The Bulgarian citizens felt envy, admiration, mistrust, disapproval and enthusiasm when they learned that Switzerland was initiating a referendum on the introduction of unconditional basic monthly income amounting to 2,500 Swiss Francs. They tried to forget at least for a while the reality they live in, which makes such a referendum in this country impossible in the foreseeable future. The Bulgarians felt disappointed when they learnt about the results of the Swiss referendum and about the negative vote of that country's citizens, but at the same time they were consoled by the fact that they were not the only ones who could not afford to live in such a luxury and affluence.

Many Bulgarian experts, economists, members of labor unions and sociologists joined the discussions about the revolutionary idea of the Swiss citizens. Of course, the opinions were polarized, ranging from: “This is pure fantasy” to “Bulgaria can also adopt such unconditional basic income”.

Let us have a look at the facts. The gross domestic product per capita in Switzerland amounts to nearly USD 60,000 per year. In Bulgaria the annual GDP per capita is under USD 20,000, or three times less as compared to the one in Switzerland. Apparently, the Swiss citizens believe that a minimum monthly income of 2,260 EUR per person is enough for them to live a normal live without experiencing any financial difficulties. On the other hand, according to local statistics, every Bulgarian citizen needs at least EUR 280 per month to pay for the basic necessities. The average monthly salary in Bulgaria is to the tune of EUR 500 and the minimum amounts to EUR 210. The average pension in this country is around EUR 180. However, those comparisons are quite irrelevant, because Bulgaria was officially declared the poorest EU member state and Switzerland places among the world's richest countries. Therefore, the problems regarding the life standard in Switzerland and Bulgaria are of completely different levels. And while the Swiss citizens count the holes in their traditional Emmentaler cheese in order to define its quality, the Bulgarians usually count the “holes in their wallets”, in order to find out whether they would be able to pay their electricity bills.

The idea about the introduction of unconditional basic income is not completely new in Bulgaria. Three years ago supporters of such economic and social measure united and started to promote the economic, social, political, demographic and cultural benefits of such initiative. Undoubtedly, the Swiss citizens did not decide to initiate such referendum just for fun. On the contrary, a similar measure has very serious economic, political, social and cultural dimensions. Practically, such unconditional basic income guarantees a minimum level of economic stability and predictability. Moreover, such a measure balances the relations in the social and the political system. However, the modern Bulgarian society is not mature enough to make such a step. This is proved by several facts and figures. 70% of the Bulgarian citizens do not have any bank savings at all and that country's Ministers receive only EUR 2,000 per month. Within that context we should add the fact that the basic unconditional income proposed at the Swiss referendum equals the salary of a top manager working in private Bulgarian company. So far, the unconditional basic income in Bulgaria is like the Swiss cheese - delicious, yet a very expensive, even unaffordable pleasure.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov