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Each of the top 10 cities in Bulgaria has been losing population over the past 10 years. This is evident from the final data from the 2021 population census. Until now, it was known that the population was decreasing by over 800,000 people, but the breakdown by specific locations was missing. The latest data provides an opportunity to examine the development of the major cities, which concentrate a significant portion of the country's economic and social energy, as well as nearly 40% of the population. In this case, we set aside the view of regions and municipalities and focus specifically on the data for the cities. For the first time in the history of censuses, all major cities are losing population. In the period from 2011 to 2021, the top 10 cities in the country have lost over 6% of their population.

The ranking of the top 10 cities in Bulgaria can be divided into four groups. These are 1) the capital Sofia, clearly the largest city in the country and the only one with a population over 1 million people – this threshold was crossed back in the 1980s; 2) Plovdiv and Varna, which go together and maintain populations over 300,000 people – also since the 1980s; 3) Burgas, Ruse, and Stara Zagora, which continue to have populations clearly above 100,000 people; and 4) Pleven, Sliven, Dobrich, and Pernik, which have populations below 100,000 people and complete the top ten. Let's take a closer look at each of these groups.

The population of Sofia remains around 1.2 million people.

The first place is clear, as the 2021 census records a population in Sofia of nearly 1.2 million people. However, the data for Sofia reveals a surprising trend, as the population of the capital city is not increasing and even slightly decreasing (by around 20,000 people). This development is triggered by at least three factors. The first is the aging population in Bulgaria, which is now exerting pressure on the population in the largest cities downwards – even if young and active people are attracted, as is the case with Sofia, natural processes in the aging population begin to prevail. The second factor is related to the fact that the scale of mechanical growth in the capital has already diminished, meaning that the influx of population is not at the levels observed at the beginning of the century. The third factor is the Pandemic, which not only worsened natural population growth – with a high mortality rate in 2020 and 2021 – but also reversed migration processes. The major cities (including Sofia) experienced a population outflow toward their peripheries just before the census. This is true only for 2020, but it will take years of positive migration to restore the effect of the one-time correction during the pandemic. Apart from that, the decline in Sofia's population is not unprecedented – it also occurred during the period 1992-2001 when the censuses again recorded a decrease in the capital's population, mainly as a result of opening borders.

Plovdiv maintains the second position ahead of Varna, but both cities are losing population.

One of the big questions in this census was whether Varna could surpass Plovdiv and take the position of the second-largest city. The difference between the two cities in 2011 was extremely small – only 3-4 thousand people, creating expectations for a possible change in the ranking. Interestingly, up until now, Varna was the only city that consistently increased its population with each census, while Plovdiv failed to grow its population in several consecutive censuses. However, the 2021 census showed that both cities are losing population, with a magnitude of 18-24 thousand people, and Plovdiv remains in second place with a population of nearly 320,000 people compared to around 311,000 people in Varna. Despite both cities also attracting young and active people over the past 10 years, sustained negative natural processes, as well as the effects of the pandemic, including the outflow of people to the periphery in 2020, ultimately lead to a decline in population.

Burgas falls below 200,000 people, while Ruse and Stara Zagora are now within the range of 120,000-125,000 people.

The top six of our largest cities traditionally include Burgas, Ruse, and Stara Zagora - these are the six cities with a population of over 100,000 people in the country. After the 2021 census, Pleven is officially outside this category after over 40 years of being a city with a population of over 100,000 people. In its peak year (1985), Bulgaria had 10 leading cities with populations over 100,000 people - now only the top six cities remain. Among the three cities that complete the trio, Burgas shows a different trend. Until 2011, it was increasing its population, reaching over 200,000 people. However, now it is experiencing a decline due to a combination of the factors previously mentioned, and the population of the second-largest coastal city has fallen below 190,000 people. Ruse and Stara Zagora, on the other hand, continue to lose population at a significant rate, with declines of 11% and 17% over the past 10 years, respectively. By 2021, the population of both cities is below 125,000 people, with Ruse experiencing a more significant decline in population since the 1990s. This is in line with the challenging demographic trends observed in all Danube cities.

The top 10 is completed by Pleven, Sliven, Dobrich, and Pernik.

