Anti‑Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Bulgaria
Table of contents
Bulgaria adopted the National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Corruption (2021-2027)( NSPCC) and the National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Irregularities and Fraud Affecting the Financial Interests of the European Union (2021-2027). The NSPCC’s implementation is supported through the Roadmap for implementation of the National Strategy for Prevention and Counteraction of Corruption in the Republic of Bulgaria. The National Anti-Corruption Policy Council is the body responsible for coordination of implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation at the central level for the NSPCC. The National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Irregularities and Fraud Affecting the Financial Interests of the European Union is coordinated by the Council for the Coordination of the Fight against Infringements Affecting the Financial Interest of the European Union.
The Anti-Corruption Law regulates conflict-of-interest situations for public officials and establishes that Commission on Anti-Corruption oversees the verification of interest declarations. The Electoral Code regulates the financing of electoral campaigns whereas the Political Parties Act regulates the financing of political parties. Bulgaria’s Act on Access to Public Information maintains a framework for access to public information.
Lobbying activities in Bulgaria are regulated by the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Information about the actual owners is recorded under the files of legal entities and other legal information is established in the Commercial Register, the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities and the BULSTAT Register.
The Judiciary System Act provides for judicial integrity in Bulgaria. Judges are appointed by the Judges’ Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council. The prosecutorial career is governed by the Judiciary System Act. The Civil Servants Act outlines the disciplinary procedure for civil servants.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Data on where Bulgaria’s integrity system is strongest and could be most improved can be found at the link below:
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 60% of criteria on the strength of strategic framework, and 50% on practice, compared to the OECD averages of 38% and 32%, respectively.
In Bulgaria, there are two key strategies on public integrity: the National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Corruption (2021-2027) (NSPCC) and the National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Irregularities and Fraud Affecting the EU’s Financial Interests for the period 2021-2027 (NAFS 2021-2027). Together, these frameworks address public integrity risks in areas such as human resource management, public financial management, public procurement, the broader public sector, including fraud and corruption, the private sector, public corporations, state-owned enterprises, public-private partnerships, and other high-risk sectors, such as health.
Indicators, survey data and assessments of public integrity risks did not inform the NSPCC’s problem analysis. The NSPCC’s implementation is supported through the Roadmap for implementation of the National Strategy for Prevention and Counteraction of Corruption in the Republic of Bulgaria. For the predecessor strategy there is an evaluation report titled "Analysis of the Implementation of the National Strategy for Prevention and Counteraction of Corruption 2015-2020".
The NAFS sets four strategic goals, each with defined outcome-level indicators formulated as operational objectives. However, like the NSPCC, the NAFS does not contain target values for outcome-level indicators. Implementation is supported by annual action plans issued by the AFCOS. Both the NSPCC and the NAFS were developed through inter-institutional working groups and published for public consultation along with all supporting materials.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 20% of criteria on lobbying regulations, and 0% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 43% and 38%, respectively.
In 2018, Bulgaria adopted the Anti-Money Laundering Act, aligning with the EU Directive 2015/849/EU, which established rules for the disclosure of beneficial ownership of legal entities. In accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act, information about the actual owners is recorded under the files of legal entities and other legal information is established in the Commercial Register, the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities and the BULSTAT Register. The functioning of the BULSTAT Register is further governed by the BULSTAT Register Act, which outlines access procedures. However, the official register of beneficial ownership of corporate entities is not fully publicly accessible.
Senior public officials are subject to a one-year restriction after leaving office under the Anti-Corruption Law. During this period, they cannot work with or represent entities they previously oversaw or had business dealings with, including participation in public procurement or EU fund allocation processes. Bulgaria however does not track movement between the public and private sectors.
Bulgaria is in the process of elaborating a law on transparency and integrity in government, which would regulate lobbying activities and actors. Currently, lobbying transparency is limited, and no public register is in place.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 100% of criteria on conflict-of-interest regulations, and 67% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 80% and 45%, respectively.
The regulatory framework includes obligations to submit interest declarations for all elected officials, judges and civil servants. Regulations also establish incompatibilities between public and private roles and sanctions are proportional to the severity of the offence. Submission rates amongst members of the Government are high – between 2018-2024, the submission rate was 98%.
The submission rate of interest declarations from members of the National Assembly has exceeded 90% annually over the past six years, and almost all members of the highest bodies of the judiciary submitted annual declarations over the period 2020 to 2023. No monitoring data is available regarding the submission rate of declarations among top-tier civil servants. According to the Anti-Corruption Law, the Commission on Anti-Corruption (CAC) oversees the verification of declarations, in line with a risk-based approach, and 60% of declarations filed during the 2022-2023 period were verified.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 80% of criteria on political finance regulations, and 57 % on practice, compared to the OECD average of 76% and 58% respectively.
