Huge sums of money from the state budget go to paying retirement benefits in the "Security" and "Defense" sectors, as well as in the judiciary, according to official data from the Ministry of Finance and analyses by the Institute for Market Economics (IME). For the first three months of the year alone, the Ministry of Interior has paid over 41 million euros for benefits, unused vacation and sick leave.
About 110,000 people in Bulgaria work in positions that guarantee them up to 20 gross salaries as retirement or severance pay. This privilege covers 20% of all civil servants, including patrol police officers, forensic scientists, investigators, military personnel and magistrates. These amounts are completely exempt from taxes and social security contributions.
For comparison, the average gross salary in the "Security" sector is around 1,430 euros, which provides a bonus of over 28,600 euros. For senior management, the amounts exceed 46,000 euros, and for risky positions such as military pilots and divers, they can reach up to 55,000 euros due to specific supplements.
The topic has gained additional legal weight after a recent court decision. Former Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev has sued the state in a second instance for 20 unpaid salaries with interest.
The Sofia City Court has ruled that his early release is not classified as a disciplinary punishment, which entitles him to gratification compensation under the Judiciary Act. His claim amounts to 128,573 euros, calculated based on his monthly salary of nearly 6,428 euros in 2023. However, the decision is not final and is subject to appeal before the Supreme Court of Cassation.
Experts are categorical that this financial model blocks attempts to optimize the administration. Economist Petar Ganev explains the paradox: "If you keep a person in a job, you owe him 12 salaries. If you fire him, you owe him 20 salaries and you're in the red."
In his report, Adrian Nikolov from IME estimates that even a minimal reduction in the number of people by 10,000 would cost the state at least 140 million euros just in compensation. "If the number of employees in the public sector were to be reduced by over 100 thousand people - the actual amount needed - then the one-time cost would exceed one and a half billion euros," Nikolov points out.
Due to the lack of sufficient funds for the mass payment of these bonuses, thousands of employees remain in the system. Currently, over 6,600 pensioners continue to work in the structures of the Ministry of Interior and Defense, receiving both a pension and a full salary. The state is not releasing them permanently, as the budget does not have the hundreds of millions needed to immediately pay the amounts owed to them.
The attempt in 2015 to reduce the compensation limit caused mass protests by employees under the epaulette, as a result of which the government withdrew its proposal and the mechanism remained intact.
Source: www.dunavmost.com