site.btaUPDATED Tripartite Council Meeting Cancelled as Employers Protest 2026 Draft Budget, Broad Criticism Follows

The Wednesday meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) of the Cabinet, employers and unions, has been called off, Council Secretary Vaska Shushneva told the press. The social partners were expected to discuss the 2026 draft state budget, as well as the budgets for the National Health Insurance Fund and Public Social Insurance.

The participating employers' organizations refused to attend in protest against the meeting in protest against the proposed budget.

The Cabinet's draft of the 2026 state budget raises the minimum wage, pension insurance contributions and the dividend tax. 

The three draft budgets need to go through the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation before they reach the legislature but the Council has only advisory powers and the approval of the employer organizations and the unions is not required for the budgets to go through.

What the employers said

Rumen Radev of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) said that it was a unanimous decision of the four nationally representative employer organizations not to attend. "It is our position that the budget procedure, in the form the legislator meant it to be, has been violated. There is no tripartite cooperation because of which we see no sense in endorsing a budget that it hopelessly inadequate," he said.

He added that the proposed budget was met with disapproval by economists and that the central bank called for tightening financial discipline.

“This helicopter-money approach has to end. We need to have a clear and reasonable procedure for things to happen,” said Radev. “We were forced, within hours, to familiarize ourselves with the parameters of the budget,” he explained.

The Chair of the BICA Managing Board commented that apparently talks had been held with the trade unions. “There were indications that one-on-one talks were being held, and leaders of trade union organizations spoke about that — but not with our participation. We have been proposing talk since September but there were none. We prepared preliminary positions outlining the main parameters we expected to see in the budget framework,” Radev further commented.

He said there was a period when the Finance Ministry seemed to be working with the kind of budget figures the employers had expected. “At one point, going through the Joint Governance Council and other non-public procedures, we were presented an extremely left-leaning draft budget,” Radev added.

Employers are determined not to budge and expect to see corrections to the country’s financial plan for 2026. “We do not rely on the debate in the National Assembly — we have no trust in them,” he further said.

Dobri Mitev, Chair of the Managing Board of the Bulgarian Industrial Association said: “The Council of Ministers and the National Assembly are legally entitled to do whatever they deem necessary. However, the moral right is not on their side if one of the parties in the tripartite dialogue is ignored.”

“If we had true statesmen, this budget should not even reach the Council of Ministers or the plenary hall,” he said. “This budget is dangerous and harmful for the economy, the industry, and above all — for society,” Mitrev believes. “It takes away the incomes of working people — of those who add value to the state, fill the treasury, and contribute to the social security funds,” he also said.

The proposed 2026 state budget does not meet the real needs of Bulgaria’s economy and fails to ensure key conditions for growth - predictability, competitiveness, and an investment-friendly environment, the Bulgarian Employers’ Association for Innovative Technologies (BRAIT) said on Wednesday in a statement on the financial framework published Monday evening by the Finance Ministry.

According to BRAIT, instead of focusing on reforms and efficient use of public funds, the draft relies on mechanically increasing revenues through higher social security contributions and expanding public spending, which according to BRAIT is a short-term approach that will weaken economic activity rather than secure sustainable system financing.

If not amended, the Association warns, the budget could lead to an 8-10% rise in labour costs, further fuelling inflation; delayed investments and relocation of production to cheaper markets; expansion of the shadow economy; and larger deficits in the budget and social systems without any improvement in public services.

Trade unions’ positions

After the Wednesday meeting was cancelled, The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) voiced hope that the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) will be convened as soon as possible and that the budget procedure will move forward through the Council of Ministers and into the National Assembly.

“This confrontation is not coming from us, the trade unions. We are responsible, open to dialogue, and always defend our positions with arguments,” said CITUB’s chief economist Lyuboslav Kostov, noting that under the Public Finance Act, the budget procedure has already been delayed. CITUB said they had received the draft budget less than 48 hours earlier and, as a responsible social partner, had prepared a 30-page opinion outlining what they supported, what they opposed, and concrete proposals for improving the 2026 State Budget Act.

“We came today ready to present them, as we have always behaved as a responsible social partner and never obstructed the budget procedure, which has already been moving rather sluggishly in recent years,” Kostov said.

He added that the trade union does not understand the employers’ behavior: “Everything should happen at the table of dialogue, where it has always happened. Budget 2026 is not perfect – it’s a budget of compromises, but that’s the idea of the tripartite council – for the government to listen to us and make a balanced decision – something from us, something from business, so that the budget improves in its final shape when it reaches the legislature,” Kostov explained. He warned that setting workers against each other to serve private interests helps no one.

