site.btaCouncil of Ministers: Nearly EUR 120 Million Allocated in 2026 State Budget for Funding Non-governmental Sector

Nearly EUR 120 million has been allocated in the 2026 State Budget for funding the non-governmental sector. This became clear during a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society (CDCS), which convened on Thursday to review the Council of Ministers’ draft 2026 State Budget, the government information service announced. Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov, who chairs the CDCS, said that the amount represents an increase of nearly EUR 2.5 million.

The funds provided in the 2026 State Budget Act, approximately EUR 120 million, are intended as direct transfers from primary budget administrators to non-profit legal entities. The increase compared to 2025 is slightly over EUR 2.5 million, with the largest changes reflected in the budgets of the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Health Ministry, Zafirov explained.

Around EUR 1 million is earmarked for supporting projects of significant public interest under the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act.

Zafirov said that the increased funding for the Youth and Sports Ministry programmes is highly beneficial and urged sports clubs to apply.

At the meeting, participants approved the composition of a working group tasked with setting funding priorities and developing rules and procedures for distributing financial support for public-interest projects carried out by non-profit legal entities. They also discussed opportunities to further develop the CDCS’s communication channels.