Rumen Petkov from ABV says the Files Commission needs to shut down even though it means losing 10 million, and he thinks BSP has no reason to change its mind about the Soros Commission. The former Interior Minister went on bTV and said passing the budget was the right move because entering the eurozone without one would be embarrassing.
He claims the protests are not really about the budget but about how politicians do their jobs in general. Petkov went after Kiril Petkov for telling demonstrators to show up at political headquarters, calling it a straight-up provocation. He defended the cops and said they were just doing their work properly.
The ABV leader thinks society is full of hate right now, and parliament is making things...
Political scientist Kaloyan Metodiev from Nepokorna, Bulgaria, went off on Facebook about the government being totally clueless. He says Boyko Borisov still doesn't get why people are mad, Peevski keeps playing ethnic politics that nobody cares about anymore, and Toshko Yordanov straight-up mocked protesters from parliament while defending the cabinet. Rumen Petkov called demonstrators a crowd, which really set him off.
Metodiev pointed out that hundreds of thousands have been hitting the streets across the country, but instead of backing down, officials keep making things worse. He warned that rumors about a counter-protest are floating around, and said that would be the dumbest move possible.
He wrapped up by saying the current...
Vladislav Panev threw shade on Facebook about the revised budget after the government claimed it wouldn't jack up taxes or contributions. The plan bumps maximum social security income to 2,300 euros monthly and gives state workers across the board a 10% raise without any actual reforms happening anywhere.
Panev thinks taxpayers can't handle bankrolling this bloated bureaucracy forever, and he's salty that road funding got slashed while municipal mayors who kiss up to Borisov still get their cut. He basically accused the PM of protecting Peevski's cash flow because of political dependence.
Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova apparently said plenty of budget topics remain for next year, but Panev doubts she'll actually discuss anything...
GERB boss Boyko Borisov dropped a TikTok flex about Budget 2026, promising a completely fresh spending plan before the holidays. The party wants to axe dividend taxes and social security contribution bumps while decoupling salaries, and Borisov hyped a 10% raise for everyone's paychecks and pensions plus better maternity benefits.
The tripartite crew of unions, businesses, and government officials were supposed to hash things out and hopefully green-light the package for parliament to fast-track early in the week.
Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev posted on Facebook that thousands of commuters from Novi Iskar, Pancharevo, Vitosha, Bankya, and Ovcha Kupel won't need highway stickers for their daily grind into the city. The municipality plans to sign a deal with the Road Infrastructure Agency for shared upkeep of republican roads inside city limits, keeping vignette-free travel intact for residents bouncing between neighborhoods and downtown.
Back in 2020, the government yanked multiple sections off the toll list covering settlements around the capital. Sofia will handle maintenance while the agency kicks in funding to make sure people can move around without getting dinged for extra fees just because they live slightly outside the center.
Bulgaria's e-Government Minister Valentin Mundrov hit up Brussels to chat with EU Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva about building a centralized national cybersecurity system that locks down data sovereignty. The government wants the ministry coordinating protection for national systems against sketchy high-risk tech, and Mundrov stressed Bulgaria needs to finish its EU Digital Identity Wallet app by next year since Europe keeps pushing for a unified market.
The two also talked about Europe needing homegrown tech instead of relying on outside players, and Mundrov hyped up Bulgarian IT companies as legit competitors. A massive European software provider apparently showed interest in dropping money into Bulgaria after the Digital...
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said retail chains haven't been doing sketchy price hikes tied to euro adoption based on summer data from the competition commission's sectoral review. The government's advance monitoring and partnerships with stores apparently kept things legit during the currency transition, and Zhelyazkov thanked retailers for cooperating.
The PM told attendees at the public discussion that all recommendations need careful review to help Bulgarian food producers and protect shoppers. The competition commission's analysis gives officials a decent roadmap for fixing issues across agriculture and traditional industries through better regulations. Zhelyazkov emphasized that transparency matters most for building trust...
Agriculture Minister Georgi Tahov told officials at a competition commission meeting that farmers need to band together because cooperatives give producers better negotiating power and market access. The ministry counted 68 recognized producer groups mostly working in fruits, vegetables, and dairy, and financial support comes through a strategic plan running until 2027.
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov showed up along with Competition Commission chair Rosen Karadimov, plus reps from trade associations and customs. Tahov said interim analysis exposed problems across the whole supply chain from farms to retail stores, and the ministry wants dialogue between everyone involved to build short supply chains with proper quality standards.
Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva called out banks for making it weirdly hard to grab euro coin starter kits, and she fired off a complaint to the Bulgarian National Bank after citizens started flooding her office with gripes. Some banks apparently only sell the 20-lev packages to their existing customers and refuse cash payments, which totally violates BNB regulations that require banks to sell these things to anyone with a valid ID.
The rules explicitly allow both cash and card purchases starting from early last month, and banks were supposed to make them available to everyone instead of locking them behind customer-only barriers. Delcheva wants BNB Deputy Governor Radoslav Milenkov to check whether banks and Bulgarian Posts are actually...
