National Social Security Institute

The Budget and Finance Committee of the Bulgarian parliament approved on Monday the draft government budget for next year.

The chairperson of the committee, Menda Stoyanova, proposed the planned cuts to the social benefits of police officers, which had been the cause of large-scale protests across the country earlier in November, to be dropped.

Lawmakers in Bulgaria's Parliament are set to debate on Tuesday proposed amendments to the Access to Public Information Act.

The changes put forward by the main ruling GERB party include the creation of an e-platform where access to information requests will be published, alongside respective rulings on them. An eased procedure for submitting requests is also under discussion.

The Bulgarian government and representatives of the trade unions and the employers' organisations reached an agreement on the conditions of retirement in the forthcoming years.

The proposal for a pension reform will be tabled to parliament and all three sides said that compromises were made, daily Dnevnik reports.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Ivaylo Kalfin proposed the contributions to state social insurance to start increasing from 2017.

The proposal foresees a total increase of 4.5 % over twelve years, with pension contributions increasing with 0.5 % every second year, while unemployment contributions will rise with 0.2 %.

The Bulgarian Parliament dismissed the proposal of opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for early retirement on Wednesday.

Initially, the amendment to the Social Insurance Code was adopted with 94 votes in favour, 76 votes against, while 15 MPs abstained, daily Dnevnik reports.

Bulgaria's Finance Ministry reversed its decision regarding the social insurance contributions of newly insured persons.

At present the private insurance funds in Bulgaria have accumulated around BGN 8 B, the system is stable and there is good legislative regulation.

Ivaylo Kalfin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Policy, has been appointed Chair of Bulgaria's National Council for Tripartite Cooperation.

Vladislav Goranov, Finance Minister, will also be a representative of the government on the Council, according to the press office of the Council of Ministers.

Employers should be able to hire workers by the hour and a minimum hourly wage should be introduced to this end, Labor Minister Ivaylo Kalfin has said.

Its amount should be BGN 4, two times the current quotient of the minimum daily payment divided by the number of hours, Kalfin, who is also Deputy Prime Minister for Demographic and Social Policy, told private channel NOVA TV.

The average monthly insurable earnings in Bulgaria for the period October 2013 - August 2014 amounted to BGN 670.58, according to data provided by the National Social Security Institute.

The average monthly insurable earnings in the country for the month of August were BGN 671.51.