According to the leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) Plamen Dimitrov, the system of social assistance must be reformed without a reduction of the financing; the poorest pensioners can receive a bonus through the pension system but through the social assistance system.

“I am getting the impression that the future minister of labour and social policy will be from GERB party, it would be better if he or she was not a political nomination but someone who has worked in the system,” said Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria for the Bulgarian National Radio.

The United Patriots stated they were not prepared to put forward their own nomination in the sphere of labour and social policy, Dimitrov said, answering a question whether the CITUB was sceptical of a United Patriots nomination becoming social minister.

"I am expecting a restart of the dialogue at the National Council of Trilateral Cooperation before the formulation of the new programme of governance," Plamen Dimitrov added. He stated that according to the CITUB an average monthly salary of 1,500 Leva is absolutely attainable, adding that last year, the growth rate of this index stood at 10.5 percent, though 70 percent of Bulgarian workers receive salaries below the average. The way in which the United Patriots are proposing a rise in pensions calls into question the pension system as such, as well as the idea of fairness, Dimitrov said. "The social benefit system must be reformed if we want it to be efficient," he added.

Digitalization and new forms of labour will be at the focus of attention at the forthcoming congress of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, Plamen Dimitrov said in the interview for the Bulgarian National Radio.