Bulgaria Parliament Speaker Justifies MPs' Wage Hike

Tsetska Tsacheva, the Bulgaria Parliament Speaker, confirms that MPs are to receive salary increases backdated to January. Photo by BGNES

Tsetska Tsacheva, Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, has publicly confirmed the new levels of salaries to be received by MPs and officials.

Tsacheva was responding to statements made on Wednesday by Yane Yanev, leader of the conservative RZS group, that MPs salaries were being increased by over 50%.

"Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov will receive a salary equal to that of Tsetska Tsacheva, amounting to BGN 3 576; and President Georgi Parvanov wil receive BGN 4 614. Our Vice President has a salary of BGN 3 345," Yanev had claimed at a celebration of the Bulgarian Liberation Day, adding that this would also be backdated.

"Retrospectively, as of 1 January, Chair of the Bulgarian Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva will receive a salary 55% higher than current, or BGN 3 576," Yanev had stated.

The Speaker confirmed that parliamentarians' salaries had been raised by BGN 111, to a new monthly total of BGN 2 307. She added that her own salary was now BGN 3 576.

Justifying the increase, Tsacheva explained on Thursday that it was strictly in accordance with established rules of parliamentary procedure, which set the salaries of MPs at three times the level of the Bulgarian national average in the public sector.

She noted that the official source for this data was the National Statistical Institute, which had recorded a BGN 37 rise in average public sector salaries for the period of January - March 2010, to a new average of BGN 769.

"My salary is determined according to Article 6 of the Rules, the three average monthly salaries having been increased by 55%, but it is a rate that is spelled out in the Regulations," she stated.

"Of course, there is no such thing as a permanent standard, and this text could be revisited," Tsecheva observed, adding: "This is a matter of legislative initiative... and it is considered that this is the most accurate indicator - the average salary of employed in the public sector".

The Speaker also announced that at the Chairperson's meeting on March 10 there would be a discussion on how to change this rate. Tsacheva said she would propose that MPs voluntarily turn down any additional allowances on top of their wages for the first quarter of this year.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!