site.btaLabour Minister, Deputy PM's Reactions to Better Pension Model Draft Resolution

A draft resolution, submitted to Parliament on April 21 by MPs from GERB, BSP-United Left, and There Is Such a People, obliges the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Finance, the National Social Security Institute, the Financial Supervision Commission and the National Revenue Agency to work out a roadmap for improving the pension model within the next six months.

Four key documents, prepared in connection with the state of the pension system in Bulgaria in 2024, show a consensus on the need to increase the adequacy of pensions in order to guarantee a decent standard of living for pensioners. The documents recommend the implementation of reforms that would improve the efficiency and sustainability of the pension system, including reviewing the parameters of social security contributions and the retirement age, the MPs said.

Their proposition is that the term for working out of a Roadmap should be six months, after which the topic should be discussed by the Parliamentary Committees on Labor and Social Policy, and Budget and Finance. The MPs believe that the Minister of Labor and Social Policy and the Minister of Finance should have a leading and coordinating role in this process.

On April 28, taking a question about the idea to raise the retirement age in Bulgaria, Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov called for caution when making such statements and then decisions on the subject. Commenting on the draft resolution, he said: "We have six months at our disposal to look at all the reports, to make the necessary analyses and meetings and only then to comment on what should be done in the pension system and how the road map should be made."

“When it comes to reform, the good standard is to hold a broad public discussion,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev said on April 28, taking a journalist’s question about possible plans to increase the contribution towards a pension and to raise the retirement age. He said: “I would not like to speculate on the outcome of such a discussion. Let’s hear all voices first.” But made it clear that he disapproves of the idea to increase the pension contribution and the retirement age.