site.btaMedia Review: December 18

Thursday's news media are dominated by the topics of legal changes on Bulgarians' second pension and the extension of the 2025 state budget into 2026.

ECONOMY

24 Chasa reports on its front page that Bulgarians' second pension will be increased by linking it to the minimum wage. Under amendments to the Social Security Code, which the Ministry of Finance has published for public discussion, private pension companies that already pay people born after December 31, 1959 - the so-called second pension - will have to increase its amount for new pensioners. The draft revisions also envisage people aged under 50 to accumulate savings for old age more quickly, and private pension funds to earn more if they make more money for their investors. The new texts are mainly aimed at introducing so-called multi-funds, which will allow private pension companies to invest their clients' insurance contributions more profitably, but also more riskily.

Segabg.com reports the news by noting that the draft amendments published by the Ministry of Finance are of one of the biggest reforms in the pension system in recent years - the introduction of a multi-fund system in private pension funds that manage savings for second and third pensions. The draft has been awaited for months and enjoys broad expert and political support. The revisions will, for the first time, allow those insured in the second and third pillars to choose how risky their savings in private funds should be managed in order to achieve higher returns. Another significant part of the draft law concerns the fees charged by pension companies, which over the years have been a source of discontent and political attacks against private pension companies.

Telegraph, too, has an article about the second pension, putting the emphasis on it being linked to an employee's age.

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Duma’s front-page article reads that the right-wing parties in Parliament sabotaged the adoption of the 2026 State Budget Bill. During the vote on Wednesday, GERB-UDF and MRF – New Beginning abstained, leaving only the BSP – United Left voting in favour of the bill the Socialists had tabled for second reading. The other partner in the ruling coalition – There Is Such a People – voted against. Also on Wednesday, a bill extending the 2025 state budget was tabled in Parliament and later adopted on first and second reading without debate. BSP – United Left floor leader Atanas Zafirov warned that extending the budget poses risks, since Bulgaria is switching to the euro in 2026 and, also, the revenues will be less in January and February 2026.

On bTV's morning show, financial expert Levon Hampartzoumian commented that the show with the vote on the state budget in Parliament on Wednesday was aimed at diverting attention from the real problems, such as the judicial system and organized crime. PR expert Diana Damyanova commented that GERB leader Boyko Borissov aims to cause a wave of protests in order to exhaust the protests' power as early as now. 

On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, former minister of labour and social policy Hristina Hristova and Stanislav Popdonchev, deputy head of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, commented on the extension of the 2025 state budget. Hristova said that Bulgaria has fallen into chaos regarding the budget. If an extension of the state budget were a good thing, it would be done it in other countries, too, she noted. Popdonchev said that what employer organizations managed to agree on after very long and difficult negotiations with the trade unions, and with the Ministry of Finance, was the second version of the 2026 State Budget Bill. This should have been the budget to consider, but in a situation where Bulgaria no longer has a regular government, it is unclear which government and which majority would support the agreed-upon policies, he noted.

On Bulgarian National Radio, health economist Arkadi Sharkov from the Expert Club for Economics and Politics commented on the impact of extending the 2025 state budget into 2026 on the healthcare sector. He expects the deficit for hospital care to grow, because the expenses in 2026 will be higher than last year's. There is a high risk that no new therapies will be introduced in the first quarter of 202 because there is no new budget and no mechanism for innovations signed by the companies themselves. A positive effect is that the clinical pathways will not appreciate. Medicinal products will appreciate due to the ongoing inflation processes, driven up by the situation on the EU market. He does not expect any drugs to be removed from the list of those covered by the National Health Insurance Fund due to a lack of funds. However, there are indications that no new therapies will be added at this time. According to him, patient co-payments in hospitals have risen to 36%, which creates the perception among citizens that healthcare is expensive. 

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Trud's front-page article reads that food prices in Bulgaria are suspiciously going up, according to data from the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). Trade unions are monitoring the prices of a total of 20 basic food products and of fuel to check for an unjustified increase in the prices of goods before the introduction of the euro. The price of chicken meat has risen by 9.1% over the last five months, announced CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov. Bread has risen by 4.2% and sausages by 3.7%. There are several basic products whose prices have been rising steadily in recent months, Dimitrov commented. He recalled that according to Eurostat data, although the prices of milk, cheese, and eggs in Bulgaria have not risen much in recent months, they are 26% higher than the average for EU countries. The increase in the price of bread is worrisome, said Violeta Ivanova, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research and Training at CITUB. It appreciated by 4.2% in five month, even though wheat prices are lower than last year's. 

