Bulgarians work for 10.6 euros per hour, Eurostat data show. This is the lowest wage in the EU.
“Income should not be compared with labor costs, since labor costs include wages, social security contributions, tax payments, etc., and in other countries taxes are different”, believes Dobrin Ivanov from AIKB.
According to Dimitar Manolov from the “Podkrepa” trade union, there are undoubtedly sectors in which wages are at the level of the minimum wage. It is difficult to fix things there lightly. Certainly, however, salaries in our country should grow.
„It is more correct to see what the share of GDP per capita is. There we are last in the ranking again”, Ivanov commented on bTV.
„We produce electrolytic copper, but we import computers. Is this the main problem? We liquidated all the high-tech enterprises that we had. What is left to move will not push Bulgaria up. In Slovakia they make cars, and we make cable equipment for these cars, that is the difference”, Manolov emphasized.
According to him, the minimum wage should provide a decent experience for the person who receives it. It is related to his expenses, and whether the place where he works has the conditions to earn this salary – that is another question.
„The minimum wage is a salary and must be worked out. It is not social assistance and should not be given only according to need. It should be given to the least qualified worker. Unfortunately, too many people in our country receive it”, Ivanov also said.
According to him, the 2025 budget has deepened wage inequalities. “Those who pay the salaries of police officers and civil servants receive less.”
Manolov is of the opinion that the state is not well composed yet, this is its problem. “This is a budget of lost time.”
”There will be no drama with wages when we enter the eurozone. The question is what will happen when you go to the store. "It's not surprising that traders will try to get something that won't be good," he stressed, however.
“The remuneration will be recalculated at the central rate and will be rounded up”, Ivanov explained.