The news we’ve been expecting for a few days has now been confirmed. Bulgaria’s broadcaster BNT has announced their withdrawal from the Eurovision Song Contest. The broadcaster did so on their Twitter channel.

Financial reasons

In the tweet posted minutes ago, BNT announce that financial reasons are behind their withdrawal. The management of the broadcaster has decided that the costs of Eurovision are too high.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT | 15 OCTOBER | Sofia, Bulgaria

We are sad to announce that Bulgaria withdraws from #Eurovision. The decision is based on financial reasons because the costs of the project far exceed the financial capacity of BNT according to the Management of the broadcaster — BNT Eurovision Bulgaria 🇧🇬 (@bg_eurovision) October 15, 2018

Eurovision team laid off

Bulgaria’s Eurovision withdrawal comes as a surprise. The past few days, signs have been coming out of the broadcaster, though. The entire Eurovision Team, including Head of Delegation Joana Levieva and others, was laid off at the start of the weekend. They then went on to thank all their recent Eurovision entrants.

On Saturday, Bulgaria’s 2018 representative JJ confirmed the withdrawal rumours on Twitter. The broadcaster then also confirmed it on Twitter, but told fans to wait for an official statement.

Bulgaria at Eurovision

Bulgaria have not been the most lucky nation at the Eurovision Song Contest. Their first period at Eurovision, between 2005 and 2013, was not that successful. They made the final just once, in 2007, and came fifth with Elitsa & Stoyan and Water.

In 2015, BNT decided to get back into the Eurovision game. They entered Junior Eurovision and finished in second. A year later, Poli Genova took them back to the adult Eurovision stage. She finished in fourth. Bulgaria’s highlight came a year later with Kristian Kostov’s second place. This year, EQUINOX represented them with Bones, finishing in fourteenth.

ESCXTRA.com will update you as soon as the broadcaster releases more information. We hope to see them back on the Eurovision stage soon.