Vanya Grigorova slams Sofia 2026 budget, cites social cuts
Independent municipal councilor Vanya Grigorova has criticized Bulgaria’s 2026 draft budget, arguing against its approval due to frozen social payments and a 2 percent increase in pension insurance contributions. Speaking on Bulgarian National Radio, Grigorova, who served as advisor to Dimitar Manolov of the Podkrepa labor confederation until her 2023 Sofia mayoral campaign, identified specific funding gaps that could strengthen the National Social Security Institute, including eliminating mandatory private pension funds that she says drain over 3 billion leva annually from state coffers.
Grigorova challenged claims that the budget reflects social priorities, noting that defense spending appears 70 times in the budget documentation compared to 41 mentions of education and just 13 of healthcare. She highlighted that defense allocations exceed 6 billion leva while salary targets for teachers and doctors remain unmet, with the latter lacking legal guarantees for promised wage increases.
The councilor projected that approximately 17 billion leva in loans will support current pension obligations, warning that future budgets will shift blame to increasingly vulnerable populations.
