Businesses and trade unions fail to reach agreement on 2026 minimum wage

Talks on Bulgaria’s 2026 minimum wage ended without agreement between businesses and trade unions at the Commission on Incomes and Living Standards under the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. A new round of discussions is scheduled for 6 October due to the lack of consensus, public broadcaster BNR Horizont reported.

The government has proposed raising the minimum wage to 1,213 levs (€620.20) from 1,077 levs (€550) as of 1 January. The country’s two main trade unions back the plan, while two employers’ organisations – the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria – oppose it, according to Atanas Katsarchev, chief economist at the Podkrepa Labour Confederation.

The unions argue that an increase is necessary as Bulgaria lags significantly behind other EU members and ranks lowest in terms of minimum pay. But Vasil Velev, head of the general assembly of the Association of Industrial Capital, said the minimum wage is outpacing productivity growth tenfold and that the rise should be delayed.