The Bulgarian government has not proposed to the European Commission (EC) redirecting part of the social security contributions from the second pension pillar to the National Social Security Institute (NSSI), Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev said in a statement on Saturday.
“My official proposal to the European Commission of November 2, 2026, published on the Commission’s website, contains no proposal to redirect funds from the second pension pillar to the NSSI. Nor does such a proposal feature in the 2027 State Budget Bill,” Donev said in the statement, which was sent to BTA’s editorial email on Saturday.
All publicly available documents show full consistency between the budget draft sent to the European Commission on October 15, the letter to the EC of November 2, and the 2027 State Budget Bill, which was presented at the University of National and World Economy on November 6, sent to social partners and published on the Finance Ministry’s website, the statement said.
On November 3, rumours of a contemplated change in how Bulgarians pay pension insurance contribution inflamed the opposition and they said it amounted to nationalization of pensions. The Finance Ministry denied reports of an upcoming reform of the second pension pillar.
In his statement on Saturday, Galab Donev said various proposals and ideas were discussed during the budget procedure, which began as early as August, but the final decision on which of them to include in the budget draft rests with the Finance Ministry.
At the same time, the three audit reports by the Bulgarian National Audit Office presented earlier this week do not analyze ideas or intentions, but identify specific violations and actions seriously affecting the management and spending of public funds by all parties that described their political configuration as an “assemblage”, Donev wrote.
“Assemblage” is a derogatory term referring to the formation of governments by politically incompatible entities.
In early July, Parliament tasked the National Audit Office with auditing the management of the Finance Ministry, the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) and the public social insurance system between early 2020 and the end of May 2026. The audit findings were made public on Monday.
Concealing BGN 1.5 billion of the budget deficit to meet the conditions for adopting the euro, signing BGN 18 billion worth of road construction contracts against a Road Infrastructure Agency budget of BGN 11 billion, and pushing through “populist” budgets with excessive spending are just some examples of the irresponsible management of public finances over the past six years, the Finance Minister’s statement also said.
On November 6, Democratic Bulgaria MP Bozhidar Bozhanov, appearing on Bulgarian National Television, interrupted Donev, saying he had a letter from the Finance Minister to the European Commission proposing the temporary transfer of part of the pension contribution to the first pillar of the pension system.
Donev replied that these were comments made in discussions with the EC and could not be used as grounds for claiming that the government was seeking funds in this way to fill a gap in public finances. The Finance Minister stressed that the government was in dialogue with pension companies and had a policy towards them that was quite different from what was being alleged.
On November 4, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said claims that the government would steal Bulgarian citizens’ pension savings through the second pension pillar were unfounded. “It is time some politicians realized that the election campaign is over, and the manipulative claims should end with it,” Radev said.

Government Has Not Proposed to EC Transfer of Second-Pillar Pension Contributions to State System, Finance Minister Says THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-11-07 06:58:00

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