00:01Bulgarian banks, businesses and shoppers prepare to say goodbye to the lev currency
00:06and adopt the euro on January 1st.
00:09It's a long-awaited milestone, met with excitement, scepticism and, in some corners, anger.
00:15Bulgaria will be the 21st country to join the euro currency zone
00:20and bring the number of Europeans using the currency to more than 350 million.
00:26Becoming a member of the euro zone, apart from using euro notes and coins,
00:31also means a seat at the European Central Bank's rate-setting governing council.
00:37Businesses are largely in favour.
00:40Owner of the Dragomir Estate winery Natalia Gajeva says adopting the euro will make business smoother,
00:48both for customers outside Bulgaria and for the winery, which receives EU funding.
00:54Polls show the wider population is split on the issue.
00:58Some fear it will push up prices or are suspicious of a domestic political establishment
01:04in the throes of a crisis that saw the government step down earlier this month
01:09amid widespread protests against proposed tax increases.
01:13In a country with historic, cultural and political ties to Russia,
01:17many are wary of further allegiance to Europe.
01:20I am against it. First, because the lev is our national currency.
01:28Secondly, Europe is heading towards demise, which even the American president mentioned
01:33in the new national security strategy. And there are similar conclusions there,
01:38that both the euro and Europe are heading towards decline. I may not be alive when this happens,
01:44but that is where everything is going.
01:49Some political analysts say the campaign promoting the euro has been weak
01:54and that older people, especially in remote areas, will struggle to adapt.
01:59They said a lack of stable government may further complicate the change.
02:06and we've got the deals for the euro we made.
02:13And I wish to go for the euro to the euro to the euro.
02:16I'm going to go for this undeclidate.
02:18Let's go for this and check it.
02:20I click on the euro.
02:22I click on the euro.
02:25I click on the euro as I drag off the euro.
02:27Since that level is, I am going to enter your euro.
02:29I see you.
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