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This text was written on the occasion of the adoption of the “Analysis of the current state of wages in Bulgaria – conclusions and recommendations” by the Economic and Social Council of the Republic of Bulgaria. The analysis is indicative not only for the state of wages and incomes, but also for the unenviable state of social dialogue in the Republic of Bulgaria. One of its biggest flaws is its fixation on the issue of the country‘s minimum wage. Based on the available statistical data, the author claims that the minimum mothвщ salary (MMS) does not grow adequately and sustainably in relation to labor productivity and the average wage, because the growth of the MMS exceeds the growth of Labor Productivity. Growth in the minimum mothly salary (MMS) is outpacing growth in average wages, both at national level and relative to private sector remuneration. It is shown that Bulgaria has very good indicators regarding the dynamics of employee compensation, in particular the ratio of employee compensation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Considered for the European continent in two historical periods – from 2005 to 2016 and from 2005 to 2021, Bulgaria has the largest growth in the share of employee compensation in relation to GDP. Bulgaria has an extremely stable trend of increasing the share of employee compensation in relation to GDP, while for many countries in Europe, serious fluctuations, including a general decrease, are observed during the period 2005-2021. The convergence between the case in Bulgaria and those of the EU27, EU28 and the Eurozone is clearly visible, which confirms the thesis that as far as the redistribution mechanisms and the share of compensation of the employed in GDP are concerned, Bulgaria has performed excellently in the last 17 years. All this shows once again that in Bulgaria the problem is in the size of the GDP, and not in the ratio of the compensation compared to the GDP. Bulgaria is distinguished by a high value of the ratio of minimum monthly salary to gross domestic product per capita (MMS/GDP) compared to other EU countries for 2020, where there is a regulated minimum monthly wage. If we take into account the existence of additional pay for time served and professional qualification, Bulgaria ranks first in the EU in terms of this indicator. As a typology, the MRP/GDP ratio for Bulgaria refers to “Old Europe” and not to “New Europe”, as paradoxical as that may sound. If we compare the average monthly salary (AMS) in Bulgaria with the minimum monthly salary (MMS) and respectively the average monthly salary (AMS) for the countries of the European Union that have a regulated average monthly wage, it will be seen that for Bulgaria this ratio is completely satisfactory. If we work in a comparative European plan, Bulgaria is not at all “in the queue” according to the MMS/AMS indicator. If additional remuneration for time served and professional qualifications are not taken into account, Bulgaria is in 13th place out of 22 countries, together with the United Kingdom. If the additional remunerations are taken into account, Bulgaria climbs to 12th place, and before it there are four other countries with very close values of the MMS/AMS parameter. The data on the MMS/AMS ratio also supports the conclusion that the problem in Bulgaria‘s income policy are not the redistributive mechanisms. The conclusion is that the primary task for the Bulgarian economy and before the income policy is the increase of GDP, which can be a consequence of the increase in labor productivity on the first place. The latter, of course, should be the work of both workers and employers, supported by an adequate state policy of supporting the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy.

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29

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