site.btaDeputy PM Expects Incomes in Bulgaria to Reach EU Average within Ten Years

Sofia, May 9 (BTA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva Wednesday forecast that if the incomes in Bulgaria continue to grow at last year's rate, within ten years these will reach the EU average. She was speaking at the opening of a forum on incomes in the Western Balkan countries, organized by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB).

Zaharieva recalled that in 2017 the growth of incomes in this country exceeded 11.5 per cent, much greater than the average in the EU.

According to her, the EU perspective of the Western Balkans will lead to higher incomes in the region.

Addressing the trade union representatives of the Western Balkan countries, Zaharieva said that her government's support for these states will not end with the six months of the Bulgarian EU Presidency but will be a long-term priority, to which end a high-level forum similar to the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia on May 17 will be held once every 18 or 24 months. The Croatian government has already committed to organize such a forum within the Croatian EU Presidency, she added.

Wednesday's conference is expected to adopt a declaration for the EU-Western Balkans Summit that will be presented to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. The document will contain the demands of the trade unions in the region, the main of which is the participation of trade unions and employees in the negotiation process.

CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov said that the incomes in the Balkans do not differ much: as at December 2017, the average net income after taxation was 450 euro in Bulgaria, 456 euro in Serbia, 512 euro in Montenegro, 440 euro in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 387 euro in Macedonia, 456 euro in Kosovo, and around 300 euro in Albania. The incomes were higher only in Croatia and Slovenia, around 800 euro, he added.

According to CITUB's latest data, the average nominal wage in the Balkans lags behind the one in older Member States five- to ten-fold, and in new Member States 1.8 to 2.2-fold.

The minimum monthly wage is the lowest in Albania (180.52 euro) and Macedonia (239.74 euro), and the highest in Croatia (462 euro). Bulgarians have the lowest minimum monthly wage in the EU (260.76 euro); in comparison, in Luxembourg the minimum wage is 1,999 euro.

Podkrepa Confederation of Labour President Dimiter Manolov said that no one has too high expectations for the time frame for the Western Balkan countries' entry in the EU. In his words, the path to the Union will not be an easy and simple one, and it should not be an end in itself; however, it should be noted that it is of paramount interest for the region's stable development. "We need not new dividing lines but bridges, both literally and figuratively speaking: from the construction of motorways to a common fight for higher incomes and youngsters' improved state," Manolov argued.