License plate (Bulgaria)

current license plate from Bulgaria

License plate before EU accession

Two-wheeler license plate

Bulgarian license plates usually show black letters on a white background. They begin with the code of the district in which the vehicle is registered. This is followed by four digits and two more letters. With two-line signs, all letters appear in the top line and the digits in the bottom line. The introduction of the EU license plate began on October 13, 2008. A blue field with the country code BG and the twelve European starsis located on the left edge of the new license plates. Between 2000 and the accession to the European Union in 2007, the national flag of Bulgaria was depicted above the country code. Since the introduction of the current system in 1992, onlycharacters that are recognized as letters inboth the Cyrillic and the Latin alphabet have been used. For this purpose, new district abbreviations were partially introduced.

Vehicle registration

All motor vehicles and trailers that move on public roads in Bulgaria must be registered by the traffic police. Trolleybuses, tracked vehicles and self-propelled machines are excluded.

Vehicles are registered by their identification number (VIN), category, make, model and other data. The date of import to Bulgaria is entered in field B (date of first registration). A vehicle is therefore usually ten years older than its papers show. Every registered vehicle receives an EU-compliant registration certificate part I + II as well as number plates. The signs are provided by the office and usually remain on the vehicle for life. To prevent theft, the signs were previously secured to the vehicle with a drill hole and an official blind rivet. This procedure has not been used since August 2017.

In the case of a domestic sale, the traffic police do not have to be visited, but the papers are rewritten in a notarized sales contract (Dogovor / Договор). This can also happen several times in a row. Admission costs the equivalent of 20 euros per year. But it alone does not entitle you to participate in road traffic. In addition, there is liability insurance (гражданско отговорност) and, if necessary, comprehensive insurance as well as the green card for trips abroad. Due to the low insurance rates and because there is no luxury tax on new cars, Bulgarian license plates are very popular in neighboring Romania.

License plate variants

Temporary sign with EU field

Provisional registration

• Vehicles of the Bulgarian armed forces have had license plates starting with BA for ( Bulgarian Българска армия / Balgarska Armija or English Bulgarian Army ) since 2006 . They have six digits in two groups of three, but otherwise resemble normal signs.
• Signs with blue letters and the abbreviation CP for English Civil Protection are used for civil protection .
• All other government institutions use normal license plates.
• For trailers, the second letter block begins with an E .
• Two-line signs for mopeds only show one more letter in the top line after the region code.
• Temporary license plates consist of three digits, a letter and another three digits. On the right edge there is a red field with information on the validity of the shield. The status of the vehicle can be described in more detail using the letter:
  • B for a short license (временен)
  • H for new cars (ново)
• T for transit (транзит)
• License plates of vehicles that are registered for foreign persons without a permanent residence certificate start with XX and are written in white on a light blue background. The blue bar with the Bulgarian flag was initially not shown. In the meantime, however, these signs on the left also show the euro field.
• Diplomatic license plates have white letters on a red background and begin with a C followed by four digits, the first two of which indicate the country of origin (e.g. C-0412for Germany).
• Consular license plates are marked CC , the plates of the technical staff are marked with CT . The validity of the label is also noted on the right-hand side using a two-digit year.
• In contrast to the standard, wish labels for the rich also have 5 or 6 digits after the district abbreviation. So z. B. C-12345A or C-123456. Price from EUR 4000, -

Mark	Scheme	application	Remarks
	A 1234 BC AB 1234 CD	Private vehicles	from 2007 with the 12 European stars instead of the Bulgarian flag
	BA 123 456	Bulgarian armed forces	BA = Българска армия / Balgarska Armija since 2007 with the 12 European stars instead of the Bulgarian flag
	CP 12 345	Civil defense	CP = Civil Protection, blue font from 2007 with the 12 European stars instead of the Bulgarian flag
	C 1234 08	diplomatic mission	first two digits encode the country of origin, small digits on the right hand edge indicate the year
	CT 1234 08	technical staff of a diplomatic mission	first two digits encode the country of origin, small digits on the right hand edge indicate the year
	XX 1234 08	Foreigner license plate	small numbers on the right hand side indicate the year
	123 B 456	B = short-term registration, H = new vehicle, T = transit	Indication of the validity with month and year in the right margin

Old license plates

1986 to 1992

before 1986

Between 1986 and 1992 yellow license plates were used according to the scheme K - #### X. Cyrillic letters were also used for the provincial abbreviations and as the last letter. Until June 1, 2006, all license plates had to be exchanged for EU-compliant plates with the blue ribbon on the left. Today you can still find the old number plates, which were issued up to the year 2000, occasionally on motorcycles and trailers. These vehicles are officially de-registered and are no longer allowed to be driven in traffic.

