Population (2012) 254 891 Area (sq. km) 4 661,6 Number of settlements 337 Share of urban population (%) 69,7
Overview Veliko Tarnovo District is facing serious economic challenges as it traditionally suffers from the absence of foreign direct investment. Weaknesses in the business environment also contribute to the lack of investment. The employment rate has recovered slightly in recent years, but remains at relatively low levels. Poverty data are extremely negative, and the inequality within the district is great. Higher education in Veliko Tarnovo District is widely available, and the number of students has increased over the years. In practice, this is the district with the highest concentration of university students relative to the population. Traditions in higher education are a key factor in attracting young people to the district. Almost a quarter of the population aged 25-64 has tertiary education. The residents of Veliko Tarnovo District are rather satisfied with the quality of life in the district, and fewer than 10% of respondents said that they were willing to permanently relocate to another district. The dominant reason for dissatisfaction with life in the district is the low standard of living. Demographic processes also contribute to the economic problems, with the age dependency ratios being badly deteriorated, and the birth rate being relatively low.
Weak Unsatisfactory Average Good Very Good
Economy
Taxes and Administration
Infrastructure
Demography
Education
Healthcare
Environment
Social Environment
60 61 Economy Veliko Tarnovo District lags behind the leading districts according to the gross domestic product per capita, although in the years of the crisis no nominal shrinking of the economy was reported. Employment in the district has traditionally been relatively low, and in 2010 it fell below 40% of the population aged 15 and over, which is one of the lowest in the country. Afterwards some recovery in job numbers was reported and the situation improved slightly. Unemployment remains at relatively high levels, reaching almost 14% in 2012. The rate of investment also benefited from some revival in recent years; in 2011, the expenditures for acquisition of fixed tangible assets recovered, although these have not yet reached 2007-2008 levels. Foreign direct investments also recovered slightly in 2011, but remain at very low levels compared to the country average: population-weighted, they occupy the bottommost position. The concentration of productive investment in the region is mostly in the towns of Gabrovo and Sevlievo which border on the district of Veliko Turnovo. However, the absorption of EU funds by local municipalities is moving relatively well. The economic profile of Veliko Tarnovo is dominated by services; these contribute more than 60% of the gross value added for the district. Tourism is particularly important and is concentrated in the city of Veliko Tarnovo and the surrounding area. The municipalities of Elena and Svishtov are important tourist destinations, too. Industry dominates in the municipality of Lyaskovets where some large enterprises provide higher employment. Industry in the district is mainly represented by the food & beverage industry. Taxes and Administration Local taxes in the municipalities of Veliko Tarnovo district are among the highest in the country. This applies to the taxation of real estate, property transfer tax, and vehicle tax. Local taxes in the municipality of Veliko Tarnovo are also among the highest when compared with other district centres around the country. Against the backdrop of the higher local taxation, the business community’s assessments of the work of institutions and the level of corruption are negative. Perceptions of corruption in the judiciary are very high, while in terms of the work of municipal administrations, businesses are rather dissatisfied with the clarity of requirements, speed of service, and the probity of local officials. Administrative services in the municipalities continue to be a challenge, but some municipalities seem to be performing better than others. For example, in the municipalities of Lyaskovets, Pavlikeni, and Svishtov, electronic services are at the “two-way interaction” stage (level three out of four possible), and one-stop-shop services were rated as “excellent”. The rate of use of electronic services by businesses is high, with half of the respondents saying they had used e-services in the past year, but most involved looking up information and downloading forms. Infrastructure The road network density in Veliko Tarnovo district is one of the highest in the country. The quality of roads severely deteriorated in 2012, with only one quarter of the roads being in good condition. There are no highways or high-speed roads on the territory of the district, but the route of the future Hemus Highway (Sofia - Varna) passes through it. The completion of the road along the banks of the Danube from Vidin to Silistra is another project of national significance. Mountainous municipalities in the district are experiencing serious problems with the maintenance of the very long municipal road network. Especially challenging is the removal of snow from road surfaces during the winter season in the municipalities of Elena, Zlataritsa, and partly in Veliko Tarnovo. The density of railways is also among the highest in the country, with two-thirds of the lines electrified. Citizens’ and businesses’ assessment of the state of local infrastructure is not very positive; according to company representatives this is one of the factors that tend to have a negative impact on the businesses environment in the district, while for citizens it is a factor for higher levels of dissatisfaction. Demographics Veliko Tarnovo is the ninth largest district in the country with a population of 255 thousand people in 2012. The decline in the number of population in recent years was quite serious; this was due to the sustained negative rate of natural increase (an average of about 8‰ per year) and some negative trends in net migration in recent years. Outbound migration is mostly towards the capital city; after the crisis emigration abroad also became very active. The age dependency ratio has severely deteriorated. The population aged 65 years and older was 1.7 times more than the population up to 14 years and almost one third of the population aged 15 to 64 years. About
