The first budget of Rumen Radev's cabinet for 2026, presented on Wednesday by Finance Minister Galab Donev, sparked serious dissatisfaction among opposition forces in parliament.
"Democratic Bulgaria" insisted that the government withdraw the 2026 budget draft and revise it with a deficit of up to 3% without additional spending increases. According to them, the financial plan proposed by Donev envisions a deficit of 5.7% of GDP, which contradicts the Public Finance Act.
GERB also spoke out against the budget. The party pointed out that it includes significantly higher expenses compared to their proposals from a few months ago and described this as political hypocrisy. At the same time, the chairman of the "Progressive Bulgaria" parliamentary group, Petar Vitanov, defended the draft from the parliamentary rostrum.
DB: Reforms and expenditure control are missing
"There are no reforms in this budget; it is pro-inflationary and will lead to nothing good," co-chairman of "Democratic Bulgaria" Ivaylo Mirchev told journalists in parliament.
According to him, "Progressive Bulgaria's" proposals differ very little from the budget of GERB and DPS from a few months ago, which triggered mass protests in the country.
"All campaign promises, all commitments to the people from the protests have been abandoned, and none of them are being fulfilled. The citizens came out with clear demands, and one of the reasons was the budget of GERB and DPS. What is being offered to us now is not significantly different," Mirchev said.
He announced that "Democratic Bulgaria" has proposed a package of right-wing measures. On social media, Mirchev wrote that this model of governance dangerously resembles the period of Zhan Videnov's government in 1996.
According to him, it is entirely possible to prepare a balanced budget instead of increasing spending and taking on new foreign debt for billions of euros.
"Nowhere do we see that the taps from which the main funds are directed to networks of companies connected to GERB and DPS have been turned off," Mirchev added.
As an example of the lack of reforms, Bozhidar Bozhanov pointed out that the Ministry of Finance does not provide for mandatory public procurement for medicines and medical devices in private hospitals.
He added that if the budget is not withdrawn, the deputies from "Democratic Bulgaria" will vote against it, even though they have already submitted their proposals for optimization.
According to Vladislav Panev, the projected deficit is extremely high and creates risks for inflation and citizens' savings. He emphasized that the cabinet received support to carry out reforms and must implement them.
Panev proposed that administrative expenses (for coffee, supplies, business trips) be returned to 2025 levels. Currently, an increase of 35% or 1.5 billion euros is planned – from 4.3 billion euros in 2025 to 5.8 billion euros in 2026. According to his calculations, if these expenses remain unchanged, the deficit could drop from 5.7% to about 4.5%.
Martin Dimitrov noted that in the last 25 years, there have been only two budgets that violate the key rule of redistribution below 40% – the one of GERB for 2025 and the current one.
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According to him, the budget of "Progressive Bulgaria" is risky and leads to a scenario similar to the Romanian one. He also commented on the intentions to close the Files Commission.
"Closing the commission is not a reform. This is a return to the dark past. This is an anti-reformist act and should not be allowed. Real reforms must happen now, and the deficit must be brought under control by 2026," Dimitrov stated.
According to him, if the deficit is not controlled in 2026, it may never happen.
GERB: Budget of hypocrisy
"Will Prime Minister Rumen Radev apologize for the proposed budget, which is a budget of political hypocrisy and irresponsibility toward the trust of Bulgarian citizens?" asked GERB's former Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.
She compared the 2026 budget draft she presented in December 2025 with the current version of Galab Donev.
"The revenues are almost identical, but the expenses are 2.8 billion euros higher. We proposed a deficit of 3.65 billion euros or 3% of GDP, and now 5.7% or 7.19 billion euros is planned. We set capital expenditures at 7 billion euros, and now they are 9 billion euros. Back then, it was claimed that someone wanted to steal and rob Bulgarian citizens. Obviously, this thesis no longer holds up," Petkova said.
Vladislav Goranov described the financial plan as a "sad budget without managerial ambition" and stated that "Progressive Bulgaria," in terms of deficit and debt, is turning into "geometrically progressive Bulgaria."
"If this is the quality of governance, the direction is wrong," he said.
When asked whether GERB would support potential protests against the budget, he gave an evasive answer, which made it clear that they are unlikely to do so.
Former Education Minister Krasimir Valchev stated that the philosophy of the budget is aimed at limiting development spending by reducing funds for education and capital investments, while no measures are being taken against the leakage of funds through TELK (Territorial Expert Medical Commissions) and personal assistants.
Assen Vassilev: Money for the oligarchy
"The only priority in this budget is how to feed the oligarchy. This is drip irrigation for the people and businesses and a waterfall of euros for circles of construction and energy companies," said the leader of "We Continue the Change" Assen Vassilev.
According to him, there are at least two ways for the deficit to be reduced below 3% – by a total of about 3 billion euros. The first is for maintenance costs to remain at the 2025 level, which would save 1.5 billion euros. The second is cutting part of the capital expenditures.
Out of a total of 9.4 billion euros in capital expenditures, 5.3 billion euros are European funding, and 4.1 billion euros are national. Of these, about 1.1 billion euros are for municipal projects, and 1.4 billion euros – for national investments. "Where is the remaining 1.6 billion euros?" asked Vassilev and suggested they be cut if they are not for key projects.
He stated that he cannot explain why an "obviously imperfect budget" is being proposed, which creates tension and in many respects is worse than that of the "Zhelyazkov" cabinet.
"The goal is to feed the oligarchy – this time not from the jeep, but from the plane and in particularly large amounts," he added.
Vassilev also pointed out that the municipal investment program and the electricity price caps for businesses are being canceled.
"Vazrazhdane": No time for experiments
"Vazrazhdane" also expressed dissatisfaction with the budget, although they stated that they would not actively criticize it as "there are plenty of others willing to do so."
"We have no time for experiments. If the government does not carry out reforms in the very first year, in the first hundred days, it will never do them," stated MP Dimo Drenchev.
The party proposes returning contributions from universal pension funds to the National Social Security Institute (NOI), which according to them would improve the deficit by nearly 4 billion euros.
"There are many expenses that can be limited, for example, through a temporary tax on the excess profits of banks," he added. According to him, changes in gambling will be difficult to implement, and the increase in vignettes will bring minimal revenue.
At the same time, "Vazrazhdane" supports the idea of closing the Files Commission.
PB: Budget of realism
The chairman of the "Progressive Bulgaria" parliamentary group, Petar Vitanov, defended the budget, describing it