The Electoral Code regulates the financing of electoral campaigns whereas the Political Parties Act regulates the financing of political parties. The Electoral Code sets spending limits for electoral campaigns of parties, coalitions, and independent candidates, specifying maximum amounts and restricting allowable funding sources to self-funding and donations from natural persons, with additional prohibitions on donations from anonymous, corporate, foreign, or state-affiliated entities. However, the Code lacks explicit provisions addressing or limiting third-party expenditures (i.e. from non-party campaigners such as charities and individuals) on campaign activities like advertising and social media. Moreover, there is no comprehensive prohibition on the use of public funds and resources to support or oppose a political party.
In practice, all political parties have submitted accounts within the timelines defined by national legislation for the period 2019-2023. The National Audit Office publishes financial reports from all political parties represented in parliament and can sanction parties which do not comply with regulations on political finance.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 78% of criteria on public information regulations, and 58% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 72% and 62% respectively.
Bulgaria’s Act on Access to Public Information regulates the right of all individuals to obtain public information. This right applies to natural persons, legal entities, and collective bodies, including non-citizens, and the law imposes transparency obligations on a wide range of public institutions. Citizens may appeal refusals or inactivity when requesting public information by filing an action in court. Moreover, the Access to Public Information Act establishes that government data should be published in open data format.
In contrast, there is no government website containing consolidated versions of all primary laws. Ministers’ agendas are not systematically accessible online through a centralised portal or the respective ministry’s website. There is also no aggregated data available on access-to-information requests.
Although Bulgaria does not have a supervisory body responsible for public information, the Access to Public Information Act, Section IV, Article 40, provides the right to appeal to a judicial body if access to public information is denied.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 91% of criteria on judicial integrity regulations, and 56% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 66% and 45% respectively.
Under the Constitution, judges are initially appointed for five years, following which they can attain life-long tenure until retirement, term expiry or lawful dismissal. The Act sets out merit-based selection and promotion procedures, including written tests and interviews for all judicial positions. Judges are appointed by the Judges’ Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council, which consists of 25 members, including three ex officio members and 22 members elected equally by the National Assembly and by the judiciary. Decisions on the selection and promotion of judges are subject to judicial review.
The Judiciary System Act provides conflict-of-interest and incompatibility rules for judges and requires the submission of declarations of assets and interest upon appointment, renewal, or change of positions. The Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council is responsible for receiving, verifying, and publishing declarations of assets and interest on its website. However, the publication format does not allow easy searching or filtering, limiting the accessibility and analysis of information.
The Act further establishes mechanisms for reporting misconduct and internal reporting channels are operational in practice. Reports can be submitted electronically to the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council, but there is no detailed guidance on how to report judicial misconduct or what protections apply. Moreover, experts handling reports do not undergo mandatory training on confidentiality.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 93% of criteria on prosecutorial integrity regulations, and 58% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 66% and 52% respectively.
Under Bulgaria’s Constitution, prosecutors are members of the judiciary together with judges and investigating magistrates. As such, prosecutors are subject to the regulations of the Judiciary System Act. Prosecutors are appointed, promoted, and transferred through centralised competitions organised by the Prosecutors’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council. Any interested party may appeal decisions of the relevant chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council concerning competition and appointment procedures. The law defines grounds for the dismissal of prosecutors but no data is publicly available concerning decisions on the dismissal of the heads of the prosecution service.
Regulations determine financial and personal circumstances and relationships that may give rise to conflict-of-interest situations. Prosecutors are required to recuse themselves in cases of conflict of interest and parties may also request recusals. In addition, prosecutors must submit declarations of interest upon entry and any renewal or change in the office.
Reports of prosecutorial misconduct can be submitted electronically to the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council and the law protects reporting persons against retaliation.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Bulgaria fulfils 58% of criteria on disciplinary system regulations, and 0% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 66% and 22% respectively.
The Civil Servants Act outlines the disciplinary procedures applicable to civil servants and defines a disciplinary offence as any breach of official duty. It provides for a range of disciplinary sanctions, including reprimand and censure, and introduces a statute of limitations governing disciplinary proceedings. The Code of Administrative Procedure ensures the right to appeal disciplinary decisions before a judicial body after the exhaustion of administrative remedies. The Criminal Procedure Code establishes the duty of citizens and officials to promptly inform the pre-trial or other competent state authority upon becoming aware of a crime of a general nature.
Officials responsible for conducting disciplinary investigations do not receive specialized training on investigative procedures. Each central government body operates its own case management system for disciplinary cases and proceedings and the Integrated Information System of the State Administration (IISDA) maintains data on disciplinary violations and sanctions imposed by executive authorities.
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The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Harnessing the Integrity Advantage, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/16708b78-en.
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