Bosses rage as budget bleeds workers dry

Bulgarian business leaders condemned the 2026 budget proposal as economically destructive on Wednesday. Vasil Velev from the Association of Industrial Capital told bTV that workers earning 2,000 leva monthly will lose 63 leva in take-home pay despite unchanged labor costs for employers.

Economist Petar Ganev from the Institute of Economics said the plan places excessive burdens on productive sectors that generate national wealth. He argued the government should reduce expenditures rather than raise revenues through higher contributions.

Velev described the budget as a breaking point that erodes public confidence. He noted that pandemic-era pension supplements remain in place while minimum retirement benefits continue rising, resulting in half of all pensioners receiving identical payments regardless of their lifetime contributions to the system.