Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2026 All Rights Reserved

Employees in cultural institutions protest on National Awakening Day

Photo: Boyan Bochev

Workers in cultural institutions from across the country are protesting in front of Sofia Municipal Library in the capital and in regional towns, demanding a pay rise. On National Awakening Day, people from museums, libraries, community centres, music and performing arts, theatres, Bulgarian National Radio, the State Agency for Archives, the Bulgarian National Film Archives are protesting against humiliatingly low salaries.


We want an increase in the living wage for all the 11 000 or so people in the sector. Their paychecks are slightly above minimum wage. We want a 35% increase in income to compensate for the inflation over the last 2.5 years, the unions said. They are also demanding that the state budget for culture should be at least 1% of GDP. The cultural industry in Bulgaria generates 5-5% of GDP, but receives only 0.4% from the state budget.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Ivelin Mihaylov

Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Commission probes 'Velichie' party in major property fraud case

Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating a large-scale property fraud and money laundering scheme connected to the 'Historical Park', which is associated with Ivelin Mihaylov, the leader of the Velichie party. Those arrested include the..

published on 11/26/25 2:30 PM
Boyko Borissov

Borissov cites EU defence adjustment to claim a 2026 deficit of 2.7%

The ruling party and the opposition argued about the procedure for the Budget Committee meeting before the final vote on the 2006 budget .  Assen Vassilev, chairman of the We Continue the Change party, attempted to block the committee’s extraordinary..

published on 11/26/25 2:15 PM

Agriculture and forestry workers protest for higher salaries

Employees in the agriculture and forestry sector staged a protest in front of the Parliament, demanding higher salaries for workers in departments that are secondary budget administrators. The protest was organized by the National Federation of..

published on 11/26/25 12:34 PM