Bulgarian Pensioners to Protest Against 2025 Budget Over Pension Increase

The United Pensioners' Unions (UPU) announced Wednesday that its members will stage mass protests against the government’s 2025 State Budget Bill, which proposes a pension increase of only 5%. UPU argues that this falls short of the expected 8-9% and violates the Swiss rule, which ties pension adjustments to inflation and wage growth, CE Report quotes BTA

The association claims the new formula reduces pension increases by nearly half, further deteriorating the living standards of approximately 2 million Bulgarian pensioners.

Protests are set to take place on Thursday, February 20, at 11:00 a.m. in front of regional administration offices across the country. UPU warns that any breach of the Swiss rule is not only harmful to pensioners but also unconstitutional and will be legally challenged.

Additionally, UPU is calling on lawmakers to reject the proposed budget and cancel their own planned salary increase of BGN 800.