Second Version of Bulgaria's 2026 State Budget Bill Secures Backing from Employers, Unions

Diana Dukovska, Desislava Peeva

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation holds a meeting. Pictured: Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, Sofia, December 8, 2025 (BTA Photo/Minko Chernev)

Sofia,

08.12.2025 14:36

(BTA)

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which brings together the government, employers and trade unions, supported the 2026 State Budget Bill, although some remarks were raised by partners during the session.

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova presented the key parameters of the budget proposal.

Petkova said: "In the past week, we have discussed the State Budget Bill in detail, focusing on the issues that concern businesses and trade unions in order to reach a consensus on key topics." She argued that it is not possible to resolve all the problems accumulated in recent years. "Over the past four years, these issues were not addressed but rather deepened," she added.

Background

On November 28, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said his party would back down from raising the dividend tax, from a 2-percentage-point increase in the contribution to the Pensions Fund, and a planned rollout of sales management software in retail outlets, all of which were envisaged in the original version of the 2026 State Budget Bill.

The initial State Budget Bill for 2026, which was approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to Parliament for consideration in November, was withdrawn on December 2 by a decision of the Council of Ministers, following large-scale protests across the country on December 1. Also withdrawn were the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Budget Bill and the Public Social Insurance Budget Bill.

On December 6, the Ministry of Finance published the new draft state budget for 2026 and the Updated Medium-Term Budget Forecast for 2026-2028 on its official website. On December 7, the Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute unanimously approved the draft public social insurance budget for 2026 and the Supervisory Board of the National Health Insurance Fund approved the NHIF draft budget for 2026.

/VL/