CSD Contribution to the EU Consultation on a future reporting and monitoring mechanism on EU Member states progress on fighting corruption

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The document presents the Responses by the Center for the Study of Democracy to the questionnaire for the Consultation on a future reporting and monitoring mechanism on EU Member states progress on fighting corruption. The questionnaire gathers opinions on the establishment of a reporting mechanism on the fight against corruption in the EU-27, the relevant anti-corruption measures, the proposed tools to gather data on corruption across the EU, the vulnerable to corruption sectors, etc.

Corporate Governance Guidelines

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The present action plan contains practical measures and proposals for the improvement of the corporate governance in Bulgaria. It was prepared by the expert group, working on projects within the Corporate Governance Initiative in Bulgaria. A substantial part of the proposals were induced by the results and analyses presented in the Corporate Governance Assessment Report:2000, other expert opinions have also been used for the regulatory changes and improvement of the practice in that aspect. The practical steps are grouped in the following problematic fields, in which the attention of the professional community should be focused in order the corporate governance in Bulgaria to improve considerably and get closer to the global standards.

Brain Drain from Central and Eastern Europe, April 1997

Author(s): Constantin Ciutacu,Ion Glodeanu,Oscar Hoffman,Ioan Mărginean / Language(s): English

The project was carried out by research teams from the following transition countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. Initially, Albania was included in the project, but the project coordinator left Albania and the contract could not start. Many difficulties were encountered in carrying out an international cross-country analysis on migration issues. Although the countries included had quite similar backgrounds during the socialist period, they are now different. Migration as a phenomenon has a different economic, historical, cultural and ethnic background in each of those countries. In addition, the researchers involved in the project had varying scientific backgrounds: sociologists, geographers, economists, etc. Therefore, a common research approach and methodology was quite difficult to achieve. The other difficulty of the project was due to the fact that some of the contractors were given different tasks according to their technical expertise. The difficulties were increased by the fact that, in some countries, more than one institute was involved in the project. Fortunately, all these complications were overcome, thanks to the efforts and good will of all participants.

Privatization and Economic Restructuring, December 1996

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The political situation in Bulgaria for the period under review was unfavourable regarding the continuance of the economic reforms so necessary for the country. The urgent and decisive measures for reaching macro-economic stability and speeding the market reforms have been once again postponed by the announced for the end of October '96 presidential elections and the will of the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party to win those elections at all costs.

Where is Privatization in Bulgaria Heading to

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The combination of mass and market privatization as a specific element of the Bulgarian model acquires more and more distinct outlines as days go by. On January 8, 1996, mass privatization made its official start by the commencement of the citizens' registration for participation. The dead-line for this phase was extended twice and as a result a little above 40 percent of the eligible Bulgarian population bought their voucher booklets. Despite the not particularly attractive public awareness campaign and the non-participation in it of the privatization funds, a fairly good result was achieved in the registration for participation in the mass privatization process.

Initial Attitudes Towards Mass Privatization, December 1995

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Vitosha Research conducted a social survey to register the attitude of the Bulgarian populace towards mass privatization on the eve of its actual start. The data was collected in November 1995. The survey method was the standardized face-to-face interview. The sample size is 2652 and is representative for the population of Bulgaria aged 18 to 60. The sample is representative separately for the population of Sofia (N = 727), Plovdiv (N = 920) and Varna (N = 967) in the above mentioned age interval. This design of the first quantitative survey was preferred to the national representative sample, because according to preliminary data, information residents in small towns and villages had about the forthcoming mass privatization was extremely low.

The Treatment of Non-Monetary Contributions, February 1992

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

This material has been published as part of the “Issues in Bulgarian Law” series prepared by the Law Reform and Comparative Law Program, a project of the Center for the Study of Democracy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Investigating Efficiency of Western Consulting Firms Advising East-European Companies

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

According to the agreed research methodology during the Budapest meeting in January 1994, the Bulgarian research team carried out the following activities: - A team of researchers was formed mainly from the CSD: Dr. Daniela Bobeva - Director of the Economic Programme of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Jordan Markov - research fellow, Julia Dobreva- research fellow, Sonya Dilova - research fellow. The team prepared the draft questionnaire for the survey of the companies (first phase of the project). This questionnaire was approved by the other countries participating in the project. - Eighty-five standardized interviews were carried out in the first phase of the ACE Research Project "Investigating the Efficiency of West-European Consulting Companies Working for East-European Companies". The aim of the survey was to evaluate to what extent the practice of using foreign or domestic consultants was spread among Bulgarian state owned companies. The survey gave an opportunity to compare the efficiency and acceptance of foreign and Bulgarian consulting companies. The main results of the survey were presented to the other teams in the project.

Article on Undeclared Work from SYSDEM Correspondent: Bulgaria

Author(s): Pobeda Loukanova,Tihomir Bezlov / Language(s): English

The Article, published in May 2007 by the European Employment Observatory, debates on undeclared employment and the grey economy in Bulgaria. The authors, Tihomir Bezlov, Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of Democracy and Pobeda Loukanova, Senior Researcher at Institute of Economy at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, argue that the absorption of the Structural Funds demands proper tax behaviour of companies and transparent management. This defies the interests of the correct taxpayers to those evading taxes. It was the businessmen from the first group who launched a campaign against the shadowy sector with the traditional involvement of the professional unions. The high social security contributions are constantly the focus of debates organised by the professional unions. The Government on its part has serious political problems instigated by the grey sector expansion thus reducing the means for social expenditures. These more important reasons induce the 2007 campaign for rethinking the recently applied approaches for limiting the grey economy in Bulgaria.