62 63 2,300 children are born per year, with the birth rate lagging behind the national average. Statistical figures suggest that the demographic challenges in the district are mainly in terms of the low birth rate and the rate of natural increase, while in terms of net migration, significant improvement (or even a positive trend) can be expected in case of sustained economic recovery. Education The general trend of declining numbers of students, teachers and schools is observed in Veliko Tarnovo District, too. Due to the shortage of students, several schools were closed in 2012, for instance in the municipalities of Pavlikeni and Svishtov. The district is one of the most heavily affected by the optimisation of the school network in the country. The average scores from the matriculation exam in Bulgarian language and literature in 2013 are similar to the national average (4.27 out of 6.00 for the district), but almost 7% of students failed the exam, which is high relative to other districts. Also significant is the proportion of dropouts from primary and secondary education. Higher education plays an important role in the district, with the number of students increasing over the years and reaching almost 28 thousand in 2012. In practice, this is the district with the highest concentration of university students relative to the population, leaving even the capital city behind. There are two university centres: the Veliko Tarnovo University “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” and the National Military University “Vasil Levski” in Veliko Tarnovo, and the Academy of Economics “D. А. Tsanov” in the town of Svishtov. Traditions in higher education are a key factor in attracting young people and the good educational structure of the population: almost a quarter of the population aged 25 to 64 years have tertiary education. Healthcare There are 12 hospitals in the district, but staffing is stable only in the larger municipalities. The District Development Strategy for the period 2014 - 2020 states that in smaller, especially mountainous municipalities, there has been an increase in vacant medical practices. Emergency care is also inadequate and fails to provide appropriate services in terms of speed of response, in scattered settlements remotely situated from the municipal centre, especially in winter conditions. Hospital beds in multiprofile hospitals for active treatment are also few in number compared to the population. People with health insurance in the district were about 83% in 2012, which is the lowest level in the country - most districts reached 87-88% share of the population. The cases of hospitalisation in 2012 were about 142 per thousand people, which is among the lowest in the country. The infant mortality rate is also below the national average. These figures are more indicative of issues related to the organisation of health care than with actual morbidity. The results of surveys among citizens also reveal issues with the quality of the health system, though not as pronounced as in other districts. Almost one in four stated that he/she had to travel outside the district to use health services, with the leading reason given by respondents being the lack of specialist doctors. Unofficial payments are not as prevalent; one in eight who used health care services in the last 12 months stated that he/ she had to make such payments. Environment The emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere decreased in recent years, but the district continues to be in the group of districts with relatively high emissions weighted against the territory. The District Development Strategy 2014-2020 also notes a problem of fine particle pollution from transport and solid fuel heating. The household waste collected per capita is about the average for the country, and significantly reduced in 2011. Nearly two-thirds of the population live in areas with public sewerage systems, which is a little below the national average. In 2011, about 44% of the population had access to public sewerage connected with a wastewater treatment plant. In recent years, several projects have been launched for new treatment plants, for instance the waste water treatment plant in Pavlikeni, which at the end of 2012 received EU funding. Social Environment Veliko Tarnovo District has an extremely high percentage of people described as living in material deprivation, that is, who are struggling to meet their basic needs. In 2010, people living in material deprivation were already three quarters of the population; a phenomenon which is not observed in other districts, with only Lovech coming close to these values. The proportion of poor people is also high, with a quarter of the local population falling below the poverty line. Inequality is also substantial, as the ratio between the incomes of the richest and the poorest 20% of households is almost nine times, making it the highest in the country.
62 63 Still, the residents of Veliko Tarnovo District are rather satisfied with the quality of life in the district, and fewer than 10% of respondents said that they would permanently relocate to another district. Leading factors for life satisfaction are the quality of housing, social life, education, and health. Environment and security also have rather a positive impact on life satisfaction in the district. The number of recorded crimes against the person and against property remains relatively low, although there has been some increase since the onset of the economic crisis. The leading factors of dissatisfaction are the low standard of living, i.e. income, and the condition of the infrastructure. These are the major challenges facing the district: better performance of local institutions, creating a more attractive business environment, attracting more investment and achieving higher employment and incomes.
64 65 Key indicators for the district of Veliko