The legal blood alcohol limit in Bulgaria is 0.5 per mille. In the next five minutes you will know what each threshold means, how many drinks reach it, and the point where a fine turns into a criminal sentence. Between 0.5 and 1.2‰ you face administrative liability under Art. 174 of the Road Traffic Act, while above 1.2‰ the act becomes a crime under Art. 343b of the Criminal Code.
In short: up to 0.5‰ is allowed; 0.5 to 0.8‰ brings a fine and 6 months without your licence; 0.8 to 1.2‰ brings a fine and 12 months without your licence; above 1.2‰ leads to criminal liability and confiscation of the vehicle.
Per mille: grams of alcohol per litre of blood
The per mille (‰) shows how many grams of pure alcohol there are in one litre of blood. So 0.5 per mille means half a gram per litre. A breathalyser measures alcohol in your exhaled air and converts it to a blood concentration. That is why the roadside result is reported in per mille as well. If you contest the reading, you have the right to a blood test at a medical facility, and that test is the decisive evidence.
The figure depends on your weight, sex, food intake and the pace of drinking. Two identical drinks produce different per-mille readings in two different people. So no “two-beer formula” is ever reliable. The only reliable numbers are the limits the law draws.
The three thresholds: 0.5, 0.8 and 1.2 per mille
The legal alcohol limit for driving in Bulgaria works in tiers: the higher the concentration, the heavier the liability.
| Concentration | What it means |
|---|---|
| up to 0.5‰ | Allowed, not an offence |
| 0.5 to 0.8‰ | Administrative offence (Art. 174(1) Road Traffic Act) |
| 0.8 to 1.2‰ | More serious administrative offence, twice as long without your licence |
| above 1.2‰ | Crime (Art. 343b Criminal Code): prison, fine and confiscation of the vehicle |
We have collected the exact amounts and the accompanying measures separately: see the full table of drink driving fines and penalties. And before the amounts comes the more practical question: how many drinks push you over the first threshold.
How many drinks reach 0.5 per mille
There is no universal answer. A rough guide: one standard drink, a small beer, a glass of wine or 50 ml of spirits, raises the concentration by around 0.2 to 0.3 per mille in a person of average weight. The second drink often brings you close to the limit or pushes you over it.
Translated into the language of a Sofia Friday: two cocktails in Lozenets between 10 p.m. and midnight will most likely put you above 0.5 per mille by the time you leave. The body breaks alcohol down slowly, at a steady rate you cannot speed up. How that works and why coffee does not help is explained in our article on how long alcohol stays in your system.
One limit for every driver
Bulgarian law sets no separate, lower limit for new or professional drivers: 0.5 per mille applies to everyone. Many employers with vehicle fleets, however, require zero per mille for company cars. If you drive a company vehicle, follow the internal rule, not the legal maximum. The threshold that truly changes everything sits higher up the scale.
Above 1.2 per mille: now it is a crime
The threshold is 1.2 per mille. Above it we are no longer talking about a fine, but a crime: imprisonment of one to three years, a fine and confiscation of the vehicle in favour of the state. For a repeat offence, criminal liability begins as low as 0.5 per mille.
Refusing the test is no way out either. It is sanctioned in its own right with a fine and two years without your licence, no matter how much you have had.
The figures above follow the Road Traffic Act and the Criminal Code at the time of publication. Legislation in this area changes often, so check the current figures if you are reading this later. The good news: this whole section loses its meaning when the decision is made in time.
The decision is made before the first glass
Friday night, your car is parked outside the bar, and you are on your third toast: from here on every per-mille calculation is a gamble. The calm scenario does not run through arithmetic, but through a decision made in advance. When you know you will be drinking, leave the drive home to a professional: our designated driver in Sofia takes your own car to your door, while you ride in your own seat. The whole process, from the call to the keys back in your hand, is laid out in our detailed explanation of how the drive home in your own car works.
The price is stated up front and does not change at your address: see the rates for the drink and drive service in Sofia.
Save the number before you head out
One call: a professional driver takes both you and your car home. See how drink and drive in Sofia works.