Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) to Boost Board Remuneration from 2025
Starting next year, members of the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) will see an increase in their remuneration, as per the bank’s proposed budget. The governor, Dimitar Radev, will receive a monthly salary of BGN 27,434, which is 70% of the average monthly remuneration of bank CEOs. Deputy governors will get BGN 23,515 each, equivalent to 60% of the average remuneration, and other board members will receive BGN 7,838 each, which is 20%.
To accommodate these changes, the budget includes an additional BGN 373,000. However, a recent study found that the remuneration of BNB’s management board members lags behind that of banking sector executives by 19.09%.
In its 2025 budget, the BNB also plans to increase funds for employee remuneration. The adjusted average monthly remuneration groups target for 2025 are: BGN 11,198 for the ‘management’ group, BGN 5,397 for ‘specialists’, and BGN 3,037 for ‘support staff’.
BNB Salaries Competitive with Private Banks
In line with Chapter 23, Paragraph 3 of the BNB Act, the bank ensures its employees’ remuneration is not lower than that of comparable roles in commercial banks. An annual survey is conducted to compare BNB salaries with those in the private banking sector.
Banknote and Coin Production Costs
The budget allocates BGN 11.365 million for new banknote production, a 19.7% increase from the 2024 budget. Printing 10 million 10-leva banknotes will cost BGN 1.945 million. Meanwhile, no funds are planned for the production of euro coins, as BNB follows a ‘borrow and return’ principle for initial supply.
Coin Production Costs Slightly Down
BNB plans to spend BGN 164.359 million on coin production in 2025, a 2.5% decrease from 2024. This includes BGN 55.215 million for commemorative coins and BGN 96.327 million for euro coin production, packaging, transportation, and polishing of coin blanks. The budget for minting of change coins is BGN 109.144 million, a 12.3% decrease from the 2024 budget.
Adjustments have been made to the budget due to the delay in the introduction of the euro as the legal tender in Bulgaria. Some expenses initially planned for 2024 have been reallocated to 2025.
Commemorative Coins in 2025
Next year, BNB plans to issue four gold commemorative coins from the ‘St. Virgin Mary – Golden Apple’ series, without a specified mintage, with weights of 22.0, 24.50, 26.50, and 30.0 grams. Additionally, it will produce a gold ‘St. Patriarch Eutimi Tironski’ coin, three silver coins (‘175 Years from the Birth of Zahari Stoyanov’, ‘175 Years from the Birth of Ivan Vazov’, ‘125 Years of Emergency Medical Aid in Bulgaria’), and a bronze ‘100 Years from the Birth of Georgi Parentzalev’ coin.
