Lyuboslav Kostov: Importing non-EU workers pushes wages down in Bulgaria

“The first task of the new government will be the 2026 state budget, and the second will be the 2027 budget, because it is very likely that both will need to be prepared simultaneously”, said Lyuboslav Kostov, Chief Economist at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, in an interview with BGNES. He noted that a key problem in Bulgaria is the share of investments in GDP growth. Twenty years ago, it was 18%, ten years ago it was 10%, and currently it is less than 5%.

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“Around 2.5 billion euros enter the budget from corporate income tax. If this tax is 10% of profits, that means Bulgarian businesses earn 25 billion euros a year. Of that, less than 5% is invested”, Lyuboslav Kostov explained.

''When businesses start bringing in low-skilled workers from Pakistan and India, accepting wages of USD 200–300 per month and living in dormitories, this creates a long-term problem that will artificially drive down labor costs in Bulgaria'', the trade unionist emphasized.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov