site.btaTrade Unions Oppose Proposed Poverty Line of BGN 764, Call for Real Protection of Vulnerable Groups

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) does not support the Government’s proposed poverty line of BGN 764 for 2026 and insists on genuine protection for vulnerable population groups, said CITUB Vice President Todor Kapitanov on Tuesday during the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation meeting.

During the meeting, Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov said that Bulgaria’s poverty line for 2026 is set to reach BGN 764 in a draft ordinance that will be submitted to the Council of Ministers.

Kapitanov described the proposed poverty line as a step forward but said it falls short of meeting the real needs of people. He criticized the calculation method, which relies solely on outdated statistical data, causing a disconnect between the indicators and the current economic environment. “We insist that the methodology be improved with inflation indexing to ensure real protection of vulnerable groups,” Kapitanov added.

Violeta Ivanova from CITUB said that the Union has for three years demanded a revision of the methodology for calculating the poverty line. The income data used is based on 2023 figures, which is nearly three years behind, Ivanova stressed, calling for a return to the 2019 methodology that includes indexing the minimum consumer basket to prevent incomes from falling behind rising costs.

“Prices of essential food products, which are daily staples for poor households, have increased over the past three years. Indexing the minimum consumer basket would provide a more realistic picture,” Ivanova explained.

She also noted the absence of a definition for so-called minimum needs in the methodology, which is crucial to guaranteeing a social minimum for households. Such a definition would not only help identify those in poverty but also support the development of social protection policies for vulnerable groups.

“The goal is to develop a consumer basket, as existed previously in the Ministry of Social Policy, that covers the biological survival of households,” Ivanova concluded.