Pleven remains in the traditional seventh position but is now outside the 100,000+ population club. The city's population in 2021 is 92,000 people. After Pleven, some cities are similar in scale and proximity to most regional centers - Sliven (80,000 people), Dobrich (74,000 people), and Pernik (68,000 people). Pernik returns to the top 10 after an absence of around 40 years, surpassing Shumen by about 300 people. Haskovo is also very close to the top 10. The commonality among these cities is not just a decrease in population but the significant rate at which it is happening, with a loss of approximately 10-15% of their population over ten years. These cities not only experience a clear natural decline but also a mechanical outflow of population. While the first six cities have different examples, the cities outside the top six consistently lose young and active people over the years.

Migration is the litmus test for urban development.

The census data confirm the observation that Bulgarian cities are experiencing a significant and widespread population decline. It is difficult to speak of genuine socio-economic progress in the regions when even the largest cities in the country are consistently losing population. While natural processes are to some extent responsible due to the deteriorating age structure, migration processes are the ones that most clearly determine how attractive a city is, as well as its potential for development - whether in education, the economy, or the broader social sphere. Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna are the three cities that, overall, have managed to attract people over the last ten years, excluding the pandemic's effect on the population outflow to peripheral areas in 2020. For the other cities, this process is either unsustainable or, in some cases, non-existent.

On the eve of the new academic year, it is time to look back at the results from the previous one. In this article, we focus on the grades from the National External Evaluation, which is mandatory for all seventh graders and includes exams in Bulgarian Language and Literature as well as Mathematics.

The data for the results of the external evaluation are available on the Open Data Portal, where the average grade for Bulgarian language and literature, as well as mathematics, is published for each school in the country, along with the number of students who took each of the two exams. The average grade for the two mandatory subjects is calculated as the average of the schools in it, weighted by the number of participating students. In this way, for example, the average grade of a school with 50 seventh graders would have 10 times the weight in the overall average for the municipality under consideration compared to a school with five students.

In 2022, a total of 58,567 students took the National External Evaluation for Bulgarian Language and Literature, with an average score of 53.63 out of 100. For mathematics, slightly fewer students took the exam - 58,349 - although both exams are mandatory. The average grade here, as usual, is significantly lower at 35.32 points. It is important to note that these results also include students from abroad, 21 in total.

The municipalities with the highest scores in Bulgarian language and literature are Borino (70.5 points), Varna (67.88 points), Nedelino (66.47 points), Zlatograd (66.17 points), and the capital city municipality (65.31 points). Large regional centers rank relatively high, where the higher competition among schools and the availability of more resources contribute to higher quality education. Very small municipalities perform the best, partly because each student has a significant weight in the final average grade. However, there are also significant differences in achievements between individual years in these municipalities, precisely because of the significant influence of individual students. Thus, a few excellent performances could send a municipality to the top of the ranking, while a few very weak performances could place it at the bottom. The municipalities with the lowest scores in Bulgarian language and literature are Novo Selo (9.19), Makresh (10), Chuprene and Madzharovo (12.80), and Nevestino (16.23), which are among the municipalities with the fewest participating students.

The results in mathematics resemble those in the Bulgarian Language and Literature, with very small municipalities at the top and bottom of the ranking, while large regional centers perform relatively well. Once again, the municipality of Borino takes the first position with 64.03 points, followed by Banite (61.23), Zlatograd (54.24), Varna (50.08), and Tsenovo (49.21). The capital municipality ranks seventh with 47.33 points. At the bottom of the mathematics ranking are Georgi Damyanovo (9 points), Borovo (9.02), Yakimovo (9.96), Kovachevtsi (10), and Tran (10.97), with none of these municipalities having more than 30 students participating. Regarding clusters with relatively high mathematics scores, they can be observed in the municipalities of the Smolyan region, which is characterized by a well-developed educational system, as well as in the Srednogorie region.

In 2022, the trend persists in almost all municipalities in the country that the grades for Bulgarian language and literature are significantly higher than those for mathematics, with only 10 municipalities showing the opposite result, compared to 15 municipalities in the previous external evaluation. However, the average difference slightly widens, with a 15.7-point advantage for the Bulgarian language compared to a 14.1-point advantage the previous year. This mainly reflects the increase in the number of municipalities with extreme differences between the results of the two subjects - there are already 87 municipalities with a difference of over 20 points, compared to 58 municipalities in 2021. This dynamic is partly dictated by the differences in the content of the exams between individual years, which do not guarantee comparability and fully equivalent levels of difficulty.

