site.btaMedia Review: October 27

The topics of the new governance formula and the drafting of the 2026 state budget dominate Monday’s news media.

POLITICS

On Bulgarian National Radio on Monday morning, Teodor Slavev, senior analyst at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, commented that he was not surprised by Sunday’s decision of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) National Council to officially accept GERB's proposal for a rotational National Assembly chairmanship between GERB-UDB, BSP – United Left, and There Is Such a People (TISP). The Socialists chose to sacrifice Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova, an MP of BSP – United Left, to appease GERB leader Boyko Borissov, Slavev said. "However, that seems to me like trading a horse for a chicken, because Kiselova is a potential candidate for prime minister in early elections, which are sure to happen," the political expert noted. He added, however, that it would be a shock if the country were pushed into early elections "when we are on the verge of adopting the budget and entering the eurozone." "But this government is struggling to find a legitimate reason to continue. I deeply doubt that there will be another rotation after the National Assembly elects [Parliament Deputy Chair of GERB-UDF] Raya Nazaryan. Trust in the small parties in the coalition is drastically down, they are playing their last dance with power and they realize it. They are trying to prolong it as much as possible," Slavev commented. Asked if there is risk of political shakeups, Slavev commented that there will be mines exploding as well as tension once the campaign for the presidential elections starts. In his words, early elections are knocking on the door, because the Government hardly manages to carry out any policies, so Bulgarian society will seek other political formats. 

Duma quotes BSP leader Atanas Zafirov as telling reporters on Sunday that his formation’s decision to back a rotational National Assembly chairmanship was taken as an expression of political responsibility and consistency in the commitments made for stability in governance and predictability in parliamentary work. "We insist that the principle of rotation be explicitly included in the agreement on joint governance, as well as a comprehensive review of the implementation of the policies agreed upon in it," he added. According to him, the BSP remains consistent in its efforts to ensure stability and protect the interests of citizens. Zafirov stressed that in the discussions on the 2026 budget, the Left will insist on income growth for working people, preservation of the Swiss rule for pensioners, and support for young families and children. “The BSP expects the Government to take all necessary measures to prevent a crisis in the fuel market and to protect national security, without compromise and under pressure from external interests," he also said. In connection with the ongoing war in Ukraine and the escalation of tension through new sanctions regimes and an arms race, the BSP will consistently defend Bulgaria's non-involvement in future military actions and the preservation of its neutrality, Zafirov stated.

On Bulgarian National Television’s (BNT) morning show, Gabriel Valkov MP of BSP – United Left confirmed that his formation’s decision to back the rotational National Assembly chairmanship was a political decision, not a move against Nataliya Kiselova. “This is somewhat fair, because no party is anointed to rule alone or to have a chairperson of the National Assembly on its own. GERB are the biggest political party, they too want to have a head of Parliament. TISP, on their part, want to have one, too,” he explained. 

On Nova TV's morning show, BSP Executive Bureau head Trifon Panchev commented that the BSP will pay a price for Sunday’s decision, such as loss of voters, but the alternative would be a State in chaos, without a state budget, possible high inflation, riots and hunger. There will be a complete change in the party, but it will survive, he added. “The BSP will pay the price. And if we do not admit it and realize it, then we are either crazy or stupid. For me, there will be a complete change – both in the people in the party and in the policies it pursues – once this cycle is over," he stressed.

On BNT’s morning show, the topic of the new governance formula was discussed by sociologists Kancho Stoychev and Elena Darieva and by political scientist Assoc. Prof. Stoycho Stoychev. According to Darieva, the ruling coalition is experiencing its first serious crisis, and its start was given by GERB-UDF when they suggested a reformatting of the Cabinet on October 17 so it would become clear that it is not only GERB-UDF that bears responsibility for the country’s governance. It is clear that the coalition partners find it hard to take decisions, she added. According to Assoc. Prof. Stoychev, the Cabinet is criticized not over its polities but rather over who is backing it, namely MRF - New Beginning. To keep the Government stable and avoid early elections, the head of the National Assembly has to be sacrificed, he added. Kancho Stoychev commented on the US sanctions against Russia’s oil company Lukoil and their effect on Bulgaria, noting that the power holders could take action to protect Bulgaria’s interests in this situation, but instead they are parroting what Bulgaria’s US and EU partners are saying. The power holders claim they have a plan for this situation, but the sociologist doubts there is one.

