site.btaMinister Gutsanov Comments on Trade Unions’ and Employers’ Negotiations for Calculating Minimum Wage

Minister of Labour and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov said that if the current mechanism for determining the minimum wage remains, the amount will be about BGN 1,200 in 2026. His comment was related to transposing the Directive for adequate minimum wages in the EU and the mechanism for the minimum wage in Bulgaria. 

Gutsanov said he expects trade unions and employers to find the middle ground which would be most useful for workers and for the economy. 

“There is a mechanism, it works, so if there is no understanding between unions and employers, the minimum wage will be determined in the way it is currently,” Gutsanov commented.

Gutsanov noted that Bulgaria is not behind on transposing the directive. He specified that there are "four mechanisms" that should be implanted to the negotiation for minimum wage. Permanent meetings and conversations are being conducted between trade unions and employers, he noted.

In 2025 the minimum wage is 1,077 BGN, while the amount for 2026 will be determined by September 1 of the current year in the amount of 50% of the average gross salary for a period of 12 months, including the last two quarters of the previous year and the first two quarters of the current year.

Podkrepa Confederation of Labour President Dimitar Manolov said that this week the talks between trade unions and employers' organizations continued, and so far there is no agreement between them on how to determine the minimum wage. “What happened regarding the order for determining the minimum wage in the Labor Code is not good for anyone,” commented Ivelin Zhelyazkov from the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association during a discussion. He argued that the automatic formula in the Labor Code "strikes the very idea of ​​social dialogue".