The dynamics of the results compared to the previous year are diverse. Improvement in mathematics grades is observed in 116 municipalities, while in Bulgarian language and literature, improvement is seen in 81 municipalities. All municipalities with extreme differences - both positive and negative - are very small municipalities where the influence of individual students is significant. The results are relatively stable in the largest municipalities - there is no change in the average number of points for Bulgarian language and literature in the capital city, while there is a decrease of 3 points in mathematics. At the same time, Plovdiv registers a slight increase in Bulgarian Language and Literature results and a decrease in mathematics, while Varna experiences a decrease by one point on both exams.

Unlike previous years, in the 2021/22 academic year, there is no officially published scale for equating the scores of external assessments to the standard six-point grading system. However, if we use the newly introduced standard for assessing maturity exams after the 12th grade and external assessment after the fourth grade, students would need 30 points to achieve a grade of Average (3) and pass the external assessment successfully. The average score for the Bulgarian language and literature exam in 52 municipalities falls below this threshold, while in mathematics, the results in a total of 181 municipalities would not reach the passing grade. Such equating highlights the problem that in over two-thirds of the municipalities in the country, the preparation in mathematics is insufficient, and the average result of the participating students is not enough to achieve a grade higher than Weak (2). On the other hand, if we apply the scale from the previous external assessment, which sets a significantly lower criterion, only 4 municipalities would fall below the passing grade for the Bulgarian language and literature exam, but for mathematics, as many as 29 municipalities would fall below the passing grade.

The significant differences between individual schools are also striking. 32 schools achieved an average score of over 80 points in the Bulgarian language and literature exam, while 489 out of a total of 1736 schools participating in the external assessment scored below 30 points. It is noteworthy that among the top 10 schools ranked by performance in the Bulgarian language and literature exam, six have a mathematical or science-mathematical profile, confirming the conclusion about the overall higher quality of education in these types of schools. The inequality is even greater in mathematics, with only 16 schools achieving an average score above 80 points, while more than half of them, a total of 1035 schools, scored below 30 points.

These results are a cause for serious concern. They indicate a significant concentration of quality mathematics education (and exact sciences in general) in a very small number of elite schools that achieve very high results, not only on national exams but also in international Olympiads. However, outside of these schools, the quality drops sharply, leading to a decrease in the number of students who are subsequently able to pursue education in fields that require more serious preparation in mathematics. From an economic development perspective, this circumstance hinders the potential for the development of several industries, especially in the ICT sector and the higher segment of industrial production, which have been among the main drivers of growth in the country in the last decade. Overcoming these inequalities and improving the overall quality of mathematical education on a mass scale will be among the most important challenges for future governance.

Less than a month from now, the new academic year begins, and a few weeks later, the next parliamentary elections will take place. All of this will inevitably raise questions once again about the quality of our educational system and what it provides for children and society. Unfortunately, the current facts do not speak well for the system, and there are no noticeable actions for real change.

We have already commented on the latest data on the average success in the Bulgarian language and literature matriculation exams by subject areas, but what is happening in individual schools? For some of them, the state matriculation exams prove to be a challenging obstacle:

• Out of the 950 schools in Bulgaria where students took the mandatory Bulgarian language and literature exam at the end of the 2021/2022 academic year, 307 (almost one-third) had an average student success below "Average" 3.00.
• A total of 6,455 children, or about 15% of all high school graduates in Bulgaria, studied in these schools.
• Out of these 307 schools, 189 were vocational high schools, 102 were general high schools, 14 were sports schools, and 2 were spiritual schools.
• In 27 schools, the average matriculation success is exactly "Weak" 2.00. This means that no student in these schools has passed the matriculation exam successfully and will not receive a high school diploma.
• The distribution of these 27 schools by type shows that 13 of them are general high schools, 13 are vocational high schools, and 1 is a sports school. In practice, the type of school does not matter.
• The distribution of schools by regions is presented in the graph below, with three schools in the Burgas, Plovdiv, and Pleven regions, and two schools in the Kyustendil, Pazardzhik, and Stara Zagora regions.

