ANTICORRP Background paper on Bulgaria

Author(s): Alexander Stoyanov,Ruslan Stefanov,Boryana Velcheva / Language(s): English

The Worldwide Governance Indicators show that Bulgaria has made significant progress in the area of “control of corruption” since 1996. This finding contrasts with the general opinion of the Bulgarian population who perceive Bulgarian institutions as corrupt, and contradicts the decision of the European Commission to continue monitoring Bulgaria’s progress in fighting corruption and organized crime. Hence, there is a need for careful consideration and analysis to understand how much progress Bulgaria has really made in the fight against corruption. Can Bulgaria be considered an anti-corruption success story? This paper seeks to answer the above questions by providing a background analysis on Bulgaria’s governance regime. According to research, Bulgaria has made some progress in its transition from patrimonialism to open access order but the main features of its governance regime remain these of competitive particularism. In legal terms Bulgaria displays some open access order features but they do not translate into practical implementation.

Addressing Environmental Crimes and Marine Pollution in the EU: Legal guidelines and case studies

Author(s): Nicola Giovannini,Luigi Melica,Entela Cukani,Marco Giannotta,Malena Zingoni / Language(s): English

The purpose of this handbook is to provide to judges, prosecutors, forensic officers and other legal practitioners an overview of the existing European and international instruments and rules aimed at tackling environmental crimes and in particular marine pollution, as well as an analysis of the challenges faced in their implementation and enforcement process.

Addressing Environmental Crimes and Marine Pollution in the EU: Compendium of International and EU Law Instruments

Author(s): Nicola Giovannini,Luigi Melica,Marco Giannotta,Malena Zingoni / Language(s): English

This publication draws upon the materials of a training course for legal professionals from selected EU Member States as well as countries on the road to EU membership, geographically located along the coast of the Adriatic sea (namely Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia), which was organised by the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Salento, in partnership with The Center for the Study of Democracy and Droit au Droit. The purpose of the training sessions, held in Lecce, Italy, and Sofia, Bulgaria, was to train legal professionals on the EU legislation and jurisprudence on environmental crimes in order to strengthen their knowledge and competence in the sector as well as their capacity to contribute to their effective enforcement. It contains a presentation of the most relevant international treaties and conventions related to the matter as well as of the comprehensive legal framework established by the EU to ensure the implementation of its environmental protection policy. This publication is a part of the “Judicial Training and Research on European crimes against the environment and maritime pollution” project, supported by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice.

Corruption Assessment Report 1999

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

Limiting corruption in Bulgarian society calls not only for institutional and legal measures but also for establishing the rule of law. In this sense, it is of crucial importance to foster a political and economic culture based on trust and respect for public institutions, on transparency and openness in the actions of public administration, and the will to achieve stability and predictability of the economic and social environment. Coalition 2000 is an initiative of Bulgarian non-governmental organizations which was launched in the Spring of 1997 aimed at limiting corruption in Bulgarian society through a partnership between state institutions, non-governmental organizations, and individual personalities, who developed and have been implementing an Anti-Corruption Action Plan, Corruption Monitoring System, and an anti-corruption public awareness campaign. The Corruption Assessment Report 1999 follows the structure and approach of the Action Plan adopted by the Policy Forum of Coalition 2000 in November 1998. It presents a general evaluation of the state and dynamic of corruption in Bulgarian society and of the efforts to counteract it in 1999.

Financing the private firms in Bulgaria

Author(s): Stefan Ivanov / Language(s): English

The strengthening of the market forces in the economy of Bulgaria is related to the stability and development of the private initiative. Given the stagnation in the state-owned and municipal businesses the private sector is the only one, which is dynamic and provides prospects for future development of the national economy. It is much relied on to create a new economic environment, which makes it necessary to provide conditions for boosting its vitality and expansion...

Survey of the Efficiency of Foreign Consultant Firms, May, 1994

Author(s): Jordan Markov,Daniela Bobeva / Language(s): English

The beginning of the reforms in the economy brought about the establishment of a market for consulting services. Its formation was determined on the one hand by the appearance of demand for consulting services, and on the other - by the wide range of legal and economic analyses, expert evaluations and recommendations offered by the rapidly growing number of private persons and firms engaged in this specific sphere of the economy.

Privatisation Funds - the Bulgarian Model, 1997

Author(s): Mira Prohaska / Language(s): English

The privatisation funds are specific investment companies. In this sense as the first representatives of this type of economic entity they will have their own importance for capital market development in Bulgaria. In their role as instruments for 'mass' investment their establishment is associated with the application of the programme for mass privatisation. In addition, the privatisation funds are a separate group of issuers which will supply the capital market with "goods" (their own shares - although at the initial stage they are a little immobile) of which the quality will be determined by the funds' successful performance.

Institutional and Policy Framework for the Development of Capital Market in Bulgaria, September 1997

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

The existing legal and institutional framework and available technical facilities in the Bulgarian capital markets do not work very efficiently towards supporting a fully developed securities market. The necessary legislation, institutions and technical facilities must be put in place, so that, over time, a market will develop which will be able to absorb the volumes normal for a country of the size of Bulgaria and, potentially, international trades. The following discussion presents specific issues that need to be addressed, so that said purposes could be met.

