site.btaUPDATED Miners Protest Proposed Introduction of Mining Tax

Hundreds of miners gathered on Wednesday at a protest rally outside the Council of Ministers building against the proposed introduction of a mining tax. The protest was organized by the miners’ federations with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour.

The protest comes before the start of a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which was scheduled to discuss the draft budget for 2025.  

Workers in the Kaolin company were also protesting outside the Vetovo Town Hall in solidarity with the protestors in Sofia.

According to the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology (BCMG), over 2,000 miners joined the protest. BCMG put out a statement in which it said that "the unprecedented protest sought to protect jobs". 

The statement said that the mining industry employs some 19,000 people and their worries now is that they will lose their wages and jobs, and that the new tax will cause shocks across a sector that generates 5% of Bulgaria's GDP. The mining industry pays BGN 800 million to the public purse every year and has BGN 3,8 million is expenses related to construction, delivery of machines, purchase of fuels, etc. Also, they pay BGN 750 million in wages every year.

On Tuesday, BCMG published a position in which it warned that the contemplated tax threatens the very survival of the mining sector in Bulgaria. It slams the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers for failing to consult the mining sector, with the changes only emerging publicly on December 9, 2024, after the proposed new tax burden was posted on the Ministry of Finance’s website. The industry leaders argued that the introduction of this new tax could put Bulgarian mining companies at a severe disadvantage compared to their European and global counterparts, who do not face a similar combined tax burden. They further pointed out that EU regulations generally impose turnover taxes only on consumption, not on the business activities of specific sectors. They highlight the absence of a comprehensive analysis to support the proposed amendments. Without such an evaluation, the potential economic impact on the mining industry and the broader Bulgarian economy remains unclear, the position said.