January 2021

Bulgaria. State Will Further Support Pensioners and Families with Children

In April, Bulgarian retirees with a pension ranging from BGN 300.01 up to BGN 369, which is392 000 people, will receive additional BGN 120 for food. That would cost the state budget about BGN 47 million. With this BGN 120 they will have the opportunity to buy whatever they need, the money is targeted specifically for food products. This is what Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva told The Monitor daily. "We chose this group of people because they...

December 2020

How Pension Payments Will Change for 150,000 Bulgarians

154,000 pensioners with smaller pensions because of insurance payed to a private pension fund will be able to ask the National Insurance Institute to recalculate their pensions next year, provided they transfer their money for a second pension to state insurance institution. However, only one-third of people will benefit from it, for the rest the pension received will not be higher. For a third of pensioners, the transfer of the money to the National Social Security Fund will increase...

November 2019

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan Sign Pension Agreement

The Minister of Labor and Social Policy Bisser Petkov and his Azerbaijani counterpart Sahil Babayev signed a Pension Agreement between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan, the Social Ministry press center announced. The signing of the document took place today in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Before the ceremony, Minister Petkov met with Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov. The pension agreement will regulate work insurance in both countries, as well as the procedure for granting and paying retirement and old-age pensions,...

Bulgaria. New proposal for the minimum pension

CITUB proposed the minimum pension to be increased by 14 percent or from BGN 219.43 to BGN 250 as of July 1, 2020. In this way, 850,000 retirees will receive this increase and will feel that this time the government, parliament and society are being empathetic and concerned, CITUB said. The CITUB has estimated that the additional cost for this measure is not negligible - about BGN 80 million, but it is fully achievable. "And the social and even political...

July 2019

Bulgaria. More than 2,130,000 Pensioners Will Receive an Increase of 5.7% on Their Pensions From Today

More than 2,130,000 pensioners will receive an increase of 5.7 percent on their pensions from today - 1 July. The change is in compliance with the Social Insurance Code provided for by all pension payments granted starting with 31 December 2018. This was announced by the National Social Security Institute.An increase by the same percentage of today will also apply to pensions that are equated to the minimum amount for the type of pension, including those granted in 2019....

June 2019

Over 2 million Pensioners in Bulgaria with Higher Pensions From July

More than 2 million and 130,000 pensioners will receive higher pensions from next month. The increase is 5.7%. About BGN 277 million are provided for it. The minimum retirement pension will increase by about 12% and the old-age pension will be around 7 BGN. The pension ceiling is increasing from BGN 910 to BGN 1200. Thus, about 43,000 people will receive the real amount of their pensions. 26 thousand will remain limited by the higher ceiling. After the increase...

March 2019

New Pension Calculation Formula in Bulgaria will not Lead to Pension Cuts

Steps will be taken to ensure that not a single person's pension is lowered by revisions to the pension calculation rules that took effect at the start of 2019, Labour and Social Policy Minister Bisser Petkov said following an extraordinary meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borrisov on 19th of March, reports BNT. It was convened because of the accumulated public tension a day after the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) released an assessment according to which the changes...

January 2019

Every Third Pensioner in Bulgaria is at Risk of Poverty

Every third pensioner in Bulgaria is at risk of poverty. This is the data of the European Statistical Office Eurostat for 2017. By this indicator the country ranks fourth in the European Union. The three Baltic republics are ahead of Bulgaria, reports Dnevnik. A total of 32.4% of retired people in the country, including retired people due to disease, are at risk of poverty. This is the highest rate for the past eight years, the survey found.Estonia is the...

October 2018

Bulgarian Pensions to Increase by 5.7% From 1 July 2019

Bulgarian government approved the bill on the state social security budget for 2019. According to it by 5 July the pensions granted by the end of 2018 will increase, announced the press center of the Council of Ministers. As of 1 July 2019, the minimum amount of the retirement pension will be raised to BGN 219.43. From the same date, the maximum amount of one or more pensions received will increase from BGN 910 to BGN 1,200. In 2019, BGN 9,988.2...

Bulgarian Finance Minister: From July 2019, Cap on all Pensions will Increase to BGN 1,200

As of July 1, 2019, the upper limit on all pensions, regardless of when they were granted, will be increased to BGN 1,200, but the cap will not be removed, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said after a meeting with trade unions, Focus News Agency reports. "The changes in the pension formula and all its imperfections do not give us a reason to decide in favour of eliminating the ceiling. There are distortions accumulated over the years in the pension formula,...