The Bulgarian government and representatives of the trade unions and the employers' organisations reached an agreement on the conditions of retirement in the forthcoming years.

The proposal for a pension reform will be tabled to parliament and all three sides said that compromises were made, daily Dnevnik reports.

The changes foresee the decrease of the deficit in the National Social Security Institute (NOI) and gradual increase in pensions through increase in the retirement age and the size of insurance contributions.

The proposal provides for the retirement age to reach 65 years, with the men born in 1964 and the women born in 1972 to be the first ones affected, which will happen respectively in 2029 and 2037.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov expressed hope that the pension reform will be supported and the social partners will start a series of meeting with all parliamentary represented parties.

In the security sector a minimum retirement age of 52 years 10 months will be introduced, which will gradually rise to 55 years.

Miners working underground, who are exposed to dangerous conditions, would be able to retire earlier – at the age of 45.

The opportunity for early retirement is retained and it will be possible in cases of liquidation of companies or lay-offs.

The retirement age of those falling under the first category of labour will rise to 55 years, while the age for people in the second category of labour will increase to 60 years.

As regards the adequacy of pensions, an agreement has been reached, which guarantees that for each increase in the number of years of work experience, this will result in a minimum increase of pensions with 40 %.

The insurance contributions will increase by 1 % from 2017 and by a further 1 % in 2018.

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