The Chief Economist of the CITUB Lyuboslav Kostov sharply criticized the prepared state budget for 2026 on the air of “The Day Live“ on NOVA NEWS, calling it “a budget of indifference to workers“.
“The budget must be in parliament by Friday evening. Before that, it must be adopted by the Council of Ministers, and before that, the Tripartite Parliament must be convened so that they can ask us what we think. I assume that late tonight they will give us a 400-page large republican budget and tomorrow at noon they will summon us to express our opinion. This is extremely frivolous“, said Kostov.
According to him, the only thing that is clear so far is that the minimum wage will be reduced – a decision that the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions categorically rejects.
„This is the budget of indifference to workers. People will be in the red – precisely those who drive growth and the economy. I cannot understand why another crisis should be managed at the expense of people with medium and low incomes“, he stressed.
Kostov said that the Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova has decided “not to comply with the law and reduce the minimum wage“.
„We want a logical explanation from the executive branch why wages are being reduced. We are against this decision. In the Balkans and throughout Europe, only Albania has a lower minimum wage than ours," the economist added.
The Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions announced that a protest action will be held on Friday, organized jointly with the "Podkrepa" Confederation of Trade Unions.
"On Friday, we are going to a protest action, and if we do not get a result - we will organize a large national protest," Kostov said.
The economist also pointed out inconsistencies in the set parameters of the 2026 budget. According to him, the implementation of the so-called "Swiss rule" leads to a higher growth in pensions relative to incomes.
"Pensions will increase by 7.6%, and incomes - by only 5%. "This will mean that workers' incomes will grow more slowly than pensions, which is unacceptable," he commented.