site.btaMedia Review: June 26

HEADLINES

The dominant topic across Bulgarian media on Friday is the debate over the 2026 draft budget, public-sector pay, personal social insurance contributions for state employees, and the sustainability of public finances. Coverage focuses on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev’s defence of a budget with a 5.7% deficit, the Fiscal Council’s objections to compensating state employees for new personal contributions, and economists’ views on whether the Government is taking enough consolidation measures.

Another major strand of coverage concerns institutional oversight and legal disputes. Media report on the Commission for Protection of Competition’s probe into food and drink prices at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport, the Bulgarian National Audit Office’s findings of major accounting errors in municipal finances, the Constitutional Court’s decision on Parliament’s role in treaty ratification and opposition criticism of amendments to the Judiciary Act.

POLITICS

Dnevnik reports that distrust in the Radev Government is rising, citing a Market Links survey co-funded by bTV and conducted among 1,005 respondents from June 13 to June 21, 2026. The site says distrust has risen by 6 percentage points and trust has fallen by 5 points since the previous poll, while Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s personal rating has also slipped to 53% trust and 28% distrust. Dnevnik adds that if elections were held now, Progressive Bulgaria would win 39.1% of voters certain to cast a ballot, ahead of GERB on 13.1%, CC-DB on 11.8%, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) on 4.9%, and Vazrazhdane on 4.2%.

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24 Chasa runs a political commentary arguing that Prime Minister Rumen Radev benefits when Continue the Change (CC) and Democratic Bulgaria (DB) attack him from what the author calls the wrong angle, particularly on Ukraine, Russia and sanctions. The daily says the commentary portrays Radev as a politician whose opponents boost his public appeal by casting him as pro-Russian, while ordinary voters respond more positively to calls for peace.

24 Chasa adds that the author identifies Radev’s vulnerability elsewhere, in what the piece describes as a right-wing government, a right-wing budget and a political team that fails to meet public demand for left-wing leadership.

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Telegraph reports that the Constitutional Court has declared unconstitutional Parliament’s decision requiring the Council of Ministers to submit a bill ratifying Bulgaria’s accession to the Council of Peace, a new US-led international initiative. The daily notes that the court says Parliament cannot compel the executive to decide when or whether to launch a treaty-ratification procedure.

Telegraph adds that the case followed a political dispute after Parliament’s March 13, 2026 decision instructing the Cabinet to make Bulgaria a founding state of the initiative launched by US President Donald Trump.

ECONOMY

Dnevnik writes that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev defended the 2026 draft budget against opposition criticism, saying the Radev Government is continuing policies inherited from previous cabinets. “They criticize because they do not like that their mistakes have come to light,” Donev said. The site notes that Donev blamed part of the deficit on EUR 1.1 billion in spending by previous governments since the start of 2026 and on more than EUR 1 billion in unpaid Road Infrastructure Agency obligations from 2023. Dnevnik adds that the draft budget is expected to be approved by the Council of Ministers on July 1, 2026, and sent to Parliament.

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Nova TV reported that economists Kosyo Stoychev and Georgi Vuldzhev discussed whether the 2026 budget is balanced and where revenues will come from. Stoychev said Progressive Bulgaria’s approach looked “not serious” and forecast a tougher budget position in 2027, while Vuldzhev said the draft contains the right fiscal consolidation steps, including scrapping automatic mechanisms for setting public-sector pay and calculating the minimum wage. Nova TV added that both viewed the parliamentary debate as politically difficult, while Vuldzhev said the focus should be on reducing the deficit over several years, not just the current year.

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24 Chasa writes that the Fiscal Council backs the Radev Government’s plan to equalize the social insurance burden of state employees and magistrates with that of other workers but says they should not be compensated for personal contributions. The council says police officers and military personnel should be included from August 1, 2026, to avoid a dual regime. The daily notes that the council estimates current state-paid contributions for state employees and the judiciary, excluding Interior Ministry staff, at EUR 200 million, with a fiscal effect of about EUR 100 million if the measure is introduced only for those groups.

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Trud writes that Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov says the budget debate targets workers and small businesses rather than oligarchic interests. “For me, it is inexplicable how people who said they would fight the oligarchy first move against workers and state employees,” Kostadinov said. The daily adds that Vazrazhdane plans to submit its own proposals, while Kostadinov says the difference between the debt planned under earlier draft budgets and the current proposal is about EUR 1.5 billion.

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Mediapool.bg writes that the Government proposes freezing the mechanism for magistrates’ salaries by linking them to MPs’ remuneration, which was frozen in mid-June at EUR 4,236. The site notes that junior judges, prosecutors and investigators would receive EUR 2,541.60 under the proposal, while pay at senior levels would continue to include rank and seniority bonuses.

Mediapool adds that the judiciary’s budget would rise from EUR 708 million in 2025 to EUR 762 million in 2026, while the Supreme Judicial Council’s budget would increase from EUR 43 million to EUR 108 million.

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Telegraph writes that the Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) found systemic accounting errors in municipal financial reports, with corrections totalling BGN 2.205 billion for 2024. The daily says municipalities have long recorded real estate at reduced tax valuations rather than market-based fair values, creating a risk that property could be sold cheaply.

Telegraph adds that audit reports in 2025 were sent to the Public Financial Inspection Agency for 38 municipalities, the National Revenue Agency for six, the prosecution service for one and the Counter-Corruption Commission for one.

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24 Chasa reports that the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) begins a probe into allegedly excessive food and drink prices at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport and possible abuse of a dominant or jointly dominant position by operators at the two terminals.

The daily notes that the check follows public complaints over coffee, bottled water, soft drinks and food prices that are significantly higher than at other European airports. 24 Chasa adds that the case is the first probe under the new excessive-pricing provisions in the Protection of Competition Act, under which fines may reach 10% of annual turnover.

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Capital writes that EU packaging rules under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will begin applying from August 12, 2026, forcing producers, hotels, shops and restaurants to reduce single-use packaging and increase recyclability and reuse. The weekly notes that packaging waste must fall by 5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040 compared with 2018.

Capital adds that the rules will ban several single-use formats, including miniature plastic hotel toiletry bottles, some plastic packaging for fresh fruit and vegetables under 1.5 kg, portion packs in restaurants and very light plastic bags unless they are biodegradable and compostable.

JUSTICE

Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported that Continue the Change (CC) MP Stoyu Stoev said the amendments to the Judiciary Act do not amount to genuine judicial reform and preserve political control over the Supreme Judicial Council. “All proposals for judicial reform were rejected or postponed indefinitely,” Stoev said. BNT added that Stoev wants nominations for Parliament’s quota on the council to involve universities, the Bar, the Union of Bulgarian Jurists and other professional organizations, and warned that the election of a new council could overlap with the presidential campaign.

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Trud reports that police and General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime officers searched the administrative building of Varna’s Primorski district in the Baba Alino illegal-construction case. The daily says the operation is linked to a Varna District Prosecution Office investigation into certificates of tolerance allegedly issued on the basis of false information. Trud adds that prosecutors in Varna will not comment before the investigation is completed.

HEALTHCARE

Dnevnik writes that the 2026 draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) provides more than EUR 5.256 billion, up by more than EUR 412 million from 2025. Nearly half of the budget, more than EUR 2.3 billion, is earmarked for hospital care, while total health insurance payments are set at more than EUR 4.933 billion. The site notes that originator and generic medicines will be budgeted separately, with the overall allocation for medicines, medical devices and dietary foods exceeding EUR 1.3 billion.

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Trud also covers the NHIF budget, focusing on the exclusion of generic medicines from the mechanism requiring companies to refund overspending to the fund. The daily writes that experts see the change as a safeguard against generics disappearing from the Bulgarian market. Trud adds that the overspending refund mechanism will continue to apply only to innovative medicines, while EUR 2.56 million is provided for biomarker diagnostics for newly diagnosed cancer patients.

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24 Chasa writes that the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has cancelled the public procurement procedure for the design of the National Children’s Hospital, sending the project back to the drawing board. The daily says Bulgaria could have the hospital by 2030 under the most optimistic scenario, while experts see 2035 as more likely if court appeals and political instability continue.

24 Chasa notes that the Health Investment Company for Children’s Hospital plans to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court after the CPC found that the procedure breached the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

SOCIETY

Trud reports that Minister of Culture Evtim Miloshev removed National Palace of Culture (NDK) Executive Director Andriyana Tatarova from the board and terminated her management contract as of June 24, 2026. “This does not release her from responsibility,” Miloshev said. The daily adds that Miloshev ordered inspections and an internal audit after multiple reports of irregularities and poor practices, while NDK board remuneration will be recalculated quarterly based on performance.

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Dnevnik writes that young Bulgarians are becoming more tolerant of hate speech, citing an Open Society Institute - Sofia analysis. The site notes that while about 85% of adults condemn hostile speech, only around 45% of adolescents aged 14 to 17 do so, and 36% either did not answer or were undecided. Dnevnik adds that one in five high-school-age respondents shows some level of approval for public speech expressing disapproval, hatred or aggression against minorities, compared with less than 9% among adults.

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Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) covered the project Sofia’s Neighbour, the Neighbour from Germany: Counter-urbanization, Sociocultural Interaction and Local Transformations, which studies new migration patterns in Bulgarian villages. Researchers Desislava Pileva and Ivaylo Markov said migration between cities and villages is not one-way and that many people maintain ties to several places. BNR reported that British and German pensioners remain the largest groups of foreign settlers in Bulgarian villages, while Dobruja has the highest concentration of German settlers and the Shabla area attracts newcomers from Central Europe.

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BNR also covered a discussion with psychologist Mirela Dimitrova and digital media literacy expert Iglika Ivanova on how children develop critical thinking while following influencers. The radio reported that children first copy their parents’ behaviour, but social networks complicate the process by presenting idealized lifestyles. BNR adds that Parents Association offers resources and consultations on intergenerational dialogue, digital literacy and online safety.

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bTV reported that road safety experts blamed poor infrastructure and inadequate guardrails after a crash on Trakiya Motorway killed two nine-year-old children and the father of one of them. Former youth and sports minister and racing driver Dimitar Iliev said a lorry should not be able to break through a guardrail “as if snapping a pretzel stick”, while Association of People Injured in Road Accidents Chair Vladimir Todorov said: “These are not guardrails. This is a parody.” bTV added that prosecutors are examining a possible tyre problem, while the damaged motorway section had not yet been repaired and only temporary barriers were in place.

ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM

Trud writes that tar balls found on beaches along the northern and southern Black Sea coast come from old oil pollution rather than a fresh spill. The daily notes that the deposits were washed ashore by rough seas between June 15 and June 20, 2026, and similar pollution has also appeared on Romania’s southern coast. Trud adds that the Maritime Administration has found no data on a current or recent oil spill in Bulgarian territorial waters or on a recent maritime incident in the region.

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Nova TV reported that Olympic, world and European weightlifting champion Karlos Nasar accepted Minister of Tourism Ilin Dimitrov’s invitation to join a campaign promoting Bulgaria abroad. The broadcaster said Nasar will appear with Eurovision 2026 winner Dara as one of the Bulgarian public figures promoting the country through personal stories and places linked to them. Nova TV added that Dimitrov gave Nasar a Bulgarian rose statuette to use as part of the campaign message.