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The new IME study analyzes the innovation potential of Bulgaria at the sub-national level, with the main focus being groups of municipalities forming economic centers.

The Ministry of the Interior is famous for being the most bloated, the most expensive and the most rigid administrative structure. This year too, there was an extraordinary increase in funding for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but it is not tied to reform either, it will not increase citizens' low trust in the police, nor will it significantly improve working conditions in the system.

Science, research and development in Bulgaria remains concentrated in the major economic centers, with Sofia concentrating more than ¾ of the expenditures and more than half of the people engaged in it. However, examples of small municipalities where this activity plays a key role can also be found in the country.

Often, when we think about the cities in Bulgaria, we assume that the larger ones, where there is a visible concentration of people and economic activity, are necessarily regional. However, this is not the case - in our country there are also examples of non-regional cities with a significant population, even larger than that of some of the 28 regional centers. Today we focus on three such cities and their adjacent municipalities - Kazanlak, Asenovgrad and Dimitrovgrad - and compare them with their regional "equivalents" in terms of population - Kardzhali, Vratsa, Razgrad.

The mechanism for fixing the minimum wage to the average is entering its second year, and we already know its level for 2025 - at least if there is no political decision to cancel the rule by the end of the year. At this stage, there are no particular observed changes in the labor market as a result of the introduction of the formula, but the large regional and sectoral differences in the effect of the minimum wage require rethinking the model to introduce more factors.

For another year, access to both specialist and general practitioners has worsened in most areas. Easy access to specialist care is generally associated with higher quality of health care services.

Mathematical skills, knowledge and abilities are very important both on a domestic, everyday level for the individual, and generally for productivity in the economy. They are a necessary prerequisite for adequate decision-making, risk assessment, creation of products and services with high added value. Mathematics supports thinking, is the basis of high achievements in the sciences, and even in the arts it has its importance for orientation in space, for judgments of scales and proportions. Mathematics is the essence of financial analysis and entrepreneurial decision making, whether in digital or analog reality.