Todor Kapitanov, CITUB Vice President, told reporters that what happened was “extremely unfair”, as the NCTC is the forum where all sides should express their positions. “If employers or some experts have objections to the budget, let them state which member of the coalition they expect to make the relevant decisions,” Kapitanov said.

According to him, the trade unions are not to blame for the situation: “It’s very convenient to blame the unions for everything that happens in this country regarding the budget process.” He called on business representatives to “have the courage and integrity to name the problems as they are, instead of accusing and labelling the unions".

The Podkrepa Confederation of Labour does not support the 2026 draft budgets of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), the Public Social Insurance, or the national state budget, the union said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to Podkrepa, the NHIF budget was prepared on a "historical principle" and lacks reforms to address key problems in healthcare, such as the growing number of hospitals, staff shortages, low pay, uneven access between regions, neglected municipal hospitals, and high prices of medicines and medical supplies, all of which endanger public health.

While the draft foresees a 10.1% increase in staff spending, the union insists on a 13.6% rise to offset low wage growth this year and accumulated inflation. Podkrepa supports maintaining the current 8% health insurance contribution rate.

Political reactions

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov voiced hope that dialogue between social partners will be renewed. He emphasized that no government can work in isolation or for its own sake. "Today also shows that, the fact that organized employers did not attend the meeting is also a form of dialogue. I believe we will emerge stronger from this situation and that next week we will be able to speak of a truly effective dialogue," the Prime Minister said.

GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that the approved parameters of the 2026 draft budgets of the State, the National Health Insurance Fund and the Public Social Insurance, cannot be changed at this stage. He rejected the role responsibility for the proposed budgets and said that “it is a coalition budget, the last GERB-only budget was in 2020”. Borissov pointed out that while earlier the government was criticized for not giving enough for healthcare workers, mothers, and other social groups, now that additional funding had been allocated, some were criticizing this decision and calling for budget cuts.

Continue the Change Chair Assen Vassilev described the 2026 draft state budget as “scandalous”. “While reading it, I wondered whether it was arrogance or incompetence that had led to its creation,” the MP told reporters on Wednesday in the corridors of Parliament. He added that earlier in the day, the ruling parties had voted abstain and against Labour Code amendments increasing compensation for unused maternity leave from 50% to 100%. According to him, the proposal did not pass due to the votes of GERB-UDF and BSP - United Left and it became clear that those in power are not thinking about Bulgarian citizens but rather making “their own subtle party calculations”. Regarding the proposal, the MP added that it would also benefit the budget. “Working people pay more in social security contributions than they receive in benefits, which is good for families, as they receive 100% of their maternity benefits in the second year. It is also good for employers, as women return to work earlier,” Vassilev explained.

All assessments of the draft 2026 budget from various quarters have been extremely negative. “We want the budget returned immediately for revision. We will provide our 30 right-leaning, reasonable measures to ensure a more moderate and sensible budget with reforms,” Ivaylo Mirchev, Co-Chair of the Yes, Bulgaria party (part of the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition), told reporters. According to Mirchev, the proposed budget is harmful to the country and risks putting it on a path which, in a few years, will lead to a situation similar to the period of hyperinflation and economic collapse in 1996-1997 during Zhan Videnov's government. Mirchev criticized what he described as “absurdities,” such as the introduction of state-approved software, which he said must be urgently stopped. Yes, Bulgaria is calling on Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to withdraw the draft budget immediately.

According to Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov, the draft budget is catastrophic because it envisages taking on at least another BGN 21 billion in debt. He warned that in the next two months the macroeconomic situation can deteriorate further and that, as a small part of the eurozone economy after January 1, Bulgaria will suffer more from such instability. Kostadinov claimed that the country is currently borrowing BGN 52 million a day, and this figure is expected to rise to BGN 60 million per day in 2026.

The parliamentary group of Velichie issued a declaration regarding the 2026 State Budget Bill, calling it “corrupt and inept”. The statement was read from the rostrum of the National Assembly by Velichie's Floor Leader Ivelin Mihaylov. Mihaylov commented that attention is being skillfully and cleverly diverted from the fact that an illegitimate government is once again producing a budget, despite being “a hundred times unqualified to do anything”.

MECh leader Radostin Vasilev told journalists that the 2026 draft state budget is wasteful as if it were the last one. “We are paying for the administration, the Government’s gifts, at the expense of working people,” he added. Vasilev noted that MECh will vote against most of the proposals. According to him, the draft budget “is either shameless or incompetent”.