On bTV's morning show, Martin Dimitrov MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria commented that the Government is failing and nothing it does in terms of political change can be supported. "These people are taking out BGN 17 billion in loans. Since BGN 17 billion sounds like a huge number to people, that is nearly BGN 500 million in loans every week. This has never happened in Bulgaria. Never," Dimitrov argued. "And there is no explanation, because the deficit, plus the refinancing of old debt, is BGN 12 billion. Everything above that sum is already abnormal and dangerous. We see what happened to Romania. Romania had good years of growth and development, and we gave that country as a positive example. At one point, they ran up serious deficits and debts, and you can see where that got them - to tax increases, inflation, and reduced incomes. Before that, it was Greece. This Government is leading Bulgaria down this very dangerous path," the opposition MP noted.

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On bTV’s morning show, Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association head Svetoslav Benchev confirmed the power holders’ call on citizens not to panic over the US sanctions on Lukoil. Nothing significant is happening on the market at the moment; there are fuels, and the fuel prices have not changed in the last three to four days. Everything depends on the prices on the international markets, but there is smaller demand than supply, he noted, adding that there are reserves as well that can be unlocked in an emergency. Those reserves will be needed if Lukoil’s oil refinery in Burgas stops operations. Logistically, that will be hard to manage since fuels would have to be imported from Greece; Romania would be hit by the US sanctions on Lukoil as well. In that scenario, there would be a fuel shortage not only in Bulgaria but also in the region, resulting in higher prices, Benchev commented.

ECONOMY

Trud has an interview with economist Prof. Boyan Durankev, who comments on popular ideas how to increase revenue and decrease expenditure in the 2026 state budget, such as raising the property tax, the corporate tax and tax on dividends, and scrapping the Swiss rule for indexing pensions. He calls a lie the claim that low taxes attract foreign investors, and warns that so-called experts commenting on the draft budget for next year are not telling the truth. The actual situation is as follows: the Bulgarian economy remains highly de-industrialized; new technologies are fleeing to more developed countries (the US and China, but not the EU periphery), transnational corporations dominate the domestic market, imports exceed exports, Bulgaria remains the country with the lowest-paid jobs in the EU and the lowest minimum wage. In his words, that makes Bulgaria not a member of the rich countries’ club but rather a third-world country.

Mediapool.bg quotes former finance minister Vladislav Goranov of GERB-UDF as telling Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday that every single decision regarding the 2026 state budget will be taken by consensus among the participants in the governing coalition. “The debate will be intense and heated, but I can assure you that with the majority united around the measures we have proposed, we will enter the first budget in euro within the framework provided by law,” he commented. Goranov underscored that incomes would not be reduced; on the contrary, they would grow - not at the rate people would like, but at a rate higher than inflation. The Swiss rule for pensions would be applied in its authentic form, and space would be given for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

On Nova TV’s morning show, financial expert Nikola Yankov, Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association Executive Director Dobrin Ivanov, and macroeconomist Vassil Karaivanov warned that Bulgaria is heading toward a dangerous trajectory of indebtedness. Without urgent and unpopular structural reforms, fiscal stability is at risk because of high expenditures not covered by revenues in the state budget. The Government’s promise for higher salaries and pensions create a risk of inflation, the experts noted. Ivanov said that if the Government continues to take loans to cover current expenditures, Bulgaria is headed toward the Romanian or Greek scenario. Yankov suggested that the first positive step should be a discontinuation of the automatic mechanism whereby salaries in the public sector are tied to the average wage. Ivanov suggested a cut in the salaries in the Judiciary, where the average wage in 2025 is over three-fold higher than that for the country. Karaivanov was more moderate in his forecasts; he recalled that the current budget was adopted on the basis of a four-year forecast approved by the EU partners for the country's entry into the eurozone. "This forecast predicted that revenues would lag behind and catch up in two to three years," he explained.

