site.btaMilitary to Get 30% Pay Rise from 2025 under Conclusively Passed Legislation

Bulgaria's Parliament on Friday passed conclusively amendments to the Defence and Armed Forces Act under which the military will get a pay rise, effective January 1, 2025.

The bill was tabled jointly by all parliamentary parties and was adopted unanimously by 164 votes in favour.

Under the amended law, service members' monthly basic remuneration will be fixed annually on the basis of the average national monthly wage for the second quarter of the previous year as reported by the National Statistical Institute. The amount of this wage will be increased by a coefficient of at least 1.2 for commissioned officers and a coefficient of at least 1.0 for officer candidates, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

The pay of the military will thus be raised by nearly 30%. The lowest ranking soldier will thus draw BGN 2,200 a month, up from BGN 1,450 so far.

Military salaries were already raised this year, by 10%. Despite this, the Armed Forces are undermanned by nearly 22% because of the low pay as well as uncongenial working conditions, ambiguous rules on career growth, specific restrictions and other factors.

The amount of the basic monthly salary for the lowest position of civilian employees in the Armed Forces will be based on the average national monthly wage for the second quarter of the previous year as reported by the National Statistical Institute. The amount of this wage will be increased by a coefficient of at least 0.8 for university graduates and a coefficient of at least 0.6 for secondary school graduates.