These are not the only schools with students receiving a "Weak" grade on the matriculation exam. There are also such students in other schools, but in these 27 schools, not a single student has successfully passed the exam in their native language, and this is already a systemic problem. These schools, as well as the entire system, symbolize the failure of the state to provide any quality education for these children. If measures are to be taken, it is good to start with them, especially if this failure is not a one-time occurrence but repeats over time.

But what can be done?

The concept of education quality has been so overused in society that almost no one can come up with a meaningful idea of how to implement this concept in practice. Perhaps it should start with:

1) Setting clear, precise, and measurable goals for what we want to achieve. For example, to have no school like the 27 mentioned above, to achieve a certain average success for all students in the country, to minimize the overall proportion of weak grades, to achieve specific points in international educational assessments, and to minimize the dropout rate. The goals can be different, but they need to be based on public consensus. 

2) Measuring the results according to the set goals. Matriculation exams may not be a sufficient measure of quality. Maybe there is a need for more frequent or different forms of tracking? However, measurement is essential to identify the problem, and burying one's head in the sand certainly does not help.

3) It is also necessary to have a clear idea of the actions to be taken when there are signals of low quality. What will we do with schools that have weak results, and when can we afford to wait and for how long? Support mechanisms would work best when problems are identified as early as possible, and they can be diverse – support with teachers or other resources, specific funding, programs for training school management, staff, and students, and if necessary, individualized education and many others. There are enough educational experts in the country who can implement such programs in practice.

4) Funding based on results. This implicitly assumes that we will finance for "good" results, but politicians have conveniently overlooked the important fact of what to do if there are no such results at all. It often happens, and it is normal that significant resources need to be allocated for correction. In the case of, for example, the 27 schools mentioned above, it may turn out that we will invest more in low-quality schools. These are difficult questions with unclear answers, which should be discussed and resolved so as not to fail several more generations by promising them quality education in words alone.

In recent months, the focus of the economic debate has been on the rise in prices, and rightly so. Bulgaria has not seen consumer price index increases of over 10% on an annual basis in decades. This raises the question of whether wage dynamics and household incomes are outpacing price increases or, on the contrary, if we are witnessing real impoverishment. The published data for wages in the second quarter of 2022 allow for such a comparison, and the results are concerning, as inflation exceeds wage growth in almost all economic activities.

Firstly, significant wage disparities between different economic activities in the country persist. The highest wages in the second quarter were in the ICT sector (4206 BGN gross monthly), while the lowest were in the hotels and restaurants sector (1058 BGN). Quarterly, the average national wage increased by 125 BGN, reaching 1730 BGN gross, and most sectors of the economy clustered around or below the average value.

To assess whether wage growth surpasses inflation, we compare the dynamics of the average gross monthly wage on an annual basis for the last three months for which there are data available (May, June, and July 2022) with the change in the consumer price index on an annual basis for the same months. The difference between the two indicators allows us to evaluate whether real impoverishment is occurring, at least in terms of workers' incomes.

The comparison is not encouraging. The average annual wage growth in May and June is slower than that of consumer prices, with a mere 0.5 percentage point difference in April. Price increases exceed the average gross wage by 4 percentage points in May and by 3.2 points in June 2022. This could be interpreted as an acceleration of wage growth in response to high inflation, but we can only speak of a lasting trend in this direction after the publication of third-quarter data.

Among the different sectors of the Bulgarian economy, only trade and administrative and support activities demonstrate faster wage growth compared to inflation over the three months, while some other economic activities such as mining, culture and sports, hotels, and restaurants managed to exceed price increases in May but not in the remaining two months. Of concern is the fact that the healthcare sector, which has already faced serious staffing problems due to external labor market pressures, experienced the fastest decline in purchasing power during the second quarter. There is also a significant decline in the public administration sector and municipal services.

A similar trend is observed when comparing the dynamics of consumer prices and wages at the regional level. Only in one region of Bulgaria do wages grow faster than inflation - Sofia (region), with a difference of less than 1 percentage point in May and June. Pleven and Gabrovo also show relatively good performance. Meanwhile, in regions where wage growth significantly lags behind inflation - Kardzhali, Razgrad, Lovech - the difference exceeds 10 points in June.

