Vice President Iotova: 2026 State Budget Draft Is Intended to Secure Someone's Elections Without Reforms

According to Vice President Iliana Iotova, despite claims that this is the best budget, clearly nobody is satisfied with it.” Her comments referred to a series of ongoing protests by various social groups demanding increased funding.

Iotova added that the budget contains no reforms and appears designed to “secure someone’s elections”.

Deadline Looms for Amendments to Bulgaria’s 2026 State Budget Draft

She highlighted several concerns ahead of the second reading of Budget 2026. “A number of issues are disturbing — firstly, the shortened period between the first and second readings, given that this is the most important law in the country and determines our future for the coming year. Secondly, there is an element in this budget that is barely discussed yet deeply alarming — the pledge to take on a further €10 billion in debt.”

“In my view, this is a budget intended to secure someone’s electoral prospects, without any reforms and without any vision for economic development. As for its social elements, they cannot stand on their own. When you have no production and no economy, you cannot simply keep emptying the treasury,” Iotova said.