site.btaUPDATED Parliamentary Committees Approve 2026 State Budget Bill at First Reading

Fifteen standing parliamentary committees have on their agenda for Wednesday a first reading of the 2026 State Budget Bill, submitted by the Council of Ministers. The draft legislation was approved by the Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday.

The e-Government and Information Technologies voted, 7-3 with no abstentions, to approve the budget proposal at first reading.

Speaking at the committee meeting, e-Government Minister Valentin Mundrov said the budget for his Ministry amounts to EUR 30,866,900, including funding for the Executive Agency for e-Government Infrastructure.

The opposition Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition said it would not support the draft budget, arguing that it does not differ substantially from its previous version.

According to the draft, EUR 15,431,900 are earmarked for personnel costs, EUR 10,088,200 for operating expenses, and EUR 5,336,800 for capital expenditure. Mundrov singled out the development of a digital wallet that will allow citizens to securely identify themselves online as one of the main priorities for 2026.

The Transport and Communications Committee voted, 11-7 with no abstentions, to approve the 2026 State Budget Bill on first reading,

The proposed financial plan was presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Communications Minister Grozdan Karadjov. He told the committee that while this budget for his Ministry is essentially the same as the previous one, the subsidy for the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) is increased so that the company can cover the EUR 15 million euro it needs for its wage bill.

Karadjov stressed that the priority infrastructure project will not be terminated, keeping the established consistency and relevance level. He specified that a large part of these projects are EU-funded, which precludes a slow-down of the implementation pace. This pace can be slowed down for projects with no EU financing, and a more moderate programme can be planned, the Deputy PM explained.

He confirmed that this budget does not envisage resources for new investments. Regarding BDZ, the difference is some EUR 13 million, and the existing train sheds have be renovated and the functions expanded to be ready for the forthcoming delivery of the new, longer trains.

Karadjov assured the MPs that his Ministry will align its budget procedure with the general state framework and will honour its commitment to key projects in the transport sector.

The Agriculture, Food and Forestry Committee voted, 14-6 with no abstentions, to approve on first reading the draft 2026 State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria Act, tabled by the Council of Ministers on December 8, 2025. 

Addressing the Committee, Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Tahov said that his Ministry's budget is largely unchanged except for a 5 to 10% increase in labour remunerations or a bit larger in some entities. "The key budget parameters and numbers are retained, which will guarantee the policy in terms of incomes and agricultural producers' support," Tahov said.

Svilen Trifonov MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria said that his parliamentary group will not back the budget because it is conceptually the same as the original version that was withdrawn earlier this month. "I even see amounts added without justification, they probably refer to salaries," the lawmaker commented. In his words, the way the Committee meeting is taking place [during the plenary sitting recess] is indicative of the idea to "simply push through the budget without any discussion."

Committee Chair Tsveta Karayancheva MP of GERB-UDF countered that the matter had been thoroughly debated at a previous meeting of the Committee. Trifonov replied that the debate in question was on the withdrawn draft budget, whether this is an entirely new bill on which the debate should start from scratch.

Mehmed Salim MP of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms asked about the BGN 1.4 billion planned for an expansion of the land areas under irrigation in the 2025-2028 period. Tahov replied that the funds for 2025 have not been received and those for 2026 have not been budgeted, but he has been assured that they will be disbursed from the relevant budget buffers.

Daniel Petrov MP of Vazrazhdane said that his parliamentary group will not back the bill, either. "In our opinion, the proposed budget does not live up to the expectations and demands for the labour remunerations of professionals employed in the Ministry's system and various entities," he explained.