The wage data for the second quarter only provide an initial glimpse into the reaction of the Bulgarian labor market and employers to the sharp change in economic conditions following the outbreak of the war and the sharp increase in consumer prices. It is not unlikely that we will see more significant wage increases in the coming months as employers try to maintain the purchasing power and standard of living of their employees.

It is important to note that the presented data here only pertain to workers' wages. A more comprehensive view of purchasing power will be provided by household income indicators, which include all other sources such as pensions, social assistance, and the like. Nevertheless, these initial and incomplete indications point to significant restrictions and even a decline in the purchasing power of workers.

Which municipalities have the lowest and highest local taxes? To answer this question, the Institute for Market Economics (IME) collects data on the rates of several key local taxes through applications under the Access to Public Information Act and additional online surveys related to the "Regional Profiles: Development Indicators" study. The specific taxes examined are:

- Tax on real estate - non-residential properties for legal entities

- Tax on the remunerative acquisition of property

- Tax on vehicles and light automobiles with power exceeding 74 kW up to 110 kW

- Annual patent tax for retail trade up to 100 sq.m. net commercial area of the facility

- Tax on taxi transportation of passengers

The interactive map below presents a composite index of the tax burden in the 265 municipalities in the country. The levels of the five observed local taxes are normalized and averaged for each municipality and placed on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest permissible tax burden according to the law, and 100 represents the highest. The actual indices for each municipality fall within the limits of the two constructed virtual municipalities, applying respectively the highest and lowest permissible rates for all the taxes considered.

Interactive version of the map

The map allows us to easily see which municipalities impose the highest tax burden on their residents. Sozopol is the municipality with the highest index value - 80.3. It is followed by the Sofia Municipality, where, however, the tax burden is significantly lower (68.4). The next positions are mainly occupied by municipalities along the Black Sea coast with an index level above 60 - Varna (64.7), Primorsko (64.7), Plovdiv (63.8), Pomorie (63), Burgas (62.9), Tsarevo (60.9). The municipalities with the lowest taxes are Kaloianovo (19.4), Medkovets (19.5), and Breznik (20.4), and the regions with the lowest rates are Vidin and Montana.

Looking back in time, we can see how often taxes have changed over the years. The graph below shows all cases of changes in taxes on real estate for legal entities, remunerative acquisition of property, vehicles with power from 74 kW to 110 kW, as well as the patent tax for retail trade with an area of the commercial facility up to 100 sq.m. We see that local taxes are less likely to be changed in years of local elections, such as 2015 and 2019, as we have commented before. It is also notable that as the election year approaches, fewer municipalities are inclined to increase local taxes. Decreases in tax rates are much less common than increases, although they have become more frequent in recent years. Interestingly, in election years, very few municipalities ease the tax burden.

For this year, there are 57 cases of increased taxes and only 19 cases of decreased taxes, breaking the record of the highest number of decreased rates in the past two years. The most changes occur in the tax on real estate - 23 increases and 7 decreases. For the other rates, changes are significantly rarer - there are 14 increases for the tax on remunerative acquisition of property, 12 increases for the tax on vehicles, and 8 increases for the patent tax for retail trade. Decreases are 2, 6, and 4, respectively.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to support the healthcare system, the problems it faces are far from resolved. One of the significant obstacles to the proper functioning of the system is the availability of healthcare professionals, which has deteriorated in recent years.

For the "Regional Profiles: Development Indicators" project, the team at the Institute for Market Economics (IME) developed an index that assesses access to specialist doctors in different regions of the country. The index is based on data on the territorial distribution of 17 groups of specialist doctors as of the end of 2020, measured by the number of doctors of each specific specialty per population. The access assessment for each group in the individual regions represents the distance from the region with the widest access to doctors of that specific specialty, while the overall accessibility index (presented in Figure 1) represents the average value of the assessments for the individual regions.

