The Bulgarian National Social Security Institute will pay out January pensions, although the amounts are unclear

The payment of Bulgarian pensions for January 2025 will begin on Tuesday next week (January 7), announced the country’s National Social Security Institute (NSSI). However, the enigma surrounding the amount of the expected payments remains, as there is currently no adopted budget for 2025, and opinions vary as to which legislation should be applied.

At a briefing earlier this week, Acting Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova assured that pensions will be available in January, even if there is no new budget.

She was emphatic that "people will not be left without pensions" and specified that the minimum pension will remain at its July rate, as per the current legislation.

Undefined pension amount

However, there are different opinions on whether to use the pension rate after its update under the so-called "Swiss rule" on July 1, or whether the one in force before that should be paid out. The reason is that according to the Public Finance Act (PFA), in the absence of a new budget, the legislation in force as of January 2024 must be applied.

Before July 1, 2024, the amount of the minimum pension was 523.04 BGN and after that, it became 580.57 BGN.

Another point of view is that there are actually no legislative texts in force under which the NSSI can make payments. This is due to the fact that the size of pensions – maximum and minimum – is determined each year by the State Social Insurance Budget Act (SSI). Its validity expired on December 31, 2024.

Petkova claims that despite this, pension payments are possible.

"The minimum pension will be paid as it is for 2024, if there is any adjustment after that, it will be made. It is not illegal, the issue is that it is not currently regulated," said the finance minister.

According to Hasan Ademov, an MP from the APS party and former social minister, the topic is open for discussion. According to him, the PFA requires the application of the lower pension rate (the one from January 2024), while according to Petkova, the July amount should be applied.

"This is an open topic for discussion. The Parliament Budget Committee meeting is on 7 January and by then the pensions will be calculated. I don't know if the National Social Security Institute will heed the call of the Minister of Finance," Ademov told the Bulgarian National Radio.

However, he expressed confidence that there will be no problem with social payments because most of them - such as monthly child benefits, and benefits under the Social Security Code - are paid in January to cover February.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov