For Bulgarians, the "civil servant" is a collective image: of the sullen counter man, of the convenient party appointee known as "ladybug" or of a privileged official. However, this notion hides a much more complex reality. Behind the general concept stand different professions and requirements, as well as significant differences in pay - as if the state operates at several speeds.
But behind the concept there are also people without whose experience and skills the state machine cannot function. They are experts who are not political protégés and serve the state, regardless of which party is in power.
According to NSI data, 98.6 thousand people work in the administration of the executive branch in Bulgaria - in the ministries, agencies and their territorial structures.
The gap exceeds 1,000 euros
Deutsche Welle has documents on the basic salaries in some of the 18 ministries, which show difficult-to-understand disproportions under the common denominator of “civil servant“. For directors, the gap between individual ministries exceeds 1,000 euros, and varies significantly for other positions.
For example, a junior expert in the Ministry of Defense receives nearly 1,570 euros in basic salary, almost as much as a senior expert in the Ministry of Electronic Governance - 1,590 euros. (The Ministry of Innovation and Growth is now part of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth). A senior expert in the Ministry of Health has a basic salary of 1,619 euros - the same as a state expert, a position two steps above, in the Ministry of Tourism.
The higher you go in the hierarchy, the more the scissors open. While at the junior expert level the differences vary from 100 to 500 euros, at the management and highest expert positions they exceed 1,000-1,100 euros, which is close to two minimum wages.
From the data available to the State Gazette, it can be seen that the Ministry of Economy and Industry (MEI) is among the leaders in terms of salaries. Paradoxical given the fact that over 80% of the Bulgarian economy is created by the private sector, and three-quarters of the workers are employed in private enterprises.
At the bottom is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the face of the Bulgarian state in the world. If not parachuted in by politicians - a process that accompanies every government - a professional diplomat must speak two languages, pass a competition and a one-year training as an attaché trainee, after which he must take another exam.
A director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receives a basic salary of 3,249 euros, in the Ministry of Transport - 2,682 euros, and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - 2,170 euros. A department head at the Ministry of Defense (MOD) is entitled to a basic salary of 2,909 euros, while his colleague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receives 1,776 euros. However, in the Ministry of Health, this position is paid 2,265 euros.
In addition to these basic salaries, there are additional bonuses, the most significant of which is the additional material incentive paid every quarter. By law, the funds for the DMI that are distributed must not exceed 30% of the total personnel costs in the relevant institutions. The amount of the DMS depends on the budget and internal rules of the respective department, which makes the final salaries even more difficult to compare.
It is not only Bulgarian diplomats who are at a disadvantage. A chief expert in the Ministry of Defense has a basic salary of 2,145 euros, while his colleague in the Ministry of Culture - with 1,539 euros. A state expert in defense receives 2,532 euros, while in the Ministry of Youth and Sports the basic salary is nearly 500 euros lower. However, the basic salary of a chief specialist in Foreign Affairs is under 1,000 euros, while for the sports, health, transport and economic ministries it varies between 1,100-1,400 euros. For comparison, for a senior specialist - a position before the chief, and with a secondary education in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a basic salary of 1,312 to a ceiling of 2,286 leva (671 to 1,169 euros) has been set.
The data show that the state does not have a unified policy for evaluating those who serve it, and creates inequalities between its own administrations.
Pensioners - when?
The inequalities do not end with the size of salaries. While part of the administration has difficulty attracting young staff, in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs thousands of people continue to receive both a salary and a pension. And the size of the pension in the "Security" sector is 941.38 euros, or over 80% more than the average for the country.
In November last year, 6,658 pensioners worked in the Ministry of Interior, of whom 4,779 were police officers and firefighters, reported “Free Europe” at the time, citing a letter from Deputy Minister of Interior Filip Popov to a union. Half a year later, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev announced 1,098 employees of retirement age in the Ministry of Interior. What has happened to the remaining 5,000 in the meantime is unclear.
As of April 2026, 3,495 people of retirement age work in MΟ and another 821 in commercial companies. The provision for police officers and military personnel of up to 20 gross salaries upon final retirement is often cited as an argument for pensioners working in the systems. However, this explanation seems untenable, since the state continues to pay their salaries month after month anyway, instead of paying them all at once. And many remain in the system significantly longer than 20 months after retirement.
The regulation published in the State Gazette shows the basic salaries in the Ministry of Interior. They are currently in effect until the 2026 budget is adopted, which includes new increases from January 1.
A head of a department in the Ministry of Interior receives a basic salary of 4,281 leva (2,189 euros), a director of a main directorate - 5,443 leva (2,783 euros), a chief investigating police officer - nearly 3,900 leva (1,980 euros). In MΟ for a department head the salary is around 2909 euros, and for a state expert - 2532 euros.
In addition, for police officers and military personnel, length of service is paid at 2% on the basic salary for each year of service, but not more than 40%. Other specific supplements are also provided.
Incidentally, a length of service class of 0.6% is also paid to those employed under the Labor Code in the administration. The unions even insisted that this mechanism be restored for civil servants, calculating that it would cost 480 million leva.
What kind of administration do we want
However, the issue of social security for civil servants in Bulgaria will not be resolved. At its meeting yesterday, the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation failed to reach an agreement on the proposal to gradually start paying personal insurance contributions. The government and the unions opposed the bill by "Democratic Bulgaria", while the employers' organizations supported it.
The government of Rumen Radev is not ready to open a front with the nearly 100,000 employed in the administration on the eve of the presidential and local elections next year.
But Bulgaria does not need either a cheap or a privileged administration. The real question is not whether the administration is expensive, but whether citizens receive an administration that is worth the price.