site.btaMedia Review: December 16

The extended 2026 budget, protests, and President Rumen Radev’s potential political plans are among the topics that dominate the Bulgarian news media on Tuesday, with no single issue fully prevailing the coverage. Reports focus on budgetary measures and infrastructure funding, ongoing price monitoring and consumer protection efforts as this country is about to adopt the euro, as well as debates over political realignments and early elections. 

POLITICAL LANDSCAPE AND PRESIDENT RADEV

24 Chasa analyzes President Rumen Radev’s political intentions, noting that he did not give a clear answer on whether he would step down as head of State to pursue a political project during consultations with GERB and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) ahead of the parliamentary mandate rotation. 

Rumen Radev’s entry into politics would be a high-risk move, as he would be expected not merely to be a good politician but to change Bulgaria, Anton Kutev, former spokesperson for the president-appointed caretaker cabinets, said in bTV’s morning show. According to Kutev, if Radev participates in the upcoming parliamentary elections, he could win, but only the President himself knows when he will engage in the country’s political life. Kutev outlined three possible scenarios: in the first, Radev never forms a party, having served two successful presidential terms and potentially seeking retirement; in the second, he leaves office before the end of his term, after the rotation of the parliamentary mandate, to run in early elections as a politician; in the third, he waits until November, when his term ends, and only then establish a party.

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Dnevnik.bg reports that during consultations with President Rumen Radev, Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria of the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition, called for ending Peevski’s security detail, arguing that he receives more protection than the President. Mirchev proposed convoking the competition commission with top security officials to review protective measures, to which Radev responded that his powers over the National Security Service are legally limited to appointments, promotions, and staffing approval.

Most outlets have the story about CC-DB's drive for taking away Peevski's security detail.

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Dnevnik.bg has a story about a rift in the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and a drive for replacement of the leadership. It says that after mass protests in Sofia and across Bulgaria, driven largely by young people, and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister  Zhelyazkov and his government where BSP has four ministers, the party is facing serious internal turmoil. Different factions within the left-wing party - after it broke a congress decision and a self-imposed "sanitary cordon" against MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski, to enter a government with GERB and backing from Peevski’s party - are now seeking the resignation of party leader Atanas Zafirov. The conflict is not only over leadership but also reflects a generational divide, with debate centering on whether an experienced figure should take over on an interim basis or whether new faces should lead a renewal of the party. While no resignation has yet occurred, familiar internal power tactics are emerging, and the looming struggle is increasingly framed as a clash between Generation X and
Generation Z. 

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Analysts debated the political landscape after the resignation of the Rosen Zhelyazkov Cabinet in Nova TV’s morning show. The discussion focused on potential shifts ahead of likely early elections.

Political scientist Petar Cholakov said that despite the government’s fall, Boyko Borissov retained his political leverage and ensured a “soft landing” for his party. He noted that the outgoing government had already positioned key personnel, allowing Parliament to continue functioning under the existing majority, and that the caretaker government would be headed by a nominee from this majority. Sociologist Andrey Raychev commented that Borissov largely avoided public backlash, leaving Delyan Peevski as the primary focus of criticism. Political analyst Stoycho Stoychev predicted that early elections would be called as quickly as possible and suggested that protests could trigger organizational and electoral mobilization, preventing the return of entrenched political circles. Cholakov added that the main risk for the CC-DB coalition could be Borissov siding with them against Peevski, potentially enabling a new political alignment, despite CC-DB’s anti-Peevski stance. Raychev highlighted the judiciary’s state as a major national problem, noting that the protests created some tension between President Rumen Radev and demonstrators. He stressed that CC-DB would need to separate Borissov from Peevski on judicial reforms to achieve results, while remaining dependent on Radev if he enters active politics.  Cholakov underlined Borissov’s flexibility compared to Peevski and suggested that CC-DB could potentially align with Radev. Stoychev emphasized the importance of clarifying who will contest the next elections, arguing that Radev has yet to present himself as a new type of politician. Raychev stated that the key question is whether Radev will act as president or political rival, and that all proponents of change must define who will lead it, CC-DB, another party, or the president himself. Cholakov noted that discussion should focus on the GERB-MRF alliance rather than Peevski alone, highlighting that CC-DB’s potential realignment could influence the balance of power.

Overall, analysts agreed that the post-resignation period is marked by strategic manoeuvring, unresolved alliances, and uncertainty over the next electoral contest.

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Mediapool.bg reports that CC-DB has submitted a tipoff to the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office requesting a probe into whether MRF-New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski owns a hotel in Dubai. CC-DB stated that media reports and video footage suggest Peevski may have acquired or effectively controlled a luxury property in the United Arab Emirates, either directly or through intermediaries. The coalition noted that the hotel is not listed in Peevski’s public asset declarations under the Act on Counteracting Corruption and the Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Assets, raising suspicions of money laundering and assets of criminal origin. The report followed a publication on Gospodari.com, which stated it could not independently confirm ownership but argued that the publicly circulated claims and identified property are sufficient grounds under the Criminal Procedure Code for a prosecutorial review.