Privatization in Bulgaria: Pushing Forward

Author(s): Maria Prohaska / Language(s): English

The Privatization Act was passed by the Bulgarian parliament in 1992, allowing privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to move forward. Since February 1993, when the first state-owned enterprise was privatized, privatization has slowly been gaining momentum in Bulgaria. Despite this progress, however, the environment in Bulgaria was anything but conducive to privatization until 1997. The economic and political situations were unstable, scaring off potential investors. High inflation, high interest rates, an unstable banking system, an undeveloped financial sector, and a volatile political environment were the rule.

Bad Credits: Financial and Institutional Aspects

Author(s): Christina Vutcheva / Language(s): English

Since the beginning of 1991 Bulgaria has been living through a period of transition from centralized totalitarian control to free market economy. Year 1990 can be said to mark the political liberation of the people with the adoption of the new Constitution. The economic liberalization, however, is a reality yet to be brought to life since private ownership is not prevalent in the economy. The prime aim of the transition is to substitute an absurd and inefficient economic system for a new one to rely on the free initiative, private ownership and competition.

Unemployment, Poverty, Social Security: the Bulgarian Experience, June 1993

Author(s): Georgi Shopov / Language(s): English

The rapid pace of political and economic changes over the last three years have faced Bulgaria with a great variety of challenges. The transition to a democratic society and a market economy, which is taking place under a deepening economic crisis, has caused - or, rather, made obvious - a number of acute problems. Against this background, unemployment and poverty proved to be the social problems with the highest conflict-generating potential.

Measurement of aggregate economic activity by means of composite indicators

Author(s): Valentin Tchavdarov,Evelina Radeva / Language(s): English

The Agency for Economic Cooperation & Development /AECD/ experts have begun to asses three barometers of aggregate economic activity since March 1992: economic activity barometer, economic expectation barometer and diffusion index. In that paper we share our experience on the assessment of composite indicators and their utilization in analyzing performance of Bulgarian economy on macro level.

Privatization and Foreign Debt Conversion in Bulgaria

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

Postprivatization Behavior of Enterprises in Bulgaria, 1994

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

The Insurance Market in Bulgaria, September 2004

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

At the end of august 2004, the second consecutive survey was conducted to study and assess the insurance market and services in Bulgaria in one year period. The survey was representative of the country’s adult population. The size of the two-stage cluster sample was N=1000 covering the whole territory of the country. Information was collected by the method of the face-to-face in-home interview.

THE HIDDEN ECONOMY IN BULGARIA (General Population), December 2002

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

The main goal of the research project outlined in the present paper is to initiate systematic monitoring of the size and dynamics of the hidden economy in Bulgaria (HEM). The project envisions conducting a series of representative surveys of the country's adult population and of the business sector at three-month intervals. This will make it possible not only to examine the dynamics of the problem, but also to collect reliable information about the differences in the attitudes of the general population and the business community to the manifestations and reasons for the development of the hidden economy in this country.

Expert evaluation network delivering policy analysis on the performance of Cohesion policy 2007-2013. Year 3 – 2013. Task 1: Job creation as an indicator of outcomes in ERDF programmes. Bulgaria.

Author(s): Ruslan Stefanov,Daniela Mineva,Plamen Shalafov / Language(s): English

In March 2014, DG Regional Policy at the European Commission published a report on Bulgaria's progress on the job creation as an indicator of outcomes in ERDF programmes and an evaluation report on the achievements of the Cohesion policy in Bulgaria. The two reports were prepared by CSD experts in the framework of the Expert Evaluation Network delivering policy analysis on the performance of the Cohesion Policy 2007 - 2013. The first report provides an overview of the methodology, data reporting and wider use of the indicator ‘job creation’ for monitoring the impact of the Structural Funds. The second report reviews all supported areas by the Cohesion Policy in Bulgaria and in particular the assistance provided by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The report is based on statistical and financial data and interviews with representatives of the Managing Authorities of Operational Programmes (OPs). The text describes the progress under the OPs and the impact of the financed projects. The report presents the main conclusions drawn from the OPs evaluations and foregrounds the remaining challenges to Bulgaria.

Корупционни индекси на Коалиция 2000, Януари 2003

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

Between January 22, 2003 and March 3, 2003, Vitosha Research conducted its survey concerning the corruption among the population in Bulgaria. The study is part of Coalition 2000's Corruption Monitoring System (CMS).

Корупционни индекси на Коалиция 2000, Ноември 2001

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

In the period 04.10.2001 г. - 20.10.2001, Vitosha Research conducted its survey concerning the corruption among the population in Bulgaria. The study is part of Coalition 2000's Corruption Monitoring System.

Корупционни индекси на Коалиция 2000, Март 1999

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

In the period 06.02.1999-20.02.1999, Vitosha Research conducted its survey concerning the corruption among the population in Bulgaria. The study is part of Coalition 2000's Corruption Monitoring System.