site.btaRestaurant Associations in Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, Kyustendil to Protest against Higher VAT Rate

The Association of Restaurants in Bulgaria is preparing to block dozens of road junctions and busy intersections in over 30 settlements in protest against the return of the 20% VAT rate on their services. However, as some have decided that it is not the right time to protest, not all local restaurant associations will take effective action.

Representatives of the restaurant sector in Plovdiv will protest on March 19 and 20 at 4:00 p.m. in front of the Unification Monument, Enyu Enev, Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, told BTA.

On March 19, protests in Veliko Tarnovo will begin in front of the Mother Bulgaria Monument at 3:30 p.m., said Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association Chair in Veliko Tarnovo Petar Stefanov. At 4:00 p.m., a procession will start along Nikola Gabrovski Street, with nearly 2,000 people working in the restaurant and hotel business expected to walk to the Kachitsa Intersection, effectively blocking part of the main Sofia-Varna road for half an hour.

About 60 cars with representatives of the Association of Restaurants in Southwestern Bulgaria will set off on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. from Kyustendil as well, said Stanislav Georgiev, member of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Organization. They will be joined in stages by their colleagues from Dupnitsa, Sapareva Banya, Blagoevgrad and the entire Southwest region, he added.

Members of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Organization in Haskovo will not participate in the protest, said Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association Chair in Haskovo Stoycho Ganashev. The decision was made to support the position of the Association of Restaurants in Bulgaria, but to not take effective action. "In our opinion, at the moment we are in, with severe unrest around the world and war on the territory of Europe, against the backdrop of the huge tragedy that occurred in North Macedonia with the loss of dozens of young people, there is no point in further inflaming the tension and boycotting in streets and intersections. We decided that we should rather be reasonable and empathetic to the pain of the people," Ganashev commented.

"We stand in solidarity with our colleagues from the country, but we will not protest effectively," said Milen Tsonev, owner of a hotel complex in Razgrad. He stressed that the higher VAT will lead to many problems in the industry. "Our country is one of the few in the European Union with a high tax rate for tourism and establishments. In most European countries, it is differentiated and they keep it low," Tsonev pointed out. 

The VAT rate for restaurant and hotel services was reduced to 9% during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was returned to its pre-COVID rate of 20% in July 2024 for tourist services and in January 2025 for restaurant and catering services, with the Finance Ministry expecting the measure to generate BGN 371.5 million in additional revenues for 2025. The restaurant sector has repeatedly said that the VAT rise will lead to bankruptcies, increase the grey sector, and will not help achieve the revenue projected in the 2025 State Budget Bill.