News from Bulgaria

The draft budget of Burgas municipality for 2026 comes to 356,592,267 euros and was tabled on 10 September. Road infrastructure is allotted 9.1 million euros, street cleaning 20.5 million, street lighting 1.8 million and green spaces 3.3 million euros. The draft first passes through the standing committees and goes to a vote at the end of September. Its focus lies on educational buildings, energy refurbishment and healthcare.

Sozopol municipality published order number 8-Z-654 of 16 July 2026 on 10 September. It approves the detailed development plan for parcel 67800.44.48 in the Mapi locality and forms from it regulated plot VI-44.48 of 2,548 square metres, with a further 109 square metres passing into street land. The designated use is resort and complementary activities together with a substation. The plan is on display at the spatial planning directorate at Han Krum Square 2, with the notice posted from 10 to 23 September. The order may be appealed within fourteen days through the municipality to the administrative court.

Sozopol municipality published list number 3 of debtors under the Local Taxes and Fees Act on 10 September. It names 21 individuals and companies whose outstanding amounts concern property tax and the waste collection fee. Those listed have 14 days from publication to report to the local taxes and fees department at Han Krum Square 2, between 08:30 and 17:15. If no one appears, the document is placed on file under Article 32(6) of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code and counts as duly served. The list is posted from 10 to 24 September.

Assessment: This deemed-service rule is where foreign owners are regularly caught out. Anyone who does not live in Bulgaria and has given no address for service in the country often learns of a case only once interest and enforcement costs are already running. Two things help: register a permanent address for service with the municipality, and settle property tax and the waste fee in one spring payment rather than four instalments. For flats used only in summer I also check whether an exemption from the waste fee applies and whether the declaration was filed on time.

Port Prim Art Fest takes place in Burgas for the ninth time, from 7 to 10 October 2026. It opens on 7 October at 18:00 with an exhibition at the Petko Zadgorski art gallery, which stays open free of charge until 30 October. The programme includes a performance by the Plovdiv State Theatre on 8 October at 19:30, a concert moving between classical music, jazz and tango on 9 October at 19:30, and screenings from an international short film festival daily from 18:00. The organiser is the Grand Hotel and SPA Primorec with support from Burgas municipality; theatre tickets run through advance sale.

A 25 basis point rise in the deposit rate from 2.25 to 2.50 per cent is treated as all but certain for the European Central Bank meeting on 10 September. That step is already in the price. Beyond it, markets are pricing in some 75 further basis points by June 2027, which would take the rate close to 3 per cent. Bulgaria sits directly inside this rate framework since joining the euro area, so the same direction applies to mortgage pricing here.

Brent traded at 101.10 dollars a barrel at 05:56 on 10 September, 0.1 per cent below the previous close. West Texas Intermediate stood at 96.24 dollars, up 0.2 per cent. Brent has been above the 100 dollar mark since 3 September, and the gain since the start of August adds up to roughly 30 per cent. Crude is the upstream stage of pump and heating costs and feeds through with a lag of several weeks.

The National Assembly is debating and voting at second reading on amendments to the Consumer Protection Act; the report was only partly read out in the chamber the day before. The amendments introduce a minimum level of protection for consumers using financial services: they govern pre-contractual information requirements, the right of withdrawal from financial services contracts concluded at a distance, and the cases in which that right does not apply. The draft also sets out what traders must disclose before a distance financial services contract is concluded and imposes specific requirements on the online interfaces of firms offering such services electronically. For every distance contract, including those for financial services, a dedicated function for exercising the right of withdrawal will have to be provided. The same agenda includes ratification of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters as amended by the protocol in force since 1 June 2011.

Assessment: For buyers who open an account, take out insurance or sign a loan online from abroad, this is the rule that matters: a withdrawal button you can actually find beats a complaint nobody reads. The ratification of the assistance convention in turn concerns anyone holding accounts in two countries, because it widens the exchange of data between tax administrations. Read together, the two lead to the same conclusion I draw: check contracts calmly, note the deadlines and keep the tax return clean in both countries.

Anyone holding property through a Bulgarian company should know Article 204 (1) point 4 of the Corporate Income Tax Act: it taxes in-kind expenses on owned, rented or otherwise available assets that are made available for private use by a managing director, an employee or a person providing personal labour. The rate under Article 216 (2) is three per cent, while corporate income tax under Article 20 is ten per cent. Under Article 206 (2) this expense tax is final; the expense and the tax are recognised in the year they are booked and create no timing difference. It is declared under Article 217 (1) with the annual corporate tax return and paid under Article 217 (2) by 30 June of the following year. The practical order is: fix the share of private use in writing before the first invoice, have electricity, water and internet invoiced to the company name with its identification number, document the mileage log or the floor area split, and set aside the reserve for 30 June month by month.

