site.btaAfter Proposed Legal Amendments in Aid of Business Get Included in Budget Update Bills, Employers' Association Calls Off Planned Protests

Two bills amending the 2022 State Budget Act were submitted Thursday to Parliament in which MPs from the Continue the Change party, GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, have included proposed legal amendments in aid of the business made by the Association of the Organizations of Bulgarian Employers, the Association said in a press release. More proposals for similar legal amendments are expected to be made by other parliamentary represented formations. 

In a June 20 open letter to the parliamentary groups in the National Assembly, to Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, and to Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, the Association listed several demands and legal amendments in aid of business, saying that a large-scale protest rally was to be held on June 28 if their demands were not heeded. 

The protest has been called off after the proposals were included in the bills on the 2022 budget update which is awaiting a conclusive vote by Parliament. 

A key demand is having a long-term mechanism to compensate excessive electricity prices for non-household consumers, which the employers argue jeopardizes the competitiveness of undertakings and exacerbates inflation. 

The Association thanked the authors of the bills and voiced a hope that the proposals will be voted through.