Employees in various government administration units are gearing up for protests in the coming week, demanding a pay rise in the 2023 budget.

Social tensions are brewing at the National Social Security Institute, the Commission for Consumer Protection, the National Statistical Institute, the The Committee for disclosing the documents and announcing affiliation of Bulgarian citizens to the State Security and the intelligence services of the Bulgarian National Army, Kremena Atanasova, chairwoman of the civil servants' union Podkrepa, told BNR.

"On the eve of the adoption of the budget, tensions are mounting over the lack of salary increases. People are tired of waiting for three years for the bright future that is still not coming," Atanasova said.

The first reading of the draft budget for 2023 in parliament will be on Tuesday, 11 July.