Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry denies that one-month euro – lev dual circulation period will be extended

Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry has denied that the January 2026 temporary period of dual circulation of euro and leva is to be extended.

The ministry, saying that it was responding to inquiries about claims that an amendment to the Euro Adoption Act is being prepared, said that it had not held nor did it intend to hold meetings to extend the one-month dual circulation period.

“The Ministry of Finance categorically opposes attempts to use the name of the institution to achieve political dividends through manipulation and deliberate misleading of the public regarding the deadline for simultaneous payment in leva and euro on the territory of the country,” the January 7 statement said.

Since January 1 2026, the official currency in Bulgaria is the euro, the ministry said.

The ministry quoted the Euro Adoption Act: “In accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No. 974/98, from the date of the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria, for a period of one month, banknotes and coins in leva shall continue to be legal tender on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria (period of dual circulation of the lev and the euro)”.

The one-month period aims to guarantee sufficient time for the public to adapt to the new currency and facilitate the process of exchanging banknotes and coins from leva to euro, but also to limit logistical difficulties and costs for traders, who during such a period should maintain stocks in both currencies, it said.

The one-month period specified in the law was set after a public discussion of the Euro Adoption Act, during which no proposals were received for extending or shortening this period.

The period was discussed and agreed on in the working groups of the coordination council for the preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for membership of the euro zone, which include representatives of Bulgarian National Bank and the Financial Supervision Commission, state institutions, consumer associations, non-governmental organizations, and representatives of the academic community, the Finance Ministry said.

The dual circulation period was also agreed upon with the European Commission and the European Central Bank, it said.

“We also recall that in all countries that have adopted the euro as their official currency, the longest period of dual circulation was one month. And the countries that most recently joined the euro zone – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia and Slovenia – have chosen an even shorter period – two weeks, only two other countries (Malta and Cyprus) have chosen one month.”

The Ministry of Finance called on the public to seek official sources of information, such as the specially created website about the euro – https://evroto.bg and the website of Bulgarian National Bank.