Protests could erupt if the National Assembly fails to approve this year's state budget, Lyuboslav Kostov, chief economist at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB), said in an interview with BNR.

"Once again, the budget is hostage to political intrigues and cabinet haggling. There are many important issues in the budget and if Parliament fails to address them, a cascade of protests will follow, creating a snowball effect," the trade unionist said.

Meanwhile, employers have warned that tensions are rising in companies as electricity prices rise and the country faces an economic crisis. Dobri Mitrev, head of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, predicted that if there was no compensation mechanism for the excessively high industrial electricity prices, the result would be an increase in the prices of all goods and services and a surge in inflation.