Issue 2, 1999

Studied are the differences in the level of development of the municipalities in the country for the period 1994-1996. Used is integral measure built upon the generalizing measures for: economic state; income status of the population; financial state of the municipality; infrastructural assurance and indexes for the level of unemployment and dynamics of the population of the municipalities. Concerning estimating the differences between the municipalities by regions, is carried out probability analysis on the integral estimations.
Made is working hypothesis for the sustainable development of the municipality and on this basis are built four theoretical models to which are considered about 10% of the municipalities in the country, with biggest changes in the level of social-economic development for the studied period.

The study is focused on the disparities in the development of Bulgarian municipalities in the contest of the problem "center - periphery". The municipal disparities in employment and unemployment are also subject of this study.
One of the specific evidences of the municipal disparities is the problem "center - periphery". The author tries to answer the following questions:
• what is the methodological background of the problem "center - periphery" in the development of municipalities?
• which are the roots for the existence of the central and remote (outskirts) territories"?
• what are the features and the aspects of the problem "center - periphery" during the transition towards market economy?
• what policies should be applied to alleviate the problem "center - periphery" as one of the acute issues in the development of the municipalities?
A special indicator called "Municipality with economic active and employed population" is designed to asses the level of utilization of the human capital. The economic background for the disparities in employment and unemployment levels are analyzed. The main conclusion is that the large disparities in employment and unemployment can be explained by the different level of development of the economy sectors in the municipalities. The primary sector is in deep structural crisis, the secondary sector is in process of fragile recovery, and only the tercial sector could promote the labor force demand in the municipalities with high uneployment.

The goal of this study is to determine, analyse and evaluate the situation and the tendencies in the development of local finance. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives:
• Analysis and evaluation of the ranking and differentiation of the municipalities according to financial indicators in 1994 and 1996;
• Analysis and evaluation of the dynamics of the changes in the ranking and differentiation of the municipalities during the monitored period;
• Summary and evaluation about the situation and the changes in the intermunicipal financial disparities.
The main conclusions and evaluations of the study indicate that: in 1996 compared to the previous studied year there is monitored an increase in the disparities among several municipalities in good financial situation and the rest municipalities. There decrease the differences in the evaluation of the financial situation of the municipalities, whose values are below the average level for the country. The average and the critical values for all indicators are falling behind from the highest levels, which proves the general deterioration of the financial state of the municipalities. The output from the study can be used by the municipalities for justifying their analyses and forecasts for the local budgets. This output can also be used by the central authorities for setting the state and regional policy.

The goal of the present study is to determine, analyse and evaluate the situation and the development of the social disparities among The Bulgarian municipalities, and thus to prove the abilities of the Suggested model to quantify the social and economic disparities.
The concrete research objectives include:
• Analysis and evaluation of the ranking and differentiation of municipalities according to social indicators for 1994 and 1996;
• Analysis and evaluation of the dynamics the changes in the ranking and differentiation of the municipalities during the studied period;
• Summary and conclusions about the situation and the changes the social disparities among the municipalities.
The study is done in static and in dynamic aspect, by implementing the deductive approach.

The differences in the environmental characteristics of the municipalities in Bulgaria, which are equipped with monitoring systems, are analyzed. The municipalities are ranked according to the level of the environmental load of the atmospheric air, upstream and downstream of the rivers and the most overloaded regions with industrial and municipal wastes. Conclusions are presented for the genesis and the development of these unfavorable processes. The most substantial conclusion is that the environmental situation in these municipalities is rather constraint that a factor of their development.

This study makes evaluation and classification of the industrial enterprises in Bulgaria according to their performance by the form of ownership and their juridical status (traditional and corporatized state enterprises, privatized and newly created private enterprises), by their market share and their size. Described and compared are the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the firm performance by using the complex of 7 to 13 indexes for its measurement. Shown are models of firm performance according to the combination of dynamic and static indexes.

In this study banks and stock exchange have been considered as institutions which can strongly induce investments in Bulgaria. The question about real possibilities of these institutions to create prerequisites for the achievement of high level of investments has been analysed. In this connection the state of the Bulgarian bank system and the conditions of its activity before and after the introduction of the Currency Board have been estimated. The possible ways for transformation of the bank sector and the best conditions for crediting the real sector of economy have been discussed. Also the stock exchange has been considered in connection with its basic functions and problems about speeding up its development in this country.

The paper contains analysis of the reforms in EU's Common Agricultural Policy since 1992. It summarizes the results of these reforms and the liberalization of trade for fresh and processed agricultural products. It proves that the neo-liberal agrarian policy which is currently followed in Bulgaria hampers the chances of the country for membership in the European Union. The paper highlights the future directions and tasks of Bulgarian agrarian policy.