site.btaGovernment to Approve 5% Subsidy Rise for State-Supported Organizations
Caretaker Finance Minister Georgi Klisurski said on Thursday that in the coming hours the Council of Ministers will adopt two decisions related to a 5% increase in the state subsidy for organizations that are not publicly funded but receive a subsidy from the state budget. Klisurski was speaking at a joint briefing with Transport and Communications Minister Korman Ismailov. The news comes after talks with trade unions on a 5% pay rise for employees in state-subsidized sectors.
Klisurski recalled that the currently applicable state budget extension law provided a 5% pay rise only for publicly funded organizations, but not for those that receive a state subsidy without being funded with public money. “Today, with these two acts, we will bring these organizations into line so that subsidized organizations also receive a 5% pay rise — this concerns BDZ Passenger Services, the National Railway Infrastructure Company, Bulgarian Posts and the public transport systems in all municipalities in Bulgaria,” Klisurski said.
The minister specified that the total amount of the planned increase is EUR 31.3 million. He said this is a one-off sum within the scope of the current state budget extension law. When a regular budget is adopted for 2026, further discussions will be held on the overall size of the subsidy and the scale of increases across all sectors of the state.
On Monday employees of Bulgarian Posts staged protests demanding that the increase be granted.
Reacting to the news of the 5% subsidy increase, trade union representatives said they would continue to push for a more substantial rise in wages when the regular state budget for 2026 is adopted.
Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, said the agreed increase was a “delayed but important first step” toward compensating for inflation, but added that it would not fully resolve existing problems.
Sabina Lazarova, Chair of the Communications Trade Union Federation affiliated with CITUB, said tensions at Bulgarian Posts remained significant, as more than 5,000 of its roughly 7,000 employees receive the minimum wage.
Petar Bunev, Chair of the Railway Workers Trade Union at CITUB, described the decision as important support for the sector. He added that the state would likely need to allocate significantly larger subsidies in the future, with projections exceeding EUR 200 million annually.
Aleksandar Shopov, Chair of the Federation of Transport Trade Unions affiliated with CITUB, thanked the government for its swift response and said talks would continue. According to him, the sector needs not only wage increases but also improvements in working conditions.
/DS/
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