Mediation Fee Schedule



§1. The parties will be responsible for paying fees and expenses, including:
(1) A non-refundable filing fee to be paid to the AMCHAM COMMERCIAL MEDIATION CENTER (hereunder referred to as CMC for short);
(2) A mediation fee for the first session of four hours;
(3) A mediation fee for additional hours after the first session (all time in addition to the first four hours); and,
(4) Expenses, such as mediator travel, copying, long distance communications and translation fees and other extraordinary expenses;
(5) Fee for an additional party;
(6) Fee for co-mediator;
(7) Fee for declining a session.

§2. The mediator’s hourly rate is a unified rate of 100 BGN for any of the mediators from the list for commercial cases, and 50 BGN for civil cases or commercial cases were the amount in dispute is less than 20,000 BGN. In the case of complex cases where there are more than two parties, the CMC will charge fees for the additional parties and, when appropriate, a co-mediator fee. All fees and expenses are payable to the CMC, not the mediator

§3. All filing fees, mediation fees, and other additional expenses will be borne equally by the parties, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

§4. The CMC issues receipts for all payments made to it. The filing and mediation fees do not include VAT. The CMC will charge VAT wherever applicable, in addition to the fees, charges, and reimbursable expenses stated herein.
The fixed exchange rate pursuant to Art 29 of the Bulgarian National Bank Act: EUR 1 = BGN 1.95583

§5. Definition of the fees:

(1) Filing Fee. A nonrefundable case-filing fee at the amount of 200 BGN paid to the CMC at the time of filing of the mediation agreement. The filing fee covers the initial administrative and operational costs of the CMC for preparing the mediation, including the cost for rooms used during mediation, local telephone calls and mailings, faxes and others.
(2) Mediation Fee for First Session. The first session is charged as four hours, even if the first session ends before the expiration of the four hour period.
- for Commercial Cases - First session = 100 BGN x 4 = 400 BGN;
- for Civil Cases or Cases equaling less than 20,000 BGN - First session = 50 BGN x 4 = 200 BGN.
Mediation fee for the first session covers preparation time, time up to four hours spent in joint meetings with all parties and in individual meetings (caucuses) that the mediator may conduct with the parties.
(3) Mediator Fee for Additional Hours after First Session. If the dispute is not resolved after the first session, the mediator together with the parties shall agree upon an anticipated number of additional hours and expenses needed to complete the mediation. Each party shall pay its portion of that amount to CMC, as per the agreed upon arrangement, before the commencement of subsequent sessions. When the mediation has ended, the CMC shall render an accounting and return any unexpended balance to the parties. The fee for mediator for additional hours is specified following the above set hourly rate and cannot be lower than it.
(4) Expenses. The costs not covered by the filing fee will be charged separately and will be added to the parties’ total balance as expenses. These include costs for
summons and notices, serving of papers, international mailing, mediator’s travel costs, translation services if necessary, copy services, and other extraordinary costs. These expenses are paid to the CMC by the parties not later than one day prior to the next session.
(5) Additional Party Fees A one time additional charge of 100 BGN per each additional party will be added to the total balance, for disputes that involve three or more parties.
(6) Co-Mediator Fee An additional charge of 100/50 BGN per hour will be charged for each session that requires the services of a co-mediator. Co-mediator is used only with the consent of all parties.
(7) Fee in Case of Cancellation. Except for the non-refundable case-filing fee, fees paid in advance are refundable only if written notice of cancellation is delivered to the CMC five business days before the next scheduled session. 100 BGN per day will be withheld from that refund if written notice is delivered less than 5 business days prior to date of the scheduled session.

§6. The parties and the mediator may agree to different hourly rates for the mediator, yet these cannot be lower than the ones specified above.