The government is expected to adopt the budget laws for next year at an extraordinary meeting today and submit them for final approval to the parliament.
This will happen, despite the repeated cancellation of a meeting of the National Tripartite Council due to the refusal of business to participate in its work.
The four employer organizations categorically rejected the proposed state budget plan. It provides for a double increase in dividend tax, an increase in pension insurance by 2 percentage points and an anticipatory increase in the maximum social security income.
In its position, the Employers' Association announced that the current draft state budget deviates from the position stated by the ruling majority to preserve Bulgaria's tax and social security model, by seizing additional funds from the real sector in order to finance inefficient spending in the budget sphere. Therefore, the business does not agree to participate in a formal discussion of the most important law in the country and will not legitimize such a decision.
"Our demands are clear - the elimination of a 2 percentage point increase in the social security contribution to the "Pensions" fund, the elimination of the "dividend" tax, the two-fold increase, the elimination of software for managing sales in retail outlets and the reduction of the growth of the maximum social security income to 4,430 leva, as recorded in the current budget forecast", said Stanislav Popdonchev, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, for his part, commented that the advancement of the budget laws can be done without coordination in the Tripartite Council:
"The budget procedure cannot be blocked, because this is an autonomous right of the government and the National Assembly. This budget is rather conservative, so that we can enter next year calmly and without social tension."
If some of the planned revenues are lost, alternatives must be found, Zhelyazkov added.
Following the latest position of the business community, the government emphasized that good governance requires consulting with all social partners, but the repeated refusal of some of them to participate in the meeting of the National Trade Union Congress gives a clear assessment of their attitude to the budget. Therefore, the government will approve the bills related to the budget plan for next year, in the form agreed with the parties supporting the government.
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Nov 13, 2025 05:59 867