Before 1986, the license plates for private vehicles had white letters on a black background. Their scheme was . (Small diamonds were used as separators between the province abbreviation and the letter.) Cyrillic lowercase letters were also used. K♢X♢####

License plates with Cyrillic letters have not been permitted in cross-border traffic since 1992.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations of the districts

Geographical distribution of the current abbreviations

Changed abbreviations have a pink background:

Abbreviation from 1992	Abbreviation 1985-1992	Abbreviation before 1985	district	(Bulgarian)
A.	Б	Бс and Б	Burgas	Бургас
B.	В	Вн and B	Varna	Варна
bra	ВД	Вд	Vidin	Видин
BP	ВР	Вр	Wraza	Враца
BT	ВТ	Tн and ВТ	Veliko Tarnovo	Велико Търново
C, CA, CB	С	Сф, С and А	Sofia city	София-град
CC	СС	Сс	Silistra	Силистра
CH	СЛ	Сл	Sliven	Сливен
CM	СМ	См	Smolyan	Смолян
CO	СФ	СФ	Sofia	София
CT	СЗ	Cз and СT	Stara Sagora	Стара Загора
E.	БЛ	Бл	Blagoevgrad	Благоевград
EB	Г	Гб and Г	Gabrovo	Габрово
EH	ПЛ	Пл	Pleven	Плевен
H	Ш	Шн and Ш	Shumen	Шумен
K	К	Кж and К	Kardzhali	Кърджали
KH	КН	Кн	Kyustendil	Кюстендил
M.	М	Мх and М	Montana (formerly Mikhailovgrad)	Монтана (formerly Михайловград)
IF	Л	Лч and Л	Lovech	Ловеч
P	Р	Рс and P	Russian	Русе
PA	ПЗ	Пз	Pazardzhik	Пазарджик
PB	П	Пд and П	Plovdiv	Пловдив
PK	ПК	Пк	Pernik	Перник
PP	РЗ	Рз	Rasgrad	Разград
T	Т	Тщ and Т	Targovishte	Търговище
TX	ТХ	Тх	Dobritsch (formerly Tolbuchin)	Добрич (formerly Толбухин)
X	Х	Хс and Х	Haskovo	Хасково
У	Я	Яб and Я	Yambol	Ямбол
BA	В	В	Bulgarian armed forces	Българска армия
CP	ГЗ	ГЗ	Civil defense	Гражданска защита

Diplomatic abbreviations

code Country 01 United Kingdom 02 United States 03 United States 04 Germany 05 Turkey 06 free 07 Greece 08 France 09 France 10 Italy 11 Belgium 12 Denmark 13 Netherlands 14th Spain 15th Portugal 16 Sweden 17th Switzerland 18th Austria 19th Argentina 20th Japan 21st Finland 22nd free 23 Afghanistan 24 Algeria 25th Brazil 26th Venezuela 27 Ghana 28 Egypt 29 Ecuador 30th Ethiopia 31 India 32 Indonesia 33 Iraq

code Country 34 Iran 35 Yemen 36 Colombia 37 Kuwait 38 Libya 39 Lebanon 40 Morocco 41 Mexico 42 Peru 43 Syria 44 Uruguay 45 Ireland 46 Palestine 47 UNDP 48 UNHCR 49 IMF 50 South Korea 51 Albania 52 Vietnam 53 Vietnam 54 free 55 free 56 Cambodia 57 China 58 China 59 North Korea 60 Cuba 61 Cuba 62 Mongolia 63 Nicaragua 64 Poland 65 Poland 66 Romania

code Country 67 Romania 68 Russia 69 Russia 70 Azerbaijan 71 Bosnia and Herzegovina 72 Hungary 73 Hungary 74 Czech Republic 75 Slovakia 76 Serbia 77 Malta 78 Kazakhstan 79 South Africa 80 Holy See 81 European Commission 82 Slovenia 83 World bank 84 Croatia 85 EBRD 86 North Macedonia 87 Cyprus 88 Norway 89 Ukraine 90 Republic of Moldova 91 Armenia 92 Belarus 93 free 94 free 95 Sudan 96 free 97 free 98 Georgia 99 Estonia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.novinite.com/articles/97831/Interior+Minister+Kicks+off+Issuing+of+Bulgarian+EU+License+Plates October 13, 2008, accessed on February 22, 2020 (English).
2. ↑ https://www.novinite.com/articles/64269/Bulgarians+Reach+Deadline+for+License+Plate+Switch March 31, 2006, accessed on February 22, 2020 (English).
3. ↑ Столичани с табели "СВ" на колите. November 5, 2014, accessed December 23, 2014 (Bulgarian). 

Web links

Commons : Bulgarian license plates  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Bulgarian license plates in words and pictures
• Bulgarian license plates with links to Google Maps