Figure 1: Accessibility Index of Specialist Doctors by Regions in 2019-2021, lower is better

Source: National Statistical Institute (NSI), calculations by IME

According to the IME index in 2021, access to specialist doctors remains the easiest in Pleven. This can largely be explained by the presence of a large medical university in the regional center, while the region is not among the most populous. As expected, the capital city ranks second with its large number of specialized medical institutions. Similar access is observed in Plovdiv and Varna, while Sofia-Oblast also ranks among the top five. Outside of the leading regions, most regions have relatively similar index values. The most challenging access is evident in Dobrich, Kardzhali, and Yambol. Most regions share similar problems with access, most commonly observed in cardiology, obstetrics-gynecology, and psychiatry. Compared to the previous year, access to specialized doctors has worsened in most regions (a lower index value is better) compared to the previous year. Exceptions are Pleven, Vidin, Kyustendil, Lovech, and Yambol, where improvements are visible, but they are most prominent in Pleven. It is noteworthy that some of the largest cities, including the capital, Plovdiv, and Varna, have experienced a decline in the index over the past year, likely reflecting the opposite dynamics of doctor concentration due to the treatment of COVID-19. In 2021, access to specialists deteriorated most rapidly in Razgrad and Kardzhali.

Figure 2: Accessibility Index of Specialist Doctors by Specialties in 2019-2021, lower is better

Source: NSI, calculations by IME

Among the individual specialties, the smallest regional differences in access are observed among infectious disease specialists. However, this is primarily due to their small number – a total of 248 in the entire country, with only 39 in the capital and two in several regions. On the contrary, the most uneven distribution is found among the most common specialists. Out of 1,843 cardiologists, nearly five hundred are located in Sofia, while only 12 operate in the entire Targovishte region. Similar distribution patterns can be observed among obstetrician-gynecologists. An explanation for the differences in specialties may also be the varying workload of individual specialists, although this remains speculative due to the lack of available data. The distribution of hospital facilities, their prestige, and payment capabilities, as well as other factors, are also significant. In many specialties, a decline in the overall access index is observed in 2021, with the most notable trends seen among laboratory doctors, obstetrician-gynecologists, and neurologists. Conversely, access to ophthalmologists and internal medicine experts is improving rapidly.

Figure 3: Population per General Practitioner in the Regions, 2019-2022

Source: National Statistical Institute (NSI), calculations by IME

However, one can see a reversal of the trend among general practitioners, with improvements in access evident in several regions for the first time in a decade. The trend towards improving access is visible in some parts of the country, including those experiencing the greatest difficulties - Targovishte (+102 people per GP) and Silistra (+95 people per GP). Part of the explanation for the improvement of the indicator in some regions is also related to demographic processes and population decline. On the other hand, the most noticeable negative change occurs in Burgas, with 71 people per GP, as well as in Haskovo and Pernik. At this stage, it is too early to speak of a long-term trend toward improving access, as we are observing improvements within a one-year timeframe.

Significant differences between regions are also present, with Pleven once again being the leader with 1214 people per GP, while Kardzhali performs the weakest, with over 3 thousand people per GP. It is also noteworthy that the leading economic centers - Varna, Plovdiv, and the capital - are concentrated in the middle of the distribution, most likely due to population growth.

However, it should be noted that the data on access to doctors do not provide the complete picture of the quality of regional healthcare systems. Many other factors - from the available equipment in hospitals to the workload and qualification of individual doctors - determine how well they will manage patient treatment. Nevertheless, the deterioration in access to doctors, both specialists and general practitioners, is inevitably a sign of negative developments in the healthcare system.

In a relatively calm phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking a look at the past two years of active financial support to deal with the impact of the pandemic and the restrictive measures on businesses. This text examines the distribution of this targeted financing in different regions of the country, by industry, and according to the size of the recipient companies.

The main source of data is the website of "ISUN 2020" - the management and monitoring system for European funds, which was also used for the distribution of activities related to COVID. The system includes the amounts paid under various programs, mainly to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that have been affected by the crisis and restrictions, as well as the "Warm Lunch in Pandemic Conditions" initiative, where funding is directed straight to municipalities that provide the service. The key indicators we extract from the available information are two - total funds absorbed since the beginning of the crisis per municipality and funds absorbed per capita in the municipality.

