TLDR Bulgaria’s Deputy Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova rejected calls for a wider gambling ad ban and higher taxes. She warned that raising taxes could push players toward the black market. Bulgaria’s current 20% gambling tax rate matches European standards, she said. The gray market already makes up about 40% of gambling activity in the country. The Finance Ministry is starting a full review of the Gambling Act.
Bulgaria’s government has turned down proposals to tighten rules on gambling advertising and taxes. Deputy Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova made the announcement during a commission meeting on the 2026 budget.
She said the changes could not be adopted on their own. Petkova warned they might push players from legal sites to illegal ones instead.
Two former coalition partners pushed for the reforms. Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change split after elections in April, but both kept pressing for stricter gambling controls.
We Continue the Change wanted an almost total ban on gambling ads in busy city areas. Democratic Bulgaria asked for the gambling tax to rise from 20% to 30%, along with higher licensing fees.
Tax Hike Could Fuel Gray Market
Petkova pushed back on the tax increase idea. She said Bulgaria’s 20% rate already lines up with most of Europe, where rates typically sit between 20% and 25%.
She also pointed to the size of the country’s unlicensed gambling sector. “The share of the gray sector in gambling is currently about 40%,” she said.
Petkova added that any tax increase would likely make that gray sector grow further. She called the current rate a balanced European standard.
Work on a full rewrite of the Gambling Act is already underway. Petkova said years of small changes have made the law hard to manage.
She explained that lawmakers often add