[Bulgaria] Protests: Peaceful protest

Summary

Single-source ACLED detection — awaiting independent verification. Restaurant industry employees and managers staged peaceful protests in Sofia, Bulgaria on April 9, 2025, demanding the government maintain a 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector amid fears that tax increases up to 20% could severely impact industry profits.

Supply chain impact

No commodities or chokepoints are directly mapped to this event; second-order effects depend on how the situation escalates and whether similar labor actions spread to other economic sectors.

Watch points

• Monitor for expansion of protests beyond the restaurant sector to other industries that could affect production or logistics operations
• Track government response to VAT demands, as policy decisions could influence broader business confidence and economic stability in the region