BUDGET EXTENSION AND PUBLIC SECTOR SALARIES

Mediapool.bg, Trud and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) write that the government approved a budget extension law allowing the State to operate in early 2026 in the absence of a regular budget. The law is planned for three months, with possible extension by Parliament, and freezes all public-sector wages except for the minimum wage. The Zhelyazkov cabinet had submitted two draft budgets for 2026, both of which faced strong opposition, triggering large-scale protests. Following public pressure, the government resigned on December 11, and the revised budget was not advanced in Parliament, leaving the adoption of a regular budget for 2026 to the next parliamentary majority. The extension budget ensures revenue collection under existing legislation, prioritises salaries and social payments, limits spending to actual revenues, allows borrowing only to refinance maturing debt, and maintains fiscal stability rules, the stories say.

On Bulgarian National Television (BNT), Plamen Dimitrov, leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), warned that the extended budget law could harm around half a million public-sector employees, who would not receive salary increases from January 1. Trade unions called on Parliament to adopt the proposed draft budgets, arguing that the extended law would be more harmful than approving the existing drafts. 

In an interview with BNR, Adrian Nikolov, senior economist at the Institute for Market Economics (IME), commented on the economic implications of the extended budget. He noted that the uncertainty caused by the lack of an approved state budget would have been more concerning if there were no government in place. He explained that salaries in the public sector are frozen at the level of December 31, 2025. While some analysts speculate on possible year-end increases, Nikolov considered this unlikely.  He highlighted that in the previously submitted and unapproved budget, planned salary increases had threatened to push the budget into excessive deficit. He emphasized that spending will continue to prioritize salaries, pensions, and social payments, while the state is unable to take on new debt. This restriction limits payments but helps contain the rise in public debt in the coming months. He also predicted that if elections are held in March, a new state budget could be approved by July. However, he noted that major investment projects, including the next section of the Hemus motorway, remain on hold for several months. "Decisions on future priorities will be postponed until after the elections," Nikolov concluded.

INVESTMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Rosen Zhelyazkov’s government secured nearly BGN 500 million to fund metro and rail transport, modern hospitals, and key projects of ministries and municipalities, reports 24 Chasa.

Trud says that Sofia Municipality presented a plan to build the first nine multi-storey car parkings through public-private partnerships, creating more than 2,000 new spaces in districts with acute shortages. Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev said the initiative marks the first step in a systematic approach to expanding parking infrastructure, rather than implementing isolated projects.

CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PRICE MONITORING

The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) and the National Revenue Agency (NRA) conducted 80 joint inspections of small grocery stores over the past week to check for unjustified price increases, with the CPC leading 42 inspections, says Trud.

Alexander Kolyachev, acting chair of the CPC, explained that the agency monitors over five million products daily and intervenes when price increases lack economic justification. The CPC also runs the Kolko Struva (How Much It Costs) platform, allowing consumers to compare prices across stores and cities, and actively ensures correct price labelling in preparation for Bulgaria’s euro adoption on January 1, 2026. Citizens are increasingly aware of their rights, and inspections will continue through the end of 2025, focusing on services and tourist sites during the holiday season (BNR, Trud, bTV).

bTV also reported on the newly opened People’s Store stands in supermarkets, offering basic groceries at state-regulated prices in Kuklen, with 70 outlets planned in smaller settlements in the Plovdiv region.

JUSTICE

In an interview with Nova TV, Milen Ivanov, former deputy rector of the Ministry of Interior Academy expressed doubts that the case against detained police officers and suspected members of a large-scale drug distribution network in Sofia and Lovech will succeed, citing insufficient evidence. The case involves seven individuals charged with participation in an organized criminal group for arson, bribery, and drug trafficking, including two group leaders, one of whom is a police officer. Criminоlogist Ivan Savov added that knowledge of drug users and networks is widespread in Sofia and stressed that arrests of corrupt officers must be based on carefully analyzed intelligence.

HEALTH AND LIFE EXPECTANCY

A story in Mediapool.bg says that Bulgaria continues to rank last in the European Union in life expectancy and records the highest mortality rates, despite below-average healthcare spending, according to the European Commission’s Health Profile of Bulgaria 2025. Life expectancy stood at 75.9 years in 2024, approximately six years below the EU average. The report highlighted that limited resources are being used to finance an oversized and inefficient hospital network and noted behavioural factors, including the highest share of daily smokers in the EU, which has remained unchanged over the past decade.