site.btaMedia Review: June 30

The topic of the draft 2026 state budget put forward by Progressive Bulgaria's government dominates Tuesday's news media.

ECONOMY

Trud presents on its front page the Domuschiev Strategy, or a six-item list on which the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB), chaired by Kiril Domuschiev, insists work should be done within the draft 2026 state budget. According to KRIB, salaries of public sector employees whose income exceeds the maximum social security threshold should not be indexed, because they will then have to start paying social security contributions. Only salaries below the maximum threshold should be indexed. As for employees with a net wage below EUR 1,000, their salaries should be indexed by an additional 3%. Furthermore, the Government should promptly draft a policy programme with all measures not included in the election campaign and present them in advance to the social partners. A plan should also be drawn up to reduce the numbers of public-sector employees to two-thirds of the OECD average by 2028. 

On bTV's morning show, Bulgarian Industrial Association deputy head Maria Mincheva commented that everything the employers' organization had requested in December when the previous government drafted a budget for 2026, has now been included in Progressive Bulgaria's budget bill. According to her, the unsatisfactory aspects of the bill are the size of the budget deficit and the planned debt ceiling, which will be used to cover both the deficit and potential investments. Mincheva noted that their overall message, despite all differences at Monday's extraordinary meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, was to very carefully review the deficit, to attempt to reduce it before the conclusion of the budget procedure, and to reconsider the planned debt so that Bulgaria can stay within slightly more acceptable limits. 

Segabg.com presents the opinion of economist Shteryo Nozharov on the draft 2026 state budget. He pointed to mathematical absurdities and outright manipulation in Progressive Bulgaria’s  bill and the accompanying explanatory notes, which include a three-year forecast for the state’s finances. He described as most shocking the fact that the proposal calls for an “explosive surge” in public debt from 27.7% of GDP in 2025 to 35.2% of GDP in 2028 (to over EUR 50 billion), despite the European Commission’s new fiscal rules and its recent recommendations specifically for Bulgaria regarding sustainable public finances and a lasting reduction in public debt. "Bulgaria is moving from the low-debt country category to the moderate-debt country category, which will have a strongly negative impact on the yield on our debt,” he noted. At the same time, the Government is presenting a schedule for reducing the budget deficit from 5.7% in 2026 to the 3% ceiling in 2028.  "This is mathematically absurd – there is no way we can reduce the deficit while the debt explodes by EUR 18 billion compared to 2025," Nozharov argued. According to him, the new administration is using the same accounting tricks and budget manipulations as previous governments.

On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, former deputy prime minister Ivailo Kalfin commented that the draft 2026 budget "follows the inertia." "It is largely a legacy of the past five years, during which we had short-term administrations, and everyone was focused on the next election and spending recklessly," he noted. According to him, the budget for next year and what will happen then is more interesting. This budget is designed to reduce the deficit - which was largely inherited - as much as possible. In his view, if investments are spent wisely and corruption is curbed, they will go toward better infrastructure, better public services, and greater opportunities for business development. "If we cut back on investments, we will not be better off," he warned. Professor in economics Ilian Mihov commented that business is the driving force behind economic development, therefore the only way to ensure long-term development is through people who start companies, build factories and plants, and hire others to work there. He does not expect a collapse of international economy in the next ten years. "Right now, the crises stem from the decisions of the US President, who surprises us with something new every year. This will continue over the next two or three years," Mihov said.

On Bulgarian National Radio, Donka Mihaylova, deputy head of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria and Mayor of Troyan, talked about decentralization of power and the negotiations with the Government on the 2026 budget. "We always raise the issue of decentralization, and we remain hopeful that this will happen by the end of the year and that we will begin substantive negotiations in 2027. The current negotiations with the Government have also focused on a shorter-term horizon - by the end of 2026, since the budget must ensure funding for municipal operations over the next few months," she commented. According to her, the most difficult part of the negotiations with the Ministry of Finance concerned the municipalities’ investment programme. On the issue of property tax assessments, she said it is a long-standing one, and the dialogue with the Government on this topic takes place every year during budget negotiations. Currently, property tax assessments are at the 2016 level, which distorts the revenue environment for municipalities and has an impact on the state budget, she specified.

***

A check by 24 Chasa along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast shows that fast food, which holidayers resort to the most as being the cheapest option, has appreciated the most this summer, with the most popular type of cheap fish costing EUR 5 per portion of 200 grammes. In comparison, three years ago it cost BGN 3 (EUR 1.50). French fries are sold at EUR 3 to 4. A traditional shopska salad costs an average of EUR 8 at a restaurant, even EUR 15 in the Sunny Beach resort. A small glass of tap beer exceeds EUR 2.50, and coffee under EUR 1 is impossible to find. The daily also provides information on fines in Greece for various violations (for example, EUR 150 for exceeding the speed limit of 30 km/h within a settlement).

***

Telegraph has an interview with senior lifeguard Petar Russev in Burgas (on the Black Sea), who talks about the sea this summer season. According to him, lifeguards along the Bulgarian cost saved some 3,500 people last summer, similarly to the number in previous seasons. Unfortunately, around 50 to 60 people drowned last summer, most of them in areas without lifeguards or outside of their working hours. In the 1950s, before lifeguards existed, some 500 to 500 people drowned a year on average, Russev says.

