Employers Back Bulgaria’s Proposed EUR 660 Minimum Wage for 2027, Unions Oppose

On Friday, Bulgaria’s National Council for Tripartite Cooperation failed to reach consensus on a draft Council of Ministers decree setting the minimum monthly wage for 2027. Employer organizations supported the proposed increase to EUR 660, while trade unions opposed it.
The proposed minimum wage for 2027 represents an increase of EUR 39.80 compared with this year’s level of EUR 620.20, Minister of Labour and Social Policy Natalia Efremova said. She explained that the proposal took into account the state budget’s capacity while recognizing the minimum wage’s social role.
The 6.4% increase in the minimum wage compensates for and exceeds annual inflation of 5.7%, Efremova also said.
Ivelin Zhelyazkov of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) said the proposal was in line with the law. The mechanism had been established after three years of difficult negotiations, during which each side had sought additional concessions, he said, highlighting the fragile compromise that had been reached. Since 2022, the minimum wage has increased by 40%, while the latest rise is within the normal range and provides the necessary predictability, Zhelyazkov said.
Maria Mincheva of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) said her organization supported the proposed minimum wage for 2027. She commended the government for what she described as the courage to amend the Labour Code and the relevant regulation governing the mechanism for determining the minimum wage.
Tsvetan Simeonov of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) also welcomed the fact that such a mechanism had finally been introduced. While there could be disagreements over the minimum wage level, the mechanism should be allowed to operate for some time before further steps were considered to improve it fully, he said.
Boyan Mitrakiev of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIBG) voiced support for the proposed new minimum wage.
Ioannis Parteniotis, Vice President of the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, said that one in six workers in Bulgaria was classified as working poor. The proposed minimum wage of EUR 660 would in no way guarantee a decent standard of living, he said. After social security contributions and personal income tax were deducted, the net amount would be EUR 512.16 for a full-time worker, Parteniotis said. He added that Bulgaria had the lowest minimum wage in the European Union, including compared with neighbouring countries such as Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkiye. In Europe, wages were lower only in Albania, Moldova and Ukraine, he said. Parteniotis also recalled that the Podkrepa trade union confederation had opposed the new method of determining the minimum wage.
Asya Goneva announced that the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) did not support the proposed minimum wage for 2027. She said the previous mechanism should have remained in force for 2027. The ratio between the minimum wage and the maximum insurable income continued to decline, Goneva added.

Employers Back Bulgaria’s Proposed EUR 660 Minimum Wage for 2027, Unions Oppose THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-23 10:08:00

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