Side-effects of the euro crisis are spreading beyond Greek borders into Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia. Once seen as their poverty-stricken northern neighbours, Greeks are now looking to Bulgaria for some relief.

Euobserver reports that with Greek banks closed and the state in limbo pending the referendum, debt renegotiation and even a possible euro exit, hotels and restaurants in northern Greece have begun taking payments in Bulgarian levs (BGN). The foreign currency is then used as an entrepreneurial work around to avoid the Greek ATM restrictions recently introduced.

“Automatic teller machines in Thessaloniki had run out of cash and nobody could withdraw even five euros,” said Bulgarian Rumen Galabinov, who runs a financial consultancy and used to sit on Bulgaria’s financial and insurance supervision panels in 2003. He continued:

“After a lunch at a local restaurant, I joked, asking whether they would accept a payment in levs, and the owner agreed…

“…The restaurant owner, who also had two hotels, said his Bulgarian guests would be welcome to pay in levs. Then, the owner would travel to Sandanski [in southern Bulgaria] and exchange the levs for euros to have cash for his daily supplies.”

Galabinov also predicted both Greek businesses and private depositors may travel to Bulgaria to withdraw money from Greek bank branches there. Although the banks are established under Bulgarian law, therefore not subject to the Greek capital controls, they cannot transfer money to their Greek counterparts without permission from the Bulgarian National Bank.