Bulgaria: Budget 2026 Not Withdrawn, Awaiting Corrections in Parliament

The draft state budget for next year remains formally in Parliament, although the procedure for its adoption has been paused while negotiations continue. Trade unions and employer organizations are expected to meet today with Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to discuss potential adjustments. According to Vladislav Goranov, when the final version moves forward will depend on how talks progress in the coming days between the governing parties, labor organizations and business representatives.

Union leader Dimitar Manolov from Labor Confederation "Podkrepa" noted on the Bulgarian National Radio that discussions with the cabinet and employers have begun, stressing that such negotiations require discretion and should only be publicly discussed once concrete results are reached.

The pause in the budget process follows Wednesday night’s protest in central Sofia, after which GERB leader Boyko Borissov publicly called for the document to be withdrawn. Following an extraordinary meeting of the Joint Management Council, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced that dialogue with social partners would be renewed. Soon after, however, the BSP stated that it opposed a full withdrawal. The party warned it would reconsider its place in the governing coalition if the social measures already laid out in the draft cannot be implemented.

BSP leader Atanas Zafirov emphasized that scrapping the 2026 budget entirely would jeopardize funding for salaries, maternity benefits, pensions, support for young families, and other social commitments already agreed upon. All of these policies, he said, would be placed at risk if the document were removed altogether.

Any complete withdrawal of the budget can only be executed by a formal decision of the National Assembly, as the bill has already passed its first reading.