IME published a similar comment last summer, but since then, expenditures have been much larger - while by the end of June last year, their total amount was BGN 267 million for the whole country, after a year, it had already risen to almost BGN 652 million, distributed among 30,485 projects. The aid received in the capital has increased by BGN 100 million and now amounts to a total of over BGN 186 million, or 28% of all distributed funds. Unsurprising, given the high concentration of economic activity in Sofia.

After Sofia, mainly large regional centers are ranked, and similar to last year, the top five include Varna (BGN 47 million), Plovdiv (BGN 46 million), Burgas (BGN 27 million), and Ruse (BGN 19 million). Among the non-regional cities, the largest amounts have been received by Nessebar (BGN 9 million, 11th place) and Petrich (BGN 5.6 million, 19th place) - tourism centers, heavily affected by the pandemic. 70% of the disbursed amounts are directed to the top twenty municipalities, where half of Bulgaria's population lives. This concentration of funds is normal since they represent the main economic centers of the country. Companies and local administrations in only three municipalities - Makresh, Boboshevo, and Treklyano - have not benefited from any of the programs.

Interactive version of the map

If we look at a comparison based on the average amount paid per person, smaller municipalities take the lead. The top five municipalities are similar to those from last year, including Nessebar with BGN 293 per person, Rila (BGN 202 per person), Bansko (BGN 182 per person), Primorsko (BGN 174 per person), and Kavarna (BGN 157 per person). Once again, these municipalities are leading due to their economies being heavily reliant on tourism. The high position maintained by the Rila municipality, even after the new wave of funding in the last year, is due to the small population combined with several companies that have absorbed BGN 50,000 or more.

Interactive version of the map

The geographical distribution of the aid does not provide a complete picture of how these funds are being utilized. Reviewing individual projects allows for an analysis of the candidates, the amounts received, and the programs involved. The Ministry of Tourism has actually received the highest amount of funds, absorbing BGN 2 million for support to tour operators and travel agents. The next 82 beneficiaries are municipalities, and the purpose of the funds is the "Hot Lunch in the Conditions of the COVID-19 Pandemic" program, a social program for home care targeted at the most impoverished. The values range from BGN 150,000 to nearly BGN 2 million. A total of BGN 38.7 million has been allocated for the entire initiative, distributed among 181 projects.

Excluding this specific program, there are three more significant measures that cover almost all submitted funding applications. One of them is the "Support for Medium-sized Enterprises to Overcome the Economic Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic" program, where the amount of assistance varies from BGN 30,000 to BGN 150,000 (more commonly known as the "30-150" measure). A total of 1,542 companies have applied for assistance under this measure, with the majority (1,066) receiving the maximum possible amount. The total aid distributed under this measure amounts to BGN 210 million.

There were 4,303 applications under the "Support for Small Enterprises with a Turnover over BGN 500,000 to Overcome the Economic Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic" program, with 4,156 companies receiving assistance of BGN 50,000, while the remaining companies did not receive any funds. The total amount of aid distributed under this program is BGN 207 million.

However, the most comprehensive program is the "Overcoming the Lack of Funds and Liquidity Shortages Resulting from the COVID-19 Epidemic" program, also known as "3-10," as it provides assistance ranging from BGN 3,000 to BGN 10,000 for micro and small enterprises. A total of 22,912 companies have applied under this program, with a total of BGN 185 million distributed, or an average of BGN 8,115 per applicant. Over thirteen thousand companies received the maximum amount of assistance, while only 44 companies did not receive any funds. In other words, almost all companies that requested support during the pandemic received it.

It is noteworthy that the maximum allowable amount is most frequently disbursed under all three measures. This, together with the fact that the applying companies represent approximately 35% of the average and 7% of micro and small non-financial enterprises, may give the impression that the funds for addressing the consequences of the pandemic are directed toward a relatively small group of companies that have maximized their benefits. However, this does not necessarily imply weak coverage of the measures, considering that there is no analysis of how many companies actually needed such assistance. Recall that the restrictive measures disproportionately affected economic activities. As expected, there is a concentration of funds at the regional level, primarily benefiting companies in the capital and major cities. Furthermore, in terms of company size, medium-sized enterprises and small enterprises with a turnover exceeding BGN 500,000 received a total of over BGN 400 million through 5,845 applications, which is more than twice the amount allocated under the "3-10" measure, which received applications from nearly 23,000 companies.