On 9 September the European Commission tabled its Affordable Housing Act. It has two parts: a regulation creating a common framework for assessing and justifying housing-related measures, with requirements on proportionality, transparency and review, and a recommendation supporting an expansion of supply. It targets areas where demand significantly exceeds supply, and the Commission counts islands and tourist destinations among them alongside cities and metropolitan areas. The draft now enters the ordinary legislative procedure.

The EU act tabled on 9 September allows restrictions on short-term rentals under four conditions only. The activity must demonstrably reduce the long-term housing stock, the adverse effect on affordability and availability must have persisted for at least three years, less restrictive alternatives must have proved ineffective, and the requirements of the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation must be applied. Authorities identify areas under housing stress using a standardised methodology and show that any restriction is targeted, necessary and proportionate. Eurobarometer data cited in the proposal puts the share of city dwellers who see housing as an immediate and urgent problem at more than 50 per cent.

On 9 September the Bulgarian cabinet approved a budget of 170 million euros in compensation for energy-intensive electricity users. The scheme runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, covers up to 50 per cent of the cost of electricity consumed, and applies only where the underlying price is at least 50 euros per megawatt hour. Half of the aid must be reinvested in emission-reduction measures. The legal basis is Decree No 237 and the 2022 EU state aid guidelines for climate and energy; funding comes from the Electricity System Security Fund.

Assessment: This is no direct relief for private owners, but it is a signal for Burgas as a location: the region industrial employers keep a predictable electricity cost base until mid-2027. Where employment holds, demand for year-round lettings holds too, and that is what carries the yield outside the season. The risk I see is that the 50 euro per megawatt hour floor leaves the scheme idle in calm market phases.

The national average for diesel stood at 1.87 euros a litre on 9 September, one cent above the previous day, with individual filling stations in the capital asking 1.92 euros. Petrol was unchanged at 1.61 euros on average and autogas at 0.67 euros a litre. Premium diesel averages 2.08 euros and reaches 2.14 euros at some stations, while premium petrol at 1.83 euros sits below ordinary diesel. For comparison, on 9 January petrol averaged 1.23 euros and diesel 1.25 euros, so the rise since then is 38 and 62 cents respectively. The figures come from the Fuelo price platform.

TUI Nordic is bringing forward the start of its flight programme from Stockholm to Burgas and will operate an additional direct flight from Stockholm Arlanda on 10 May 2027. Burgas Airport announced the plan. The date falls before the main part of the Eurovision 2027 song contest programme, so Swedish travellers can stay in the country for the whole week. For the southern coast the earlier start means an extra way in from early May rather than only in high season.

On 9 September the Municipality of Nesebar announced that Order No 2940 of 3 September 2026 approved the amendment of the detailed development plan for regulated plot V-956 in block 56 of Obzor, cadastral identifier 53045.501.400. The zone changes from purely residential to mixed multifunctional use, and the designation from housing construction to car servicing, vehicle testing, shops and housing. The parameters move with it: permitted height falls from 14.00 to 12.00 metres over one to four storeys, the minimum green area from 40 to 30 per cent and the floor area ratio from 2.00 to 1.5, while built density stays at 50 per cent. The plan can be inspected at the spatial planning department in the Obzor town hall, 2 Ivan Vazov Street, room 8.

On 9 September the Municipality of Sozopol published a draft detailed development plan for the plot with identifier 67800.53.23 in the Mapi locality. It provides for a change of designation and the creation of two new regulated plots, numbered VI-53.267 and VIII-53.268, both for resort use and supporting activities. Protection zone B under the Black Sea Coast Act applies together with development zone Ok/12: height up to 10.00 metres, built density up to 30 per cent, floor area ratio up to 1.0 and a minimum of 50 per cent green space, half of which must be tree cover. A new cul-de-sac with a turning area of 12 by 8.87 metres is planned in addition. Objections may be lodged within 14 days of publication; the notice stays posted until 23 September 2026.

On Sunday 13 September 2026 the stage season on Sveta Anastasia island closes with a concert by the Cuban Spirit Project. The boat leaves Magazia 1 at 18:00 that evening, earlier than on the other dates of the season. Tickets are available through the Burgas municipal tourism portal and at the tourist information centre by the Clock. The island lies some six kilometres off Burgas and is reached from the landing stage in the port.

