At its sitting on November 10, 2026, the Constitutional Court ruled on Constitutional Case No. 9/2026. Judge Nevin Feti served as the reporting judge.
The case was initiated at the request of a three-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court – Eighth Division to determine the unconstitutionality of §5, para. 1 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria for 2025 (published in the State Gazette, No. 26 of 2025, as last amended and supplemented by No. 83 of 2025).
In its decision, the Constitutional Court states that the one-time annual fee for 2025, introduced by the contested provision and payable by concessionaires under granted concessions for the extraction of mineral resources, for which, as of December 31, 2024, the concession agreements had entered into force, constitutes a public claim of the state, the basis and amount of which are established by law. It has its constitutional basis in Article 18, paragraphs 1 and 6, of the Constitution, which define underground resources as the exclusive property of the state, to be managed and administered in the interest of citizens and society.
In this regard, the Court finds that the request is unfounded and therefore rejects it.
Eleven constitutional judges participated in the hearing.
The Decision was signed with a dissenting opinion by Judge Sonya Yankulova.
The full text of the Decision: https://www.constcourt.bg/bg/act-10466