site.btaCITUB Calls for Quick Resumption of Budget Procedure After Employers Boycott National Council Meeting

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) expressed hope that the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (NCTC) will be convened as soon as possible and that the budget procedure will move forward through the Council of Ministers and into the National Assembly.

CITUB’s chief economist Lyuboslav Kostov made the statement at a briefing at the Council of Ministers here on Wednesday, after an extraordinary NCTC meeting earlier in the day was canceled due to employers’ organizations refusing to participate. 

“This confrontation is not coming from us, the trade unions. We are responsible, open to dialogue, and always defend our positions with arguments,” said Kostov. He noted that under the Public Finance Act, the budget procedure is already delayed. CITUB said they had received the draft budget less than 48 hours earlier and, as a responsible social partner, had prepared a 30-page opinion outlining what they supported, what they opposed, and concrete proposals for improving the 2026 State Budget Act.

“We came today ready to present them, as we have always behaved as a responsible social partner and never obstructed the budget procedure, which has already been moving rather sluggishly in recent years,” Kostov said.

He added that the trade union does not understand the employers’ behavior: “Everything should happen at the table of dialogue, where it has always happened. Budget 2026 is not perfect — it’s a budget of compromises — but that’s the idea of the tripartite council: for the government to listen to us and make a balanced decision — something from us, something from business — so that the budget improves in its final shape when it reaches the legislature,” Kostov noted.

He warned that setting workers against each other to serve private interests helps no one. “No one benefits from spreading division and hostility, especially now, as we enter the eurozone and adopt our first budget in euro,” he added. “From us, you can expect only expert dialogue and proposals that defend the interests of working people.”

Todor Kapitanov, CITUB Vice President, told reporters that what happened was “extremely unfair,” as the NCTC is the forum where all sides should express their positions. “If employers or some experts have objections to the budget, let them state which member of the coalition they expect to make the relevant decisions,” Kapitanov said.

According to him, the trade unions are not to blame for the situation: “It’s very convenient to blame the unions for everything that happens in this country regarding the budget process.”
He called on business representatives to “have the courage and integrity to name the problems as they are, instead of accusing and labeling the unions".