On 9 September the National Statistical Institute published the monthly fiscal data for July 2026. In the central government sub-sector, revenue of 3,850.52 million euros stands against expenditure of 3,513.57 million euros. The social security funds sub-sector collected 1,736.46 million euros and spent 1,759.92 million euros, so here spending exceeds income. The series follows European accounting methodology and forms the numerical basis for the autumn negotiations on contribution bases, tax rates and fees.

Assessment: For owners the telling line in this release is the social security one. A sub-sector that pays out more than it collects in July puts pressure on contribution bases and rates, and that reaches everyone who runs a company here or declares rental income. I follow the series month by month because it runs weeks ahead of the draft budget.

On 9 September the cabinet approved amendments to the Labour Code that will set the minimum wage by four criteria: its purchasing power, the cost of living, the general level and growth rate of wages, and labour productivity. The proposal for the following year must be tabled by 15 August each year, after negotiations with the nationally representative organisations of employees and employers. Adequacy is reviewed every three years; the target is a minimum wage that reaches both 60 per cent of the median wage and the level of the cost of living. The National Statistical Institute is to develop the methodology for calculating the cost of living.

Amendments to the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code were adopted at second reading on 9 September, transposing Directive (EU) 2023/2226. Providers of crypto-asset services must register and report electronically once a year who trades with them: name, address, date and place of birth, state of tax residence, tax number, and the values and unit numbers of transactions, split into purchases, sales, exchanges, payments for goods and services, and transfers. The deadline is 30 June of the following year, and the exchange with the tax administrations of member states and partner jurisdictions takes place within nine months of the year end. Anyone who fails to supply the required details after two requests and a 60-day period has their transactions restricted by the provider.

The National Bank puts the assets of Bulgaria's pension funds at 17.254 billion euros as at 30 June 2026, 16.8 per cent more than a year earlier. Debt securities account for 9.989 billion euros, shares and equity for 3.209 billion with growth of 37.8 per cent, and investment and money market funds for 2.931 billion with growth of 52.8 per cent. Domestic holdings amount to 5.168 billion euros, up 9.2 per cent, holdings elsewhere in the euro area to 6.336 billion, up 21.1 per cent, and holdings outside it to 3.481 billion, up 27.6 per cent. Pension entitlements of 17.176 billion euros make up 99.5 per cent of liabilities.

The benchmark price for natural gas at the Dutch TTF hub reached 79.11 euros per megawatt hour on 9 September, its highest level since the end of 2022; it later traded at 78.64 euros, 1.22 per cent above the previous session. The price has close to doubled since the start of July. European Union storage stood at 66.9 per cent on 7 September, Bulgarian storage at 64.75 per cent, German at around 54 and Dutch at around 50 per cent. For comparison, in 2022 the price peaked above 300 euros per megawatt hour.

Assessment: On the southern coast natural gas is rarely the heating source; the exchange price works through the electricity price and the running costs of the plant in the complex. Anyone taking over a flat with a gas connection or gas-fired central supply should look at the bills for the past two winters before signing. With a heat pump or split air conditioning it is the electricity tariff that decides, and there it pays to check the meter readings and the connected load.

The municipality of Burgas has completed several education building projects for the 2026/27 school year. In the coastal district of Kraymorie a new building for the “Al. G. Kodzhakafaliyata“school offers eight classrooms, specialist rooms, a STEM centre, a gym, a swimming pool and medical and speech therapy rooms. “Vasil Aprilov“school has gained a new wing with 104 places and a lecture room for 116, and the “Alen Mak“kindergarten in Sarafovo an extension for two groups with 50 places for children aged three to seven. A branch of the “Nadezhda“kindergarten in the Pobeda district adds another 50 places, and the site for a new build in the Vetren district has already been designated.

The municipal council of Karnobat adopted the 2026 budget unanimously on 9 September: more than 34 million euros, rising above 35 million after the expected updates, and some 4.5 million more than in 2025. Local taxes and fees stay unchanged, although the municipality reports food prices up 15 per cent and fuel and electricity up 30 per cent. Some 170,000 euros are earmarked for running costs in the outlying settlements. Nearing completion are the “Golden Lake“park with a December 2026 deadline, the town square, the wastewater treatment plant, the water intakes and the servicing of the new residential areas.

