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For more than ten years now, the Institute for Market Economy has been presenting the only study of its scale and depth on the economic and social development of the regions in Bulgaria. The regional profiles step on 80 indicators representing the real picture in the 28 regions.

There is no doubt that decentralization is the right solution in almost all cases. It allows local government and regional communities to take their destiny into their own hands and apply local solutions to local problems that are far from the priorities and vision of the central government. However, the flip side of decentralization is fragmentation – breaking up the state into excessively small pieces prevents effective governance and prevents true autonomy. Bulgaria currently has a relatively high level of centralization and at the same time fragmentation, which is more than visible, as well as its negative consequences.

The municipalities in these three southwestern regions have a very different economic and social profile - here are the industrial leaders of Sofia (region), which are among the most developed economies of the country as a whole, but also the aging and frozen in time border municipalities of Pernik. However, the overall development trajectory looks positive, especially if they manage to overcome the challenges in terms of human capital and demographics.

In 2018, the reform of planning regions was on the agenda, with a focus on their demographic stability and ensuring equal access to European funding for all parts of the country. However, no real reform was achieved, and the years of pandemic, war and political instability forced other, more urgent topics on the agenda.

Last week, we looked at how the costs of internal order and security in Bulgaria have the highest share of GDP (2.5%) among all EU member states, what is the structure of employees in the Regional Directorates of the Ministry of Interior (and how many police officers are "in the field"), as well as their distribution at the regional level and in relation to the crimes committed (in the North-West the workload is high).

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.