Bulgaria Govt Sets Strict Limits of State Employees' Salaries

No salary of a state employee should be higher than that of the Prime Minister, the Bulgarian government decided Thursday.

The measure was agreed upon during Thursday’s meeting of the Cabinet as a way of reducing stated expenditures.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ordered the ministers to review the salaries of their employees by the end of the day and to reduce them so that they are not higher than those of the Cabinet members.

Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov announced that his month salary was BGN 2 700, and was currently the highest in his Ministry; he said the head of the State Agriculture Fund used to get BGN 2 800 but this salary has been reduced.

Naydenov did point out that there are Bulgarian hospitals where the Directors get paid BGN 70 000 per month, and state agencies such as the one responsible for air traffic control where the salaries of employees and directors are also very high.

Economy Minister Traicho Traikov revealed that his salary is BGN 2 800 but said that because of work on ad hoc projects a number of employees of his Ministry make more money than he does.

“When everybody suffers, everybody has got to suffer,” summarized Traikov the situation with the setting of limits of state employees’ pay.

Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov has stated that his wife, who is a doctor at the Pirogov Hospital in Sofia, made a lot more money than he did.

“Of course, I would cut my wife’s salary. I would cut off her head if I have to,” Rashidov joked after the Cabinet meeting. He promised to clear up the mess with payments in a number of theaters that he is in charge of.

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