News

31 March 2025

More than 76,200 citizens sought help, advice, protection or support from the Ombudsman institution in 2024. This transpires clear from the Annual Report of the institution which was submitted to the National Assembly today. By law, this must be done by the end of March every year.

The report also shows that confidence in the national human rights institution, despite the absence of an Ombudsman and a Deputy Ombudsman, remains high and citizens continue to file complaints and seek assistance in resolving their cases. 

It should be recalled that, from April 2024, the institution of the National Ombudsman is in an unusual situation due to two important events – Prof. Diana Kovacheva left the position of Ombudsman pre-term and, on 17 April, she took an oath as a Bulgarian judge at the European Court of Human Rights. A little earlier, on 27 March, Deputy Ombudsman Elena Cherneva-Markova resigned, arguing that the position was for non-political persons who protected the rights and freedoms of all Bulgarian citizens and that holding a political post, such as that of Prime Minister, was incompatible with her functions as Deputy Ombudsman. Her resignation from the post was a consequence of the constitutional amendments adopted by the 40th National Assembly at the end of 2023, which regulated which public figures could be appointed by the president as caretaker prime minister (the so-called “house book”). These are the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, the President or Deputy President of the National Audit Office and the Ombudsman or the Deputy Ombudsman.

According to the statistics, the total number of persons who were covered by inspections and who used the services of the Ombudsman reception is 34,648 citizens. More than 12,500 complaints were received last year and 29,061 people sought assistance in various cases, grouped together in petitions.

Traditionally, in 2024, the highest number of citizens’ signals and complaints concerned issues related to violations of consumer rights - a total of 33.21% of all those received by the institution last year. Citizens complain about the services of electricity companies, water and sewerage companies, mobile operators, district heating companies, banks, etc. Next are the signals regarding breaches of social-economic rights, which account for 17.60%, and property rights with 11%. The number of breaches of rights (6.52%) of citizens by private entities – credit and financial institutions, collection companies and enforcement agents – remains serious.