site.btaMedia Review: December 8

2026 DRAFT BUDGETS

The government is expected to submit the 2026 budget bills to the National Assembly on Monday, December 8, after they were redrafted following massive public protests, Bulgarian media say. The legislative package includes the state budget, the public social insurance budget and the health insurance budget. On the evening of December 5, the Finance Ministry published a revised version of the State Budget Bill and an updated medium-term budget forecast for the period 2026-2028.

MediaPool.bg says that the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which brings together the social partners (the government, trade unions and employers), is having an extraordinary meeting on Monday to discuss the revised budget bills. The new drafts envisage abandoning an increase of the social security contribution by 2 percentage points and of the dividend tax to 10%, and giving up on the idea to introduce computer software for business sales. The government has also taken a step back on the matter of automatically increasing employees' wages in the sectors of security, defence and education. Public sector wages will rise by 10% instead of 5%, the website says.

SegaBG.com quotes the opposition Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition as saying in a statement that the government is making a second clumsy attempt to propose a budget scheme. The coalition says the government is trying to fool everyone else by postponing two of the most outrageous measures, the increase of the pension insurance and of the dividend tax, until 2027. The money for young doctors and nurses is not there; the allocation of EUR 260 million, which had been promised five times and was eventually included in the previous draft budget of the National Health Insurance Fund under pressure, has disappeared, the statement says.

Duma says in its main story that the rule to set the minimum wage in Bulgaria automatically as a percentage of the average wage will likely be abolished. The minimum wage will be raised to EUR 620 per month in 2026 and will remain at that level until 2028. Plans for the Bulgarian state to buy Lukoil's local assets and to grant a concession for the state lottery have been abandoned. The capital investment programme will be reduced by EUR 450 million in national funding and EUR 300 million in EU funding.

Interviewed by 24 Chasa, Bulgarian Industrial Association Deputy Chair Stanislav Popdonchev says that the income policy should be untied from any automatic change formulas, to give the budget some leeway. Popdonchev argues that the authorities need to resist the temptation of fixing the size of incomes in laws, which burdens the budget with grossly inflated measures. He describes the minimum wage formula as flawed because it does not distinguish between those who have experience and skills and those who do not.

Trud discusses the massive protests against the 2026 budgets in an interview with Petko Simeonov, one of the founders of Bulgaria's main anti-communist coalition, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), 36 years ago. At present, the UDF is an ally of GERB, and together they form the dominant entity in the government coalition. In the interview, Simeonov talks about the planning of the momentous pro-democracy protest in Sofia in June 1990, which, according to some estimates, drew a million people. He says the rally was preceded by a "rehearsal" with the police at the recommendation of the Republican Party of the United States. Simeonov notes that a politician's public conduct and rhetoric before they rise to power shows how they would behave after potentially coming to power. Nowadays, he says, the power of the street is glorified at the expense of the institutions of the state. The interviewer suggests that this approach is apparently shared by President Rumen Radev.

POLITICS

"Borissov Glances at Emergency Exit," caps an analysis published on SegaBG.com. It says that the question of how long the incumbency of Boyko Borissov and Delyan Peevski can last is in the focus of the current political debate. Will they keep ignoring the protesters in the streets? Or will at least one of them surrender and let the government fall after another no-confidence vote in the National Assembly?

The author of the story, Lyudmil Iliev, notes that too many people joined the latest protests to be ignored. Borissov, who leads GERB, the dominant party in the government coalition, obviously realized that he needs to make concessions. He promised employers to scrap everything in the budgets that does not suit them. This was partly due to Borissov's denial of the political nature of the protests. But it was so obvious that the people protested against the leaders of GERB (Borissov) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning (Peevski), demanding them to leave politics, nothing less, the analysis goes.

While Borissov pretends to see no politics in the protests and is trying to present them as some sort of conspiracy, Peevski views them as an existential threat to himself, the journalist says. In recent statements, Borissov has indicated that a government resignation is a very real possibility for him. Given that GERB and MRF-New Beginning have filled all official positions which, under the Constitution, can produce the prime minister of a possible caretaker government, such a government can be expected to continue the policies of the present incumbency.

The parties in the ruling coalition will clearly sustain grave damage from the protests. The longer they cling to power, the worse the damage. A resignation of the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (GERB) can mitigate the detriment to the party and its leader Borissov, and can allow Borissov to stay in control through a future caretaker government, although the role of President Rumen Radev would be a big unknown in such a situation. If Borissov prevaricates for too long, he will risk the protesters' wrath putting him in a far worse situation, the analysis concludes.

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Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev does not rule out running for president in the autumn 2026 election. This transpired in a Nova TV interview with Kotsev on Sunday. He said he may do that if he is supported by citizens but noted that the matter is not on the agenda. Kotsev said in the interview that his current priorities are his family, his wife's health and the affairs of Varna Municipality. "If all those people who came out and supported me, if all that energy puts the question in such a perspective, well, I am a man of responsibility. If I must respond to all that, I will, because I have a responsibility to all those people," he said.

The mayor of the seaside city spent five months in detention before he was released on BGN 200,000 bail on November 28. He is charged with corruption and abuse of office. His detention sparked protests in Varna and Sofia, and was debated in the European Parliament on October 22.

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The European Commission is asking Bulgaria to commit EUR 1.2 billion to an effort to guarantee EUR 210 billion in loans to Ukraine which it urgently needs to meet its financial and military needs, Politico.eu says, quoted by Dnevnik.bg. The Commission presented the country totals to diplomats last week after unveiling a EUR 165 billion reparations loan to Ukraine using the cash value of frozen Russian assets, Politico.eu says.

ECONOMY

With the euro changeover in this country less than a month away, people are converting their Bulgarian money into beans, rice, sunflower oil, toilet paper and canned food, Trud says in its leading story. According to the daily, the urge to stock up on essentials is reminiscent of the COVID period. Consumer demand for home appliances and white goods has also risen as more than 70% of Bulgarians fear that the adoption of the euro on January 1 will push prices up. On weekends, growing numbers of people from the seaside city of Burgas go shopping in Edirne, Turkiye, where retailers accept the Bulgarian currency, the lev. Some have chosen to spend part of their remaining Bulgarian money on long weekends in Istanbul. An online platform called We Consumers recommends that in addition to beans, pasta, canned food, dried fruits and nuts, it is also advisable to spend one's remaining leva on honey, tea, coffee, spices, personal care products, house repairs, electrical appliances, energy saving lightbulbs, medication, and dental services. Food vouchers are also an option because, even if denominated in leva, they can be used after January 1, too.

CRIME

A mother made 300 videos of her boyfriend sexually abusing her little daughter in a weekend house near Sofia, 24 Chasa says in its main story. The woman, who works as a kindergarten teacher, forced her own kid into granting the pervert's wishes. The abuse went on for three years and involved touching and licking but no intercourse, the Sofia City Court said. The girl is now seven years old and mentally shattered. The case was uncovered after someone came upon a telephone on a Sofia street. Two weeks ago, the court sentenced the man and the woman to 12 and 14 years in jail, respectively.