Article 24 (1) of the Aliens Act sets out an exhaustive list of the grounds on which long-term residence is granted, and in every case a visa under Article 15 (1), applied for at the consulate in the country of residence, comes first. Property ownership qualifies only under point 19, and only from an investment of no less than 306,775.13 euros per person, with the sum paid in full by the date of application, credited to an account at a bank licensed in Bulgaria, and any outstanding loan balance not exceeding 25 per cent. The route through one's own company under point 2 requires at least ten full-time jobs for Bulgarian citizens, maintained for the duration of residence, and that requirement applies to each shareholder and each managing director separately. Point 20 lowers the threshold to a capital contribution of 127,822.97 euros together with new fixed assets of the same value and five jobs, but applies only in economically disadvantaged regions; whatever the ground, paragraph 2 additionally requires secured housing, compulsory health insurance and sufficient own means without recourse to the social system.

In gated residential complexes, Article 2 of the Condominium Management Act provides that management of the common parts is governed by a written contract with notarised signatures between the developer and the owners. The developer registers that contract with the Registry Agency on the file of each individual unit, and it is expressly enforceable against later acquirers; an electronic search of that file costs 0.51 euros and requires an account on the agency portal, or the notary obtains it. For obligations towards the owners' association that fell due before the transfer of ownership, Article 30 (1) makes the former owner liable unless something else is agreed at the transfer, which is why this clause belongs in the purchase contract and not in a side conversation. Anyone staying no more than 30 days in the calendar year pays, under Article 51 (1), only the amount set for one person towards management and maintenance costs, but a diverging contract under Article 2 can override that relief, so it is read word for word before any deposit.

Assessment: The annual fee in a coastal complex is not a minor item; it changes the return over the whole holding period and passes to the buyer, because the contract attaches to the unit rather than to the person. Two perspectives help: an owner-occupier who comes for a few weeks benefits from the statutory 30-day rule and loses it if the developer's contract uses floor area as the yardstick, while a landlord should build the fee into the price per square metre before comparing two offers at all. My advice is to obtain the register page before the preliminary contract, not after, because once it is signed the clause on old debts is no longer negotiable.

Anyone importing furniture, fittings or trade goods from a country outside the Union through their own Bulgarian company needs an EORI number first. It is issued by the Customs Agency, costs nothing and, according to the official service entry, is available within three working days of application; submission runs through the agency's electronic portal, the secure electronic delivery system, e-mail to the competent customs office, or on paper at any customs office, for the southern coast at the Burgas territorial directorate. The legal basis is Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013 together with Bulgarian Ordinance H-9 of 2018, and operators established outside the Union may use a number issued in another member state. In practice: EORI and VAT registration come before the order, not after it, and the forwarding instruction states the company number, the VAT number and the EORI in writing, so that the customs declaration names the company as importer rather than the forwarder.

The national register of administrative services gives the fee for exchanging a foreign driving licence as 14.00 euros for applicants under 58, 5.62 euros from 58 to 70, 1.53 euros for a degree of disability of 50 per cent or more, and no fee from 70; processing takes up to 30 days, or up to ten under the expedited procedure. The tariff version available on the traffic police site still lists the same items in the currency that applied before 2026, and converting it produces a different figure from the official entry, so anyone who brings the register entry in print does not argue at the counter but simply presents it. The same register clears up a common misunderstanding: a psychological fitness certificate is required only for categories C1, C, D1, D and T, whereas the general practitioner's medical card is required generally. Three steps before any administrative act: open the entry in the service register, note the amount and the currency, and ask at the till for a receipt showing the sum.

On 17 September 2026 from 15:00, Burgas Free University acts as host and strategic partner of the Lider.BG Regional Business Conference, held under the patronage of Dimitar Nikolov, mayor of Burgas Municipality. The programme is structured around three discussion strands: investment and growth, the digital future of business, and economic security and resilience. Partners include the Bulgarian Investment Agency (BIA), the Burgas Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Burgas Industrial and Logistics Park; attendance is free after mandatory registration and places are limited.

The municipality of Burgas is a partner in ComActivate, a project funded under the LIFE programme. The project has produced a platform that shows, as a 3D model, the potential energy savings of multi-family residential buildings in the Vazrazhdane complex once energy efficiency measures are carried out. The platform is at an early stage of development; over the coming months it is expected to cover more complexes in Burgas and to refine the results for each individual building.

Tsarevo municipality reports 17,000 registered overnight stays for 6 September, in other words full houses at a point when the season on the southern coast used to be over. The fish festival drew 12,000 to 13,000 visitors over a weekend, and direct turnover for the businesses involved exceeded one million euros. The municipality is working to turn a peak season of six weeks into a year-round offer, using an events calendar, road works, parks and orderly traffic management. Lozenets, Ahtopol and Sinemorets report strong late-summer trade, along with families from the larger Bulgarian cities buying a second property there.