This report was produced by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the programme of work of the Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). The report was led and co-ordinated by Isabelle Chatry. It was drafted by Isabelle Chatry, Louise Phung and Yingyin Wu from the OECD Secretariat and supervised by Dorothée Allain-Dupré, Head of Unit “Decentralisation, Public Investment and Subnational Finance”, part of the Regional Development and Multi-Level Governance Division, led by Alain Dupeyras. This report includes contributions from Charlotte Laffite, Maria-Varinia Michalun, Antti Moisio and Kate Power. Comments and insights from Nadim Ahmad, Rüdiger Ahrend, Eric Gonnard, Joaquim Oliveira Martins, and Paolo Veneri were highly valuable, as were those from Mikkel Hermansen from the OECD Economics Department.
The OECD thanks the Bulgarian government, its Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) and Minister Petya Avramova for all of the co-operation and support during this process. Special thanks are due to Denitsa Nikolova, Deputy Minister, and the MRDPW’s Directorate for Territorial Planning and Administrative-Territorial Structure, DG Strategic Planning and Programmes for Regional Development, in particular Tsvetelina Atanasova, Deputy Director-General (Project Supervisor); Ivaylo Stoyanov, Head of Strategic Planning and Programming Unit (Project Coordinator); Evelina Stoyanova; Lyudmila Stoykova and Eliza Mihailova. Additional thanks are extended to Dessislava Yordanova, Counsellor at Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the European Union, who provided invaluable support throughout the project.
Sincere thanks are also extended to the large number of public, private, third sector and other actors who shared their time and perspectives with the OECD team during the one-week mission and seminar held in Sofia, from 23 to 27 September 2019, as well as regular exchanges and dialogue throughout 2020. These include representatives of the MRDPW and the Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Economy, Energy, Environment and Water, Culture, Finance, Tourism, Labour market and social policy ministries, as well as representatives of the following organisations: the Association of Danube Municipalities; the Association for the Development of Mountain Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria; the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria; the Bulgarian Development Bank; the Court of Auditors of Bulgaria; the Foundation for Regional Initiatives; the Fund of Funds in Bulgaria; the Institute for Market Economics; the Local Government Reform Foundation; the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria; the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB); the National Centre for Territorial Development (NCTR); the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria; the Regional Association of Municipalities “Maritsa”; the Regional Development Councils (RDCs); the Union for Economic/Business Initiative; and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The OECD is also grateful to the OECD delegates and international experts who shared their experience and knowledge during the September seminar in Sofia: Ewa Malik-Kapler, Head of the Regional Policy Unit, Department of Development Strategy, Ministry of Investment and Development (Poland), Keith Thorpe, Head of Urban Policy Support, Cities and Local Growth Unit, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (United Kingdom); and Linda Gonçalves Veiga, Professor of Economics at the University of Minho and Adjunct Professor at United Nations University (Portugal). Thanks are extended to RDPC delegates for their comments on the draft report.
Eleonore Morena edited and formatted the manuscript. Pilar Philip and François Iglesias prepared the final publication, with input from Kate Power and Yingyin Wu.