site.btaTrade Unions Oppose Suspension of 2026 Budget Procedure

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour issued a joint statement regarding the 2026 state budget on Monday. "While acknowledging the complex political situation facing our country, we do not understand why the budget procedure for 2026 should be suspended given that the legislature is functioning and the draft budgets for the Public Social Insurance Fund, the National Health Insurance Fund, and the state budget bill have already been submitted," the statement reads. The trade unions insisted that state’s financial framework does not become hostage to narrow party interests, the CITUB press centre said. 

Regardless of any shortcomings in the three budget bills, there is sufficient time to address them through proposals between the first and second readings, as has been the practice for years, the trade unions said. Withdrawing the current drafts and instead adopting an extended budget would create serious public tension and significant problems, the unions warned.

Failure to adopt the budget for the coming year on time would effectively freeze the incomes of all state-employed workers at their 2025 levels, the statement reads. This would affect 470,000 public sector employees, including teachers, doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, university lecturers, and workers in cultural institutions. The situation would also negatively impact 130,000 employees of state- and municipally owned companies and enterprises, such as Bulgarian State Railways, Bulgarian Post, and public transport operators, the statement further notes. 

"This step would amount to a loss of real purchasing power for hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians at a time when income increases of at least 10% had been promised and agreed upon through dialogue among the social partners in recent weeks," the unions argued. They also warned that without a new budget, the Bulgarian Medical Association would not sign a new National Framework Agreement, meaning the current one would remain in force. This would deprive hospitals of higher revenues and limit their ability to offer competitive salaries, ultimately affecting patients. The unions added that the situation would also hinder municipal development and could create difficulties in accessing funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The trade unions noted that rejecting the 2026 budget would also result in lower budget revenues from value-added tax, excise duties, and other sources. In addition, maternity benefits in the second year would be lower than originally planned.

Last Friday, the CITUB and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour staged an action outside Parliament, greeting MPs with lists of questions about what would happen to incomes in 2026 if the proposed budgets were not adopted and the 2025 budget were extended.

A day earlier, following mass protests, Rosen Zhelyazkov announced the resignation of his government, which was unanimously accepted by Parliament.