Segabg.com writes that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) wants the Judiciary's budget for next year to be EUR 996,193,700. The forecast is EUR 1,043,693,100 for 2027 and EUR 1,142,052,700 for 2028. The Supreme Judicial Council submits its version of the budget to Parliament, but as a rule, MPs vote for the version proposed by the Ministry of Finance, the daily recalls. The draft for next year provides for an 18% increase in the salaries of magistrates and employees, writes the Lex website as quoted by Sega. The percentage increase was calculated based on a model of the dynamics of changes in the average salary in the budgetary sector in recent years, as was announced at the plenary session of the Supreme Judicial Council, where the draft was adopted. The Ministry of Finance has requested that no salary increases be included due to the International Monetary Fund's recommendations to limit the growth of public sector wage costs. However, the Judiciary Act links the lowest magistrate salary - that of junior judges, prosecutors, and investigators - to twice the average monthly salary of employees in the public sector, according to data from the National Statistical Institute. Personnel costs are the highest. For 2026, a total of EUR 836,647,400 has been allocated, with EUR 622,274,100 for salaries. The SJC has allocated EUR 61,355,000 of its own revenue.

Capital.bg reports a moderate growth in revenues by 2.8% and smaller profit decreases by 5.3% for the top 100 leading companies in Bulgaria for 2024, according to data from the weekly’s Capital 100 rankings, published annually for 19 years now. The latest edition will be published on October 31. Capital.bg also reports that businesses have been more conservative in determining employee remuneration in Bulgaria this year compared to the previous two years. This caution is expected to continue into 2026. The average salary is expected to grow by 6% this year and by the same amount in 2026, according to the results of Mercer Marsh Benefits' annual Total Remuneration Survey. The survey covers 568 companies (5% more than in 2024) and over 136,000 employees from 14 industries. Organizations are cautious in their hiring plans, with half of them planning to keep their teams the same size. Nearly 37% of companies in Bulgaria have increased their number of employees, while 4% have reduced it, the data also show.

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24 Chasa has an interview with Georgi Dichev, head of the Chamber of Private Enforcement Agents, which turns 20 this year. He says many young people aged 18 to 20 are in a debt spiral and living from loan to loan because of mobile phones, luxury products, and holidays. Dichev specified that there are 120,000 indebted people aged under 30 about whom private enforcement agents have been alerted due to a court ruling already having been issued. The sums collected in citizens’ favour grow every year, and are already around BGN 200 million a year, Dichev specified. Bulgaria is the only European country where debtors are subjected to state enforcement only; there is no procedure for citizens to voluntarily pay their debts in shortened proceedings without getting their accounts, salaries, and pensions frozen. Dichev proposes that small overdue debts be handled by private enforcement agents, prior to any legal proceedings, to allow debtors to return their loans in full or in installments voluntarily. 

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24 Chasa reports on its front page that heating the house with an air conditioner is cheaper than using central heating despite electricity being expensive, according to calculations the Sustainable Energy Development Agency has made at the daily’s request.  Seventy percent of households in Bulgaria already have air conditioning, most of them in cities but a growing share in villages as well. 

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Trud’s front-page article warns that traders are preparing from early on to trick people on Black Friday. State institutions – the Consumer Protection Commission, the Commission for the Protection of Competition, and the Communications Regulation Commission - are taking joint actions to protect consumers from unfair commercial practices. People are advised to make a list of items they wish to purchase and check their prices now to determine whether the discounts on Black Friday are real, because many traders raise prices early on and then announce a discount. Customers should not buy something just because it is discounted – they should determine whether the discounted price is worth it. 

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Telegraf’s front-page story goes that Bulgarians are forced to hunt for medicine abroad because of shortages in the country. Some medicinal products are missing entirely from the Bulgarian market, including such for cancer.