Bulgarians still hold BGN 1.7 billion in levs

By 30 June, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) had collected BGN 29.4 billion in old lev banknotes and coins, amounting to 94.48% of the lev cash that was in circulation at the start of 2025 (24 Chasa, Fakti). Euro notes and coins worth about EUR 8.8 billion now fill Bulgarian wallets and registers instead (Fakti). The conversion carries no exchange-rate surprise: every lev converts at a fixed rate of BGN 1.95583 per euro, set by law (BNB). Bulgaria had already tied its currency to Europe's anchor through a currency board since 1997, so euro adoption changed the cash in people's hands, not the price of their money.

The dual-circulation window, when shops accepted both currencies, closed on 1 February 2026. Since then the euro has been the only legal tender (Vesti).

The last BGN 1.7 billion is a map of who uses cash most

Roughly BGN 1.7 billion remains outside BNB vaults (24 Chasa). That money sits in jars, family envelopes, rural homes, children's savings boxes and forgotten small-business safes (Novinite, Viaranews). Nobody is losing their money. The BNB will exchange old levs into euros for free, with no time limit and no quantity cap (Fakti).

But on 1 July the easy route narrowed. Commercial banks and post offices were required to exchange levs free of charge only through 30 June. From July onward they can charge fees (Club Z, BNR News). The cost is not losing money at a bad rate. It is travel to a BNB cash desk, queues and paperwork. If you live in a village far from a bank branch, recovering a small stash of levs may cost you a bus fare, a half-day's time and the hassle of carrying cash across a district.

That makes the unreturned cash a clue to who still depends on physical money most: elderly residents, informal workers, rural households, small shopkeepers. The BNB publishes a total. It does not publish a breakdown by region, age or income (24 Chasa). The state knows how much cash is left. It does not yet show who is left holding it.

Prices, not notes, are what people argue about

Croatia switched to the euro on 1 January 2023 at a fixed rate of 1 EUR = 7.53450 HRK (Council of the EU). The European Commission judged the changeover smooth and the direct conversion effect on prices limited (European Commission). Consumers still blamed the euro for restaurant rounding and hotel price bumps. Analysts pointed to energy and services as stronger drivers (Večernji list).

Bulgaria faces the same dynamic. Eurostat's June 2026 flash estimate put Bulgarian annual inflation at 5.3%, though prices actually fell 0.4% month on month (Euronews). Most of that headline rate traces to energy costs, not rounding at tills. Bulgaria ran a mandatory dual price display from August 2025 through August 2026: shoppers saw lev and euro prices side by side on every label, making it harder for retailers to hide suspicious markups (Vesti).

Neighbours watch, and see what they want to see

Polish media frame Bulgaria's switch as a warning that cheap Bulgarian holidays may follow the "Croatian path" of rising prices (Onet). In Romania, the story lands differently: Bulgaria has joined the euro while Bucharest still misses the entry tests on inflation and public finances (Economica, ECB). Each neighbour reads the same facts through its own politics.

Bulgaria's lev is disappearing quietly, and that quietness is the achievement. The last BGN 1.7 billion will trickle back through BNB desks over months. The argument over what the euro did to prices will outlast the cash itself.