Drink Driving Fines and Penalties in Bulgaria 2026

The 2026 table: per mille and penalties

The drink driving fines in Bulgaria come from two laws. Up to 1.2 per mille, Art. 174 of the Road Traffic Act applies as administrative liability, while above 1.2 per mille the matter falls under Art. 343b of the Penal Code. Since Bulgaria joined the eurozone, fines are paid in euros; the lev figure follows the fixed exchange rate.

The figures follow the Road Traffic Act and the Penal Code as they stand at the time of writing. Penalties in this area are raised periodically, so check the current amounts before you rely on them. The fine, though, is the smaller of the two losses.

Above 1.2 per mille, you also lose the car

Since the Penal Code was amended, the car is confiscated for the state at a concentration above 1.2 per mille on a first offence. For a repeat offence, the same applies from as little as 0.5 per mille. If the vehicle does not belong to the driver, a company car, a relative’s car, or one on a lease, the court orders payment of its full value.

Do the maths on your own car: even a ten-year-old hatchback is worth several thousand euros, and a single roadside check on the way to the ring road can sign it over to the state. By comparison, a professional ride home in your own car costs about the same as a longer taxi run. The exact sums are in the price list, with a final figure agreed before you set off. And no, staying silent at the breathalyser is not an insurance policy.

Refusing the test is not a loophole

Refusing to give a breath or blood sample is penalised in its own right: a fine of 1022.58 € (BGN 2000) and two years without a licence, no matter how much you have had. If you refuse both checks, for alcohol and for drugs, case law treats them as two separate offences with the penalties doubled.

If you doubt the breathalyser reading, the way out is not refusal but a blood test at a medical facility: that is the decisive evidence. What else unfolds in those five minutes at the roadside, we describe below.

What happens on the spot during a check

You are pulled over and the breathalyser reads above 0.5 per mille. A statement of offence follows, the licence is usually taken there and then, and the car does not continue with you behind the wheel: a designated, licensed driver takes over, or it stays where it is. Above 1.2 per mille, the file goes to the prosecutor. A five-minute check rearranges the months that follow. How many drinks it even takes to push you over these limits is a separate question.

Where the per mille limits fall

How many drinks add up to 0.5 or 1.2 per mille depends on weight, sex and the pace of drinking: there is no single formula. What each threshold means and how it is measured, we explain in the article on the blood alcohol limit in Bulgaria.

And if you are wondering whether you are already “clear” the morning after a long night, the answer is often “not yet”. We cover it in detail in the piece on how long alcohol stays in your system. Against all of these risks stands one far cheaper scenario.

The cheaper scenario

Against every figure in the table sits a simple alternative: you call, our driver arrives within about 20 minutes, and drives your own car to your door. From Studentski Grad to Lyulin, or from the centre out to Boyana: no licence in question, no car stranded in a car park on the other side of town. If the service is new to you, see what happens from the call to your front door, and for the practical details browse the questions and answers about the service.