***

24 Chasa has an interview with Lild Bulgaria CEO Milena Dragiyska, who argues that if they unite in associations, Bulgarian producers will be a much stronger partner for the entire market.  The German chain has over 100 supermarkets in Bulgaria and is among the retailers participating in the Government’s Care Basket initiative for keeping the prices of basic food products affordable amid the rising inflation. Lild recently proposed a food sovereignty pact to the Cabinet and farmers. Dragiyska explained that this is a framework for partnership. The idea is for institutions, producers, processors, retailers, the scientific community, and consumer organizations to sit down together and agree on several long-term priorities. The pact is intended to represent a broader public and sectoral agreement that ensures long-term continuity and in which each participant assumes its share of responsibility. The Government has the tools for infrastructure, oversight, and policy. Producers are responsible for investing, modernizing, and cooperating. Processors and traders can provide markets, standards, long-term partnerships, and access to larger volumes, Dragiyska explained.

***

Mediapool.bg presents data from The Brewers of Europe’s report on industry trends, published in 2025, according to which Bulgaria is a mid-tier player in beer production, but at the same time ranks among the leaders in per capita beer consumption. According to the study, EU countries produced a total of over 345 million hectoliters in 2024, compared to over 367 million hectoliters in 2019. Bulgaria produced 4.82 million hectoliters in 2024. In that year, Bulgarians consumed 5.16 million hectoliters of beer, placing the country 13th in the ranking.

***

24 Chasa reports on its front page that companies are developing an electric car technology where solar panels on the roof will be enough to keep the car going without charging it if driving short distances, for example between home and the office. Driving for twenty kilometres would cost zero with such an electric car, the daily claims. The article focuses on how Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is trying to incorporate solar panels in both its small and larger car models.

***

Trud has an interview with Assoc. Prof. Petya Trifonova, the newly elected Director of the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She explains magnetic storms and their effect on human health and technology. On human activity’s effect on climate, she says: “Certainly, humanity and industrialization have an impact on both the Earth’s climate and atmospheric parametres, but I believe that this impact is greatly exaggerated. A single powerful volcanic eruption releases so many harmful gases into the atmosphere that, for a few days, their levels are comparable to the annual emissions of the entire human population. So, this phenomenon has existed deep in our past. Human activity does have an impact, especially on a regional scale, but as far as global values are concerned, this is a natural process in the Earth’s development.”

POLITICS

Capital.bg has an interview with lawyer Zdravka Kalaydzhieva, former Bulgarian judge at the European Court of Human Rights (2008-2015), who comments on the recent amendments to the Judicial System Act concerning the Supreme Judicial Council and the Prosecutor General. According to her, the debate on the revisions did not reveal the Government’s real position on the main problems in the Judiciary that need solving. The election of a new SJC and Inspectorate, as well as a Prosecutor General is merely a fulfillment of the requirements of the Constitution; it does not constitute any kind of reform, she argues. "I believe that the law must contain effective procedural and institutional safeguards to prevent the potential for arbitrary exercise of power that exists in every country. These safeguards are known as the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances,” she notes, adding that the Bulgarian Constitution does not provide for such checks and balances regarding either the Supreme Judicial Council or the Prosecutor General. Unless the Constitution is amended to this end, the election of new SJC members and Prosecutor General will follow the current problematic model, preventing a real change in how they function, Kalaydzhieva tells Capital.

***

On Nova TV's morning show, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Ivan Shishkov said he had ordered an inspection to determine whether the guardrails installed along the roads of Bulgaria's republic network comply with their certificates and current safety requirements. His comment comes after a series of serious accidents in which heavy-duty vehicles crashed through the safety barriers. According to Shishkov, guardrails are generally designed to withstand impacts at a specific angle, but the ease with which trucks crash through them raises serious questions. Shishkov also reported that the contracts for guardrails, signed several years ago, were worth about BGN 300 million, but about BGN 500 million have already been paid out under them. According to him, the increase resulted from addenda and indexations, with the indexations alone amounting to about BGN 16 million. He hopes explanations about the extra payments of BGN 200 million will be provided to other institutions. The Minister criticized a planned public procurement contract for the replacement of guardrails, which, according to him, would have awarded the entire project to a single contractor. 

***

Telegraph's front-page article presents Interior Ministry data on traffic violations since September 7, 2025, when toll cameras began collecting information. A total of 547 statements of traffic violation were issued during the period to drivers speeding in motorways' emergency lanes. Before September 7, 2025, only a few dozen drivers were fined annually for this violation, as it was detected solely by physical patrols. For years now, there has been only one such patrol per regional directorate of the Interior Ministry through which the motorway passes, meaning only seven patrols along the Trakia Motorway from Sofia to Burgas (on the Black Sea). According to the data, 193 statements of traffic violation for driving in the emergency lane were issued between September and December 2025, and that number reached 354 from the beginning of 2026 through June 23. Toll cameras also capture another violation related to the emergency lane: stopping in it without a valid reason (feeling ill, a serious health issue, or a major vehicle malfunction). For this violation, 37 citations were issued based on camera footage during the period in question.