Energy sector transition leads to loss of over 2,000 jobs, trade unions say

More than 2,000 jobs have been lost in coal mining and the related energy sector in Bulgaria, Plamen Dimitrov, president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), said. He was speaking at a forum on the labour market in the context of the low-carbon transition.

Around 1,000 jobs have been cut in the Maritsa Basin, and more than 1,000 have been lost in other coal-mining regions. As of the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, around 13,500 people are directly employed in the sector, with indirect employment also declining.

The country’s two largest trade unions, CITUB and KT “Podkrepa”, along with employer organisations, are set to urge the government to reconsider the carbon emissions trading system, which they say is “killing the country’s energy and industrial competitiveness”.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova