Bulgaria's euro entry changes ECB capital and Governing Council voting

Bulgaria's entry into the euro area on January 1, 2026, significantly altered the European Central Bank's capital structure.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) holds a 0.9783 percent share in the ECB's total subscribed capital of €10.8 billion, amounting to €105.9 million.

Before joining the Eurosystem, BNB had paid only 3.75 percent of this share, approximately €4 million, as a non-euro area member.

Upon accession, BNB paid the remaining 96.25 percent, or €101.9 million.

This increased the ECB's total paid-up capital to €9 billion.

As a full shareholder, BNB is now entitled to its share of ECB profits and is liable for potential losses, aligning with its capital key.

Additionally, BNB transferred foreign reserve assets to the ECB, proportional to its capital share, to ensure sufficient liquidity for foreign exchange operations and contribute to the ECB's reserves.

BNB Governor Dimitar Radev now sits on the ECB's Governing Council, which includes six Executive Board members and 21 euro area national central bank governors.

This expansion impacts the Council's rotating voting rights system, where 15 votes are shared among the 21 governors.

Governors are split into two groups: the five largest euro area countries share four votes, while the remaining 16 governors, including BNB, now share 11 votes.

This increases the frequency of temporary non-voting for governors in the second group.

For specific shareholder matters, such as capital and profit allocation, votes are weighted by each NCB's paid-up capital share, with Executive Board members having zero weight.

BNB's inclusion slightly adjusts the relative voting weights of other NCBs in these decisions.