site.btaMPs Halt Budget Spending on Public Sector Employee Events

Budget-funded organizations will suspend the planning, spending and transfer of funds for festive, entertainment and sporting events for their employees, MPs decided on Friday. The decision was adopted on second reading as part of the 2026 State Budget Bill.

Budget-funded organizations will stop holding Christmas and New Year celebrations and other non-work-related events, as well as working meetings, operational and other conferences, seminars and employee training outside the administrative buildings and premises under their management.

Exceptions will apply to international events arising from bilateral or multilateral commitments or related to international organizations, events fully financed under international programmes and projects, and training organized by public training institutions.

Apart from these exceptions, all interdepartmental and internal working meetings, coordination meetings and other staff meetings must be held exclusively online using the available institutional infrastructure, according to the adopted provisions.

Single-person state authorities and their deputies, as well as the chairs, deputy chairs and members of collective state bodies and the heads of political cabinets will not receive performance-related bonuses, MPs decided.

Persons whose basic monthly remuneration is paid from the budget of the respective administration will not receive additional payment for participating in meetings of bodies, councils, committees, commissions, working or expert groups and other similar structures when such participation is related to the performance of their official duties, unless otherwise provided for by an act of the National Assembly.