site.btaBTA Director General Valchev Thanks Bulgarian People for Funding Public Media, Reminds Parliament of Still-Low Journalist Salaries

We must thank the Bulgarian people for their investment in public media and remind Parliament that journalists’ salaries remain low, said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev during the discussion of the 2026 State Budget Bill in its section on culture at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Media on Wednesday. The draft 2026 budget allocates EUR 10,160,700 to BTA.

Valchev said that despite an average salary increase of over 80% at BTA between 2021 and 2025, more than double the rate of inflation, and despite the introduction of systematic incentive schemes such as additional material bonuses for high performers, paid training, and support for specific groups of employees, salaries at BTA remain below those in comparable labour-market sectors. These include teachers and public relations specialists, including in state and municipal institutions, where pay is significantly higher than in the media sector.

“This is why we appeal to Parliament to consider aligning salaries in public media with those of teachers if funds are reallocated within the 2026 State Budget,” the BTA Director General said.

He reported that as of September 30, 2025, the average salary at BTA, including seniority bonuses and performance incentives, is BGN 2,500, whereas the average teacher’s salary is BGN 2,937, and will increase by a further nearly 10% in 2026. This means that achieving parity between teachers’ salaries and those of BTA staff would require an additional 15% increase to BTA’s wage fund, amounting to BGN 2 million, Valchev explained.

He added that BTA and the trade unions are considering various options for securing a higher rate of increase, including fully or partially discontinuing bonuses for those who consistently meet or exceed expectations. Valchev emphasized that there is no agreement to abolish bonuses for high performers in favour of those who do not perform well. However, a compromise may be possible: an actual salary increase of 10%, with insurance contributions and seniority bonuses funded from the resources that currently support systematic incentives, while maintaining a smaller bonus fund for employees who exceed performance criteria.

BTA is also discussing with the unions a plan for wage growth aligned with the international methodology used by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). This methodology calculates the net monthly income needed to support one worker in a three-member household with two employed adults. Currently, Valchev argued, 310 out of BTA’s 348 employees (89%) earn more than BGN 1,770, the income required per worker so that a two-income household has at least BGN 3,541 in gross labour income to cover essential living costs, in his words. For BTA’s highly qualified staff, however, the necessary income should be significantly higher, with only the lowest-paid technical positions expected to reach this benchmark within the next five years.

Valchev highlighted three additional key points in BTA’s proposed 2026 budget. It includes BGN 1.2 million for the purchase of additional disk-storage capacity. It also provides for one-third of the cost of licences and maintenance for the agency’s information and communication infrastructure, including cybersecurity, under a three-year deferred payment plan introduced when BTA opened full free public access to its website. The draft budget additionally includes co-financing for various national and EU-funded projects, which offsets insufficient capital-expenditure resources and covers targeted activities such as hardware and software upgrades.