Mediapool.bg writes that it asked the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) a number of questions about the procedures introduced for the secure withdrawal of lev banknotes from circulation. After the introduction of the euro, all money in BGN must be withdrawn and destroyed. The central bank said it guarantees the authenticity of every lev banknote before it is destroyed by cutting; the money in BGN is destroyed in such a way that it cannot be returned to circulation. Mediapool's question to the BNB is based on the fact that the process of withdrawing BGN money is not public and is decided entirely through internal procedures and internal control by the BNB. At the beginning of this year, there were around BGN 30 billion in circulation, which began to decline gradually and are now significantly less. In August, there were 640 tons of lev banknotes on the market, which can fit into approximately 32 trucks, as well as 7,700 tons of coins, which require more than 385 trucks to transport. 

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Telegraph has an interview about the energy sector with Ivan Hinovski, head of the Bulgarian Energy and Mine Forum. He warns that electricity prices will go up.

Trud has an interview with Engineer Vesselin Todorov, head of Solar Academy Bulgaria. He talks about what share of the country's electricity is produced from renewable energy sources (RES), why it is necessary to build batteries for storing electricity from RES, what are the rules for installing photovoltaics on the balcony of a flat, and how households can be relieved when using electricity from RES. 

Capital.bg has an article about the EU's new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The so-called EU carbon tax will be imposed on imports from third countries of several carbon-intensive raw materials - cement, aluminum, steel and iron, nitrogen fertilizers, and electricity. In addition to being a new administrative burden for importers, it will inevitably make these products more expensive, with the aim of protecting European producers who pay for CO2 anyway. The news of the CBAM's postponement until 2027 was a breath of fresh air, but the regulation has only been postponed in terms of the financial part. This means that from January 1, 2026, the companies concerned will have real obligations - they must be registered, declare the carbon emissions of the goods they import, and plan to "purchase" CBAM certificates. The actual payment for the certificates will take place in the second half of 2027, when the obligations for all imports in 2026 will be settled. Due to the accumulation of liabilities for the whole of 2026 and half of 2027 at once, many companies will probably choose to calculate the future increase in their final prices now in order to avoid a severe financial blow next year. In Bulgaria, the process will be administered by the Executive Environment Agency.

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Telegraph's front-page story is about the cost of the Christmas celebration in Bulgaria. Going all out in terms of food and venue could cost up to BGN 15,000. 

POLITICS

On Nova TV's morning show, BSP National Council member Valeri Zhablyanov commented that the biggest problem in Bulgaria's political party system is the lack of trust in parties, regardless of whether they are in government or in opposition. The biggest problem for the Bulgarian Socialist Party is the differences among the party's supporters and members regarding their assessment of the party's participation in the executive branch. Zhablyanov also commented on the resignation of the party's Executive Bureau on Tuesday. "There is no doubt that the party's participation in this government was successful. This is the assessment of our leadership. Furthermore, there are no objections to the work of individual ministers from party members. The BSP ministers managed to partially implement measures, rather than policies, because the period was too short, but their work was successful. The resignation is not because of the BSP's participation in the government, but because a large part of our members and supporters believe that the party's participation in a government with right-wing parties with a liberal ideology does not allow the BSP to implement its programme goals. This is largely true," he admitted. 

On bTV's morning show, BSP Executive Bureau member Dora Yankova commented that the government has already taken responsibility by resigning, and the BSP "are perhaps the first political leadership to resign as well." "We discussed two options - the resignation of BSP Chairman Atanas Zafirov and the resignation of the Executive Bureau. And we rejected his resignation," she specified. "We gave the opportunity when the BSP is not looking for sensationalism, when it unites around the cause for which we were created - solidarity, justice, being on the side of the people - then we are much stronger. We currently do not need to look inward and create new sensationalism," she said.

On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, BSP Executive Bureau member Gergana Aleksova-Velikova commented that the BSP Chairman is elected by the Congress. "If any of the chairpersons, including myself, are to resign, this must be done before the Congress. Since the Bureau is elected by the National Council, it is normal for it to resign before the Council," she clarified. In her words, there was a serious and difficult debate at the Executive Bureau meeting, and two options were discussed: one option was for the chair to resign, and the other was for them to remain in order to avoid an institutional vacuum. "The idea was not to be left completely without a governing body that could represent the party," she explained. 
She added that according to the current statute, if the Chair resigns, a congress must be convened within a short period of time; at the moment, the congress can be convened within 14 days.  

CULTURE

24 Chasa has an interview with archaeologist Prof Nikolay Ovcharov, who talks about the initiative to celebrate 1,400 years of Bulgarian statehood in 2032, an idea back by 25 historians, BTA, the Bulgarian National Radio, and the Bulgarian National Television. That would be an official acknowledgment that Bulgarian statehood is half a century older than the previously accepted date of 681, he explained. Khan Kubrat gave birth to Bulgarian statehood in 632, and that anniversary should be marked, but without unnecessary pomp, Prof. Ovcharov argues. He goes on to give historical reasons for the year 632 being considered that birth year of Bulgarian statehood.