Corporate Governance and Control in Bulgaria. Summary Report

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

This report is aiming at presenting the state and specific problems of corporate governance and control in Bulgaria. It has been elaborated as part of the project "Corporate Governance Initiative in Bulgaria" with the financial support of the Center for International Private Enterprise, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The project is mainly targeted at facilitating the introduction of contemporary standards of corporate governance and procedures that are to guarantee responsibility and accountability, transparency in the economy and control mechanisms within companies. The report has been drawn on the basis of data from sociological surveys (carried out by Vitosha Research Agency for the Center for Economic Development) as well as publications of international organizations and specialized editions. The conclusions for Bulgaria presented in the report are based on the information from a qualitative sociological survey on the corporate governance problems. The survey was carried out in late January 1999 using the discussions-in-focus-groups method. Participating in the discussions were representatives of branch ministries, the Privatization Agency, Center for Mass Privatization, Securities and Stock Exchanges Commission, Bulgarian Stock Exchange - Sofia, managers of enterprises and investment companies, investment intermediaries, investors. organizations, individual shareholders, journalists.

Corporate Governance Initiative for Bulgaria - Action Plan

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The present action plan contains practical measures and proposals for the improvement of the corporate governance in Bulgaria. It was prepared by the expert group, working on projects within the Corporate Governance Initiative in Bulgaria. A substantial part of the proposals were induced by the results and analyses presented in the Corporate Governance Assessment Report:2000, other expert opinions have also been used for the regulatory changes and improvement of the practice in that aspect.

Strategjia dhe Axhenda e Veprimit e SELDI-it. Per Mireqeverisjen dhe Anti-Korrupsionin ne Evropen Juglindore

Author(s): / Language(s): Albanian

Corruption is one of the most pressing issues in Southeast Europe, because of its detrimental impact on the social and economic development, especially during times of economic crisis. At the same time the capacity of the civil society organizations to monitor this phenomenon, propose and implement policy change remains low. To address this issue, in November 2012, 17 civil society organizations from Southeast Europe formed a coalition aimed to contribute to a dynamic civil society in the region, capable of participating in public debate and influencing policy and decision-making process in the area of anti-corruption and good governance. The SELDI Strategy and Action Agenda for Good Governance and Anticorruption in Southeast Europe aims to serve as a blueprint for CSO coalition building, as well as a value statement, which can be used to attract new partners and to inform and motivate other stakeholders. In addition the Action Agenda puts a focus on improving the environment for civil activism and state-civil society dialogue at regional and national level, on which CSOs and other stakeholders will agree to act upon.

Real Estate Market in Bulgaria, May 2003

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

In the period April 18- May 15, 2003 Vitosha Research conducted a marketing research study on the real estate market in Bulgaria. 1,077 respondents were interviewed face-to-face. The survey is representative of the country’s adult population.

Механизми и инструменти за независно судство. Aналитичка критика на делотворноста на механизмите и инстурментите на судската власт

Author(s): Artan Sadiku / Language(s): Macedonian

Проектот „Скопје 2014“ и неговите ефекти врз перцепцијата на граѓаните на Скопје за македонскиот идентитет

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova,Kalina Lechevska,Viktorija Borovska,Ana Blazheva / Language(s): Macedonian

Projekti Shkupi 2014 dhe efektet e tij në perceptimin e identitetit maqedonas mes qytetarëve të Shkupit

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova,Kalina Lechevska,Viktorija Borovska,Ana Blazheva / Language(s): Albanian

Who Owns Alexander the Great? A Question Upon Which EU Enlargement Relies

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova,Viktorija Borovska,Kalina Lechevska,Artan Sadiku,Ana Blazheva,Risto Aleksovski / Language(s): English

Збор и слобода

Author(s): Dragan Antonovski,Tamara Chausidis,Zvezdan Georgievski,Jasminka Anevska,Vlado Apostolov,Vasko Lazarevski,Uranija Pirovska,Besim Nebiu,Jordan Šišovski ,Xhelal Hoxhić,Ramadan Ramadani / Language(s): Macedonian

The Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and the Reforms in the Security Sector: A Voting Machinery or a Genuine Forum of Deliberation?

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Methodology for Monitoring Policy and Institutional Practice

Author(s): Gergana Tzvetkova,Lilia Yakova / Language(s): English

The present publication outlines a monitoring methodology related to the phenomena of domestic violence and gender-based violence in Bulgaria, which is currently being developed by the Center for the Study of Democracy, in cooperation with practitioner organizations from Bulgaria and Norway. The instrument will be utilized to conduct national monitoring and assessment of the effectiveness, appropriateness, scope, and reach of Bulgarian law, policies, and institutional practices countering these types of violence. The pilot implementation of the methodology is planned for 2021. The results of the piloting and the feedback received from key stakeholders in Bulgaria will be considered when designing the final version of the methodology.