Bulgaria is developing economically “at two speeds“ - this is the conclusion of the study by the Institute for Market Economy on many of the key economic and social factors, bTV pointed out.
The complex assessments of economic development show a clear division. In the group of cities with very good development are the capital, Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas and Gabrovo, whose concentrated industrial base maintains a high standard of living.
Development is good in Ruse and Sofia region.
The districts in the middle group in economic development - 8 regional cities - are marked in yellow on our map. Shumen, Vratsa, Pernik, Blagoevgrad, Tarnovo, Stara Zagora, Lovech and Yambol.
The largest group of unsatisfactory development is - you see the cities colored in orange.
And the worst situation is in Kardzhali, Montana, Vidin and Silistra.
The indicators that form these assessments are related to production, employment, road surface, sewage, municipal revenues and many others.
We also pay attention to the data on the population living below the poverty line for the country. This is more than one fifth on average for the entire country.
However, the situation is below average only in a few districts. The lowest share of poor population is in Sofia and Varna.
The numbers are extremely high in Silistra, Pazardzhik, Vidin, Razgrad and Sliven - here, on average, about 35% are below the poverty line.
We analyze all this data with economist Petar Ganev from the Institute for Market Economics.
„We can safely say that in our country there are more than two speeds - one is certainly the speed of the capital, but we can see different speeds between the south and the north, between 4/5 leading economic centers,“ he said.
And he explained - this is somewhat normal as a trend.
„The question is what is the chance of each of these economic centers still creating wealth, creating a good place to live, so that people there do not leave it, and having an influence on the map. While Sofia influences 30 to 50 municipalities, a center like Ruse influences 3 or 4 municipalities around it“, added the economist.
According to him, there are already centers in the north with a positive population influx. Such are Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse.