site.btaMinimum Wage Will Not Remain at Current Level in 2027, Labour Minister Says

Labour and Social Policy Minister Nataliya Efremova said in an interview for Bulgarian National Television on Sunday that she would not allow the minimum wage to remain at its current level from January 1, 2027.

Asked whether she could predict what the minimum wage would be next year, Efremova said it would not be appropriate to speculate on figures before an objective method for determining the wage had been agreed.

"What I can say, and this is my mandatory responsibility, is that I will not allow the current level to be maintained," she said. How much higher it could go, she added, would be a matter of calculations that ultimately needed to provide an objective basis for the decision.

Earlier this week, the government and social partners discussed the criteria for calculating the minimum wage for 2027.

"The idea is to build a high-value-added economy, and then incomes will naturally rise. If we do not develop sufficient investment in the country and in high technologies, our income policy will not be able to deliver higher wages. In this regard, if we want to move our income policy forward, the most important thing is to ensure that people have higher qualifications," Efremova said.

According to her, efforts should be made every year to participate in different types of training. "Regardless of whether we are employed or unemployed, we must seek out different forms of training," she said. Efremova noted that the Labour and Social Policy Ministry offers a wide range of free training programmes, both for professional qualifications and for skills that can be acquired more quickly.

Speaking about the social security system, the Minister said it was a highly complex system that required the commitment of society as a whole. The better people contribute to the system today, the better their pension provision will be in the future. "This is the direction in which we will work," she said.

"We need stronger oversight, aimed at combating the shadow economy and undeclared employment, but also at building people’s confidence that the better they contribute to the social security system today, the better they can exercise their rights both now and in the future," Efremova said.

The Minister also said she would travel to Plovdiv next week to meet with children from the Children’s Council under the State Agency for Child Protection.

"I want to hear their views as well. What can we do better for young people? How can we support a better environment for them?" she said.

Efremova added that she would also meet with local social services, as well as separately with the State Agency for Child Protection and the Social Assistance Agency. "We intend to develop a specific new action plan to strengthen child protection," Efremova said.