Just hours before the draft state budget is due to be submitted to Parliament, only limited details are known — and they keep changing. The plan reportedly includes a minimum wage €30 lower than the amount set by the legal formula, and a 2% increase in social security contributions.
It also emerged today that €260 million have been allocated for raising the salaries of young doctors, according to the draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund.
Both the ruling coalition and opposition parties debated their expectations in Parliament — even before seeing the full parameters of what will be Bulgaria’s first budget in euros.
Members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), part of the governing majority, defended the yet-unpublished financial framework, describing it as a “budget with surprises”.
Despite the controversial measures — a minimum wage €30 below the statutory formula, a 2% rise in pension contributions, a higher maximum monthly amount of the insurable earnings, and a freeze on maternity benefits for the second year — representatives of the ruling coalition insisted the plan is realistic and responsible.
Dragomir Stoynev, "BSP - United Left". “I believe this is the best possible budget under the circumstances. Debates are yet to come, and I’m sure there will be positive developments. What this country needs most is stability. People must feel secure. We must have a normal budgetary process.”
Stanislav Balabanov (There Is Such a People) added:
“We will do everything possible to ensure this budget passes, because it is the first to be drafted in euros. Bulgaria will enter the eurozone with dignity. As a right-wing party, we believe taxes should remain untouched — and they will. As for everything else, we will do our utmost to ensure we remain within the limits of a sound, right-leaning budget — without disappointing anyone’s expectations.”
The main criticism from the opposition, however, was directed at the BSP, its social policies, and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov.
Petar Petrov, “Vazrazhdane”:
“There will be early elections because the BSP deceived its voters by promising an increase in the minimum wage. Yet you have agreed to cut it by 30 leva.”
Kostadin Kostadinov, “Vazrazhdane”:
“Information has emerged suggesting that the rate of public debt is set to rise by 70 million leva per day. At the moment, we are already getting indebted by 52 million leva a day because of the 19 billion we have taken on – 18 billion so far and another one by the end of the year.”
Asen Vassilev, ‘We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria’ (WCC–DB):
“I sincerely hope this is just a bad joke on the part of those in power and not actually true. As I predicted, there isn’t a single stotinka in the draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund for young doctors. They’ve dipped into people’s pockets — taking 30 leva from minimum-wage earners — and now they’re reaching into the pockets of all employees and businesses, adding 600 leva a year in pension contributions. In return, you get the so-called ‘Swiss rule’ that’s already written into law. Maternity benefits frozen, social payments frozen — and I’m sure that when we finally see the state budget, the government’s piggy bank will be well filled.”
“Because they are taking additional funds from pension contributions — around two billion leva — and extra resources that is going into the National Health Insurance Fund, raising taxes and social contributions for all Bulgarian citizens, while freezing social programmes. And all of this for what? Because the current income levels, combined with the old level of theft that they reinstated, do not add up to the three per cent,” he said.
BNT: “If these funds are not taken from the people, where do you think they should come from?”
“By curbing the theft. Let’s not allocate four billion leva to the Bulgarian Development Bank, and there will be money,” he replied.
Martin Dimitrov, WCC–DB:
“Every family with two adults earning an average wage will pay 100 leva more per month from now on. This represents the largest — or one of the largest — increases in the tax and social contribution burden in many years.”
Radostin Vassilev, MECH:
“This is like throwing 15 stones into the BSP’s yard. If all of this comes to pass, it goes directly against the policies that helped them win votes. They say there will be many surprises; I certainly don’t expect a bigger surprise than what I’ve already seen.”
There were also criticisms directed at the government over the missing funds for resident doctors in the leaked draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund.
Yordan Tsonev, DPS – New Beginning:
“When the budget leaves this plenary hall approved, we will talk about who misled whom. Our party will ensure that the medical staff receive their due payments.”
Finance Minister Témenouzhka Petkova did not provide any clarification, failing to answer questions on the budget and instead called for patience.
Although no official draft law has yet been published and the deadline for submission to Parliament is Friday, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) described the proposed minimum wage of €605 as “scandalous,” down from the initially planned €620. Meanwhile, the “Support” Trade Union (KT Podkrepa) pointed out that since this amount is not according to the legal formula, it will give grounds for referral to the Constitutional Court.
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