CITUB and Podkrepa: Lack of 2026 Budget Deprives Medical Professionals of Competitive Remuneration

In the absence of an adopted state budget for 2026, the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) will not sign a new National Framework Agreement, and the current one will remain in effect. This will deprive hospitals of the opportunity for higher revenues and the ability to provide competitive remuneration, which will inevitably have a negative impact on patients. This is stated in a joint position by CITUB and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour against the suspension of the budget procedure for the coming year.

We publish the position without editorial intervention:

CITUB and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour acknowledge the complex political situation facing our country, but we do not understand why the 2026 budget procedure must be halted while the legislature is active and draft budgets for Social Security, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and the State Budget have already been submitted. We call for the state financial framework, upon which the country’s entire economic policy is based, not to be held hostage to narrow party interests. In our view, regardless of any shortcomings in the three bills, there is sufficient time for them to be corrected through proposals between the first and second readings, as has been the practice for years.

In this regard, we believe that withdrawing the current draft bills for the State Budget Act, the Social Security Budget Act, and the NHIF Budget Act, and adopting an extension law for the 2026 Budget, will create serious public tension and problems. These issues must be clearly pointed out to the public and explained by all members of parliament.

Firstly, the failure to adopt the budget for the upcoming year on time means a “freeze” on the incomes of all employees whose employer is the state, at their 2025 levels. This concerns 470,000 public sector workers directly (teachers, doctors, nurses, healthcare specialists, university professors, employees in cultural institutes, museums, community centers, libraries, etc.), as well as another 130,000 employed in state and municipal companies and enterprises (BDZ, Bulgarian Posts, urban transport, etc.). This step is equivalent to a loss of real purchasing power for hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians at a time when they were promised and agreed upon an income growth of at least 10%, as a result of the dialogue between all social partners in recent weeks.

Failure to adopt the budget for the upcoming year means lower budget revenues from VAT, personal income tax, and excise duties, as under the conditions of “frozen” incomes, domestic consumption will decline as a share of both GDP formation and budget revenues.

Secondly, the failure to adopt the 2026 budget means a lower amount of maternity benefits during the second year compared to what was planned.

Thirdly, if no budget is adopted for 2026, the Bulgarian Medical Association will not sign a new national framework agreement, and the current one will remain in force. This will deprive hospitals of higher revenues and, consequently, the opportunity to provide competitive salaries, which will also have a negative impact on the patients themselves.

Fourthly, the failure to adopt the 2026 budget on time also means depriving municipalities of the opportunity to develop, limiting their activities due to their inability to adopt their own financial frameworks. The entire procedure for municipal budgets will be pushed forward by at least six months, potentially creating many problems for all 265 municipalities.

Fifthly, if the 2026 budget is not adopted on time, it means limiting investment policy, which could potentially create difficulties even in terms of receiving funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), as these require a certain volume of co-financing that cannot be met under the restrictions of a 2025 budget extension law.

In addition to the arguments set out above, another problem is emerging regarding the overall election procedure, namely the long-term delay in the possibility of adopting the 2026 budget, which we estimate would be possible in May or even June, even under a favorable scenario. We believe that such a delay will have serious adverse consequences for Bulgarian society—workers, mothers, municipalities, and enterprises. This means that incomes, second-year maternity benefits, subsidies to all municipalities and state enterprises, as well as the state’s levels of investment activity, will be frozen for half a year at their levels from the first half of 2025.

At the same time, we must not forget that our country faces a major change, namely the change of the national currency, and this requires one thing—STABILITY. The lack of a 2026 budget and the use of an extension budget do not correspond with the idea of stability, security, and predictability. In this regard, we urge the National Assembly to find a way to include the items for the State Budget Act, the Social Security Budget Act, and the NHIF Budget Act on its agenda as soon as possible and to complete the 2026 budget procedure before the end of the current calendar year.