Bulgarian authorities are considering changing the methodology for determining the taxable value of real estate, which could lead to an increase in annual property taxes and transaction costs when buying or selling real estate.
The changes may be included in the 2027 state budget, said Bulgarian MP Yavor Gechev. The legislative framework for implementing the new system is scheduled to be drafted in October–November 2026, after which a special working group will determine the new valuation coefficients. A final decision has not yet been made.
When calculating the taxable value, it is proposed to take into account more accurately the property’s location, type, and technical condition, the year of construction, as well as actual prices on the real estate market. The current methodology has not been revised for many years, so the tax assessment of many apartments and houses is significantly lower than their market value.
According to tax consultant Mykola Ivanchev, a reasonable increase in the tax value could be 20–30%. At the same time, he recommends limiting the increase to 20% to avoid placing an excessive burden on property owners, especially retirees and low-income citizens.
As an example, the expert cited an apartment or house in Sofia with a market value of 150,000–200,000 euros, whose tax assessment is approximately 50,000 euros. At the municipal rate of 2 per mille, the owner currently pays about 100 euros per year. After a 20–30% increase in the assessment, the payment could rise to approximately 120–130 euros.
The reform will affect more than just owners’ annual payments. The tax assessment is used to calculate a portion of local taxes, notary fees, and other costs associated with the purchase or sale of real estate. Therefore, an increase in the assessment will make transactions somewhat more expensive even if municipal rates remain unchanged.
Legal experts suggest that rising costs associated with purchasing and maintaining housing could affect demand. Properties that previously attracted buyers with low taxes and operating costs may become less appealing if mandatory payments increase significantly.
Authorities have long delayed revising the methodology due to the high proportion of homeowners. According to estimates by participants in the discussion, over 90% of Bulgaria’s residents own real estate, so a tax increase could trigger significant public and political backlash.
At the same time, the idea of a higher tax on second and subsequent apartments is being discussed. However, experts consider this difficult to administer: about 8–9% of the population owns multiple properties, and the additional costs for municipalities may prove to be comparable to the expected revenue.
Thus, Bulgaria has not yet made a decision to raise the property tax. At this stage, discussions are focused on updating the tax assessment of properties, with the possible implementation of a new methodology starting in 2027. The actual amount of payments will depend on the approved coefficients and rates set by each municipality.
In January–June of this year, Ukraine increased its exports of carbon steel semi-finished products by 35.8% in volume terms compared to the same period last year—to 766,603 metric tons from 564,683 metric tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), 163,183 thousand metric tons of semi-finished products were exported in June, 165,050 thousand metric tons in May, in April—116,550 thousand metric tons, in March—138,203 thousand metric tons, in February—61,629 thousand metric tons, and in January—121,988 thousand metric tons.
In monetary terms, exports of carbon steel semi-finished products during this period increased by 39.6% to $388.650 million. The main export destinations were Bulgaria (36.59% of shipments in monetary terms), Turkey (13.44%), and Poland (12.90%).
In the first six months of 2026, Ukraine imported 40,805 thousand metric tons of semi-finished products worth $26,990 million from Oman (80.71%), the Czech Republic (13.03%), and Germany (4.93%), whereas in January–June 2025, it imported 3,303 thousand metric tons worth $2,687 million.
As reported, in 2025, Ukraine reduced its exports of semi-finished steel products by 26.4% in volume terms compared to the previous year—to 1,388,183 thousand metric tons—while revenue fell by 28.9% to $659.625 million. The main export destinations were Bulgaria (32.73% of shipments in monetary terms), Poland (22.13%), and Turkey (14.88%).
Last year, Ukraine imported 88,923 thousand metric tons of semi-finished products worth $65.989 million, mainly from Oman (37.42%), Germany (22.21%), and the Czech Republic (16.71%), whereas in 2024, it imported 306 metric tons of semi-finished products worth $278 thousand.
Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey have agreed to expand the mission of the joint Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Task Group by adding the protection of critical infrastructure to its mandate.
The agreement was reached during the NATO summit in Ankara. This involves expanding the authority of the Mine Countermeasures Black Sea Task Group, which had previously focused primarily on locating and neutralizing mines in the Black Sea.
According to Reuters, the new mandate calls for the protection of energy and telecommunications facilities and undersea pipelines owned or operated by the three countries.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense stated that protecting critical infrastructure in the Black Sea requires a comprehensive, integrated, and long-term approach. The ministry also noted that a memorandum establishing the mine countermeasures security group was signed on January 11, 2024, by the defense ministers of Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
The joint group became the first trilateral initiative of its kind among the three NATO countries with access to the Black Sea. Its initial task was to improve the safety of navigation following the appearance of drifting mines in the sea as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
According to Reuters, the group has already neutralized more than 150 mines since its creation. The expansion of its mandate reflects growing concerns among countries in the region regarding the security of maritime infrastructure, particularly against the backdrop of developing gas projects in the Black Sea.
For Ukraine, this decision is of direct importance, as Black Sea security affects shipping, export routes, energy infrastructure, and the overall naval situation in the region. Stronger coordination between Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey also signals greater NATO focus on the Black Sea region.
BLACK SEA, BULGARIA, DEFENSE, INFRASTRUCTURE, ROMANIA, TURKEY
Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania are promoting the construction of the “Black Sea–Aegean Sea” multimodal transport corridor, which is intended to connect the ports, railways, highways, and logistics hubs of the three countries with access to the Ukrainian and Moldovan borders.
The project will become part of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The European Commission notes that the broader “Baltic Sea–Black Sea–Aegean Sea” corridor spans 11 EU countries, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, connecting the Baltic, Black, and Aegean Seas.
The new section between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania will consist of three main branches. The western branch is planned to run along the route Athens–Thessaloniki–Promachonas–Kulata–Sofia–Vidin/Calafat–Craiova–Bucharest. The central branch will connect Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis with the Bulgarian cities of Svilengrad and Ruse, then continue through Giurgiu and Bucharest to
Siret on the Romanian border with Ukraine, as well as to Ungheni on the border with Moldova. The Eastern Branch will connect Alexandroupolis with the Bulgarian ports of Burgas and Varna, and then on to Constanța in Romania.
To coordinate the project, the three countries are establishing the Black Sea–Aegean Sea Corridor Platform (BACP). The European Commission reported that Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania signed a memorandum on the development of transport infrastructure on December 3, 2025, in Brussels. The document provides for coordination at the political and technical levels, the exchange of data on national investment plans, and the joint promotion of priority TEN-T projects.
European Commissioner for Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas called the project a step toward strengthening the strategic north-south corridor in Southeast Europe. According to him, closer cooperation between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania should strengthen ties for citizens and businesses, as well as enhance Europe’s security, competitiveness, and resilience in the Aegean, Black Sea, and Danube regions.
The project’s significance for the region goes beyond mere transportation modernization. The corridor could provide Ukraine with an additional southern logistics route to ports in the Aegean Sea, Bulgaria, and Romania, as well as strengthen the role of Constanța, Burgas, Varna, Alexandroupoli, and Thessaloniki as hubs for trade, agricultural exports, industrial cargo, and container transport.
For the Balkans, this also represents an opportunity to reduce dependence on overburdened or vulnerable routes. Since the outbreak of full-scale war against Ukraine, the importance of alternative routes via the Danube, the Black Sea, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece has risen sharply. The central branch to Siret could effectively become an extension of Ukrainian logistics routes to southern Europe.
The project is also important for the military and crisis mobility of the EU and NATO, but its civilian economic value is no less significant. This involves faster transport between the three seas, better connections between ports and railways, reduced logistics costs, and the creation of a sustainable infrastructure for trade between Ukraine, Moldova, the Balkans, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean.
For Ukraine, this represents a potential new route to the Mediterranean; for Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece, it means strengthening their roles as transit countries; and for the entire region, it is a step toward more sustainable logistics between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Danube, and the Aegean Sea.
Aegean Sea, BACP, BLACK SEA, BULGARIA, GREECE, INFRASTRUCTURE, LOGISTICS, ROMANIA, TEN-T, UKRAINE
In the first quarter of 2026, the real estate market in neighboring Bulgaria faced a sharp disconnect between rising prices and actual buyer activity: housing prices continue to rise at double-digit rates, but the number of transactions is declining significantly, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Bulgaria.
According to statistics, residential real estate prices in Bulgaria rose by 14.8% year-over-year in the first quarter. In the first three months of the year alone, the national average price increased by another 6.2%. At the same time, the number of transactions involving new and existing homes fell by 18.5% year-over-year and by nearly 20% compared to the previous quarter.
This disparity points to a phase of price overheating: sellers continue to set high price expectations, while buyers are increasingly postponing transactions. The market is influenced by a combination of several factors—expectations following Bulgaria’s transition to the euro, low mortgage rates, rising construction costs, and limited high-quality supply in major cities and along the coast.
Burgas led the price increases, with prices rising 17.7% year-over-year and 5.9% quarter-over-quarter. At the same time, this very market saw one of the sharpest declines in activity: the number of transactions fell by 30.5% year-over-year. This means that demand along the coast has become significantly more price-sensitive.
In Sofia, housing prices rose by 16% year-over-year and by 5.8% quarter-over-quarter. Average prices in the capital settled in the range of 1.8–2.6 thousand euros per square meter. At the same time, the volume of transactions in Sofia fell by 19.2%, and the market’s total transaction value decreased by 7%.
Varna also remained in the double-digit price growth range: housing prices rose by 13.2% year-over-year, but the number of transactions fell by 27.6%. In Stara Zagora, annual price growth stood at 12.7%, though the number of transactions fell by 25%. On a quarterly basis, housing prices in Stara Zagora declined by 2.1%.
Plovdiv appears to be the most stable among the major markets. Prices there rose by 8.8% over the year, while the number of transactions fell by only 0.6%. In monetary terms, the Plovdiv market even grew by 2.4%, making it the most balanced among Bulgaria’s major cities.
For investors, the situation is becoming more challenging. Rapid price growth amid a decline in the number of transactions means that market liquidity is deteriorating: a property may be gaining value on paper, but selling it at the desired price is becoming more difficult. This is especially true for locations where prices have risen faster than household incomes and rental yields.
For a long time, the Bulgarian housing market was supported by relatively affordable mortgages, an influx of foreign buyers, interest in resort real estate, and expectations related to the country’s accession to the eurozone. However, current statistics show that purchasing power is already approaching its limit.
According to The Serbian Economist, an unusual price paradox has emerged in the real estate market of neighboring Bulgaria: in Varna and Plovdiv, existing homes are rising sharply in price, while prices for new construction have fallen.
According to data from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, in the fourth quarter of 2025, housing prices in the country rose by 12.6% compared to the same period the previous year. At the same time, compared to the third quarter, growth has nearly stalled, amounting to just 0.3%.
The main imbalance is evident between new construction and the secondary market. Nationwide, existing housing rose in price by 15% year-over-year, while new construction rose by 9%.
In Varna, the gap was particularly pronounced: the overall price index rose by 15.1%, but new construction fell in price by 1%, while existing housing rose in price by 23.4%. In Plovdiv, the overall increase was 8.6%, new construction fell by 0.8%, and the secondary market rose by 16.8%.
The reason for this paradox is a shortage of move-in ready apartments. Buyers who need housing immediately are turning more actively to the secondary market. Against the backdrop of limited supply, this is driving up prices for ready-to-move-in apartments. New construction, on the other hand, faces more cautious demand, uncertainty regarding completion dates, and project-related risks.
A similar but less pronounced gap is also evident in other cities. In Sofia, secondary housing prices rose by 14%, while new construction prices rose by 11.3%. In Burgas, secondary housing prices rose by 17.6%, while new construction prices rose by 7.3%. In Stara Zagora, secondary housing prices rose by 23.3%, while new construction prices rose by 10.5%.
For investors and buyers, this is an important signal: the Bulgarian market is not falling, but is becoming more selective. Buyers are willing to pay a premium for a finished apartment in a good location, but are now more cautious about properties under construction.
For the market, this signifies a transition from frenzied growth to a more subdued phase.
https://t.me/relocationrs/3023
