (€4.07) for food for each Ukrainian refugee hosted in Romania, or a combined 70 lei (€14.24).
In Timisoara, for example, the “Timisoara for Ukraine” center opened after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Here, many who were willing to help people fleeing the war signed up to make their homes available free of charge.
Out of the 20 lei for food, the owner has to provide three meals a day. Most of the time, the 20 lei is given to the refugee and the 50 lei is kept by the landlord, who must also pay the utilities. A simple calculation shows that for a refugee, just for accommodation, an owner can receive 1,500 lei (€305.10) a month from the state.
According to representatives of the “Timisoara for Ukraine” center, 672 Ukrainian refugees were accommodated in the homes of individuals in Timisoara in October. The amount paid for accommodation and meals for refugees hosted by individuals in Timisoara in October 2022 is 1.3 million lei (€264,389). The highest amount, 54,000 lei (€10,968), was received by a Timisoara man hosting 26 refugees in a two-story house.
In order to receive the money, in addition to the owner’s affidavit, a translated statement from the Ukrainian refugees is required, certifying that they have benefited from the settled services.
According to the Emergency Services (ISU) of Timis County, which makes the payments for the 50/20 Program, in the period March-September 2022, the amount of 9.1 million lei (€1,851,001) was paid to those individuals and legal entities who house and feed Ukrainian refugees. The largest amount was paid to individuals: over 7.5 million lei (€1,525,551).
So far, over 1 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Romania, but most of them continued their journey to Western Europe, mainly Germany.
