Employees of BDZ – Passenger Services EOOD, the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC), Bulgarian Posts EAD, and urban public transport systems will receive a pay increase.
The two government decisions affect thousands of employees in these companies, Minister of Transport and Communications Korman Ismailov said at a briefing. “The amount approved by the government exceeds EUR 14.85 million, including EUR 5.8 million for BDZ – Passenger Services EOOD, more than EUR 9 million for the National Railway Infrastructure Company, and over EUR 5 million for Bulgarian Posts EAD. Municipalities will receive transfers amounting to EUR 11.44 million, of which EUR 5.78 million will be allocated to subsidising unprofitable bus routes within urban public transport and transport services in mountainous and other regions”.
Minister Ismailov emphasised that the demands of postal employees are justified, as wages within the company are low and working conditions are not satisfactory. “At Bulgarian Posts, we are working intensively to prepare reforms, improve financial management, and enhance the quality of services,” he added.
The Minister of Finance, Georgi Klisurski, clarified that under the currently applicable so-called extended Budget Act, the 5% wage increase had been envisaged only for budgetary organisations, but not for entities receiving state subsidies. The Finance Minister also stated that once a regular state budget is adopted, discussions will follow regarding the overall level of subsidies and the scale of income increases across all sectors in the country.
The President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), Plamen Dimitrov, thanked the government for its swift response, noting that there had been trade union tensions in these enterprises in recent weeks. “What is being done at the moment is indeed an extremely important first step – delayed, but important, towards compensating incomes for last year’s inflation, as this was the purpose of the 5% increase: to offset inflation up to 31 December 2025,” Dimitrov added.
Representatives of CITUB’s sectoral trade union structures present at the meeting noted that the two government decisions would ease tensions in these sectors, although discussions on long-term measures are yet to take place.