site.btaUPDATED Finance Minister Says Everything Necessary Will Be Done to Ensure Bulgaria Has Budget for 2026 by Year's End

Interviewed on bTV on Sunday, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said that everything possible would be done to ensure that Bulgaria has a budget for 2026 by the end of this year. "It is in the interest of Bulgarian citizens and Bulgarian businesses. It is crucial for this country’s international reputation to enter the euro area with an approved state budget," she noted.

"I call on everyone to be reasonable and a bit more humble, because this is truly a key moment for the Bulgarian State," Petkova said.

Petkova stressed the importance of restoring the tripartite dialogue. "Everything that we agree on with business and trade unions will be reflected in the 2026 budget, within the limits that the budget framework allows," she said.

The Minister noted that the 2026 budget reflects developments in Bulgaria’s social and political life over the past four to five years. She added that "once again - at a crucial moment for Bulgaria, with the euro changeover and the completion of the process of Bulgaria's full EU accession - we are experiencing political tension." In her view, a situation is being created with the aim of inflaming tension across the country, triggering snap parliamentary elections, and undermining the euro adoption process. "For all this to happen, there had to be a trigger, and that trigger is the 2026 budget," Petkova said.

Petkova noted that the current budget framework was set by Assen Vassilev, recalling that he served as finance minister for nearly four years. "Over the past four years, everything that has happened in public finances is the result of the policies and standards imposed by Mr. Assen Vassilev," she said.

"We really want to change a large part of all these standards and policies," Petkova added, describing them as flawed. "It is a flawed practice to impose a 3% deficit as a rule," she said, noting that the Public Finance Act clearly defines the objective. "The budget balance objective is to reach a nil or positive balance," she said.

Regarding the tying of the minimum wage to the average wage, Petkova said that this mechanism was introduced during Vassilev’s term in 2023. She noted that employers are now protesting this provision and demanding its repeal.

"I deem it a flawed policy to use one-off revenues to create and finance permanent expenditures," she said, citing the redirection of funds for the Hemus motorway to the pension system in 2021, when Vassilev served as caretaker finance minister.

Commenting on coalition dynamics during the preparation of the 2026 budget, Petkova said: "We are different political forces with different ideologies. We want to achieve the same goal - that is, for Bulgarian citizens to live better and be better paid - but ultimately, our common goal is to ensure peace in the country; to stop this avalanche of snap parliamentary elections, which is actually one of the main reasons why the 2026 budget looks the way it does. The political time vacuum, populism, and the lack of a stable government willing to take responsibility for its actions have led to this situation," she added.