site.btaBTA Director General Calls for Public Media Pay to Match Teachers' Salaries

Salaries in public media need to be brought at least up to the level of teachers' pay, Kiril Valchev, Director General of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), said here on Tuesday. He was speaking at the opening of a conference titled "The European Media Freedom Act - a Framework for Independence and Pluralism in the European Union." The event was organized by the Council for Electronic Media (CEM).

Valchev explained that at BTA, even though salaries have risen by more than 80% between 2021 and 2025 - an increase more than twice the rate of inflation - and even though the agency has introduced a regular bonus scheme based on performance, paid training, and support for various groups of employees (including for parents at the birth of a child or when their child starts first or eighth grade), and despite the significantly improved working conditions, pay still lags behind comparable sectors. Teachers and public relations specialists, including those in state and municipal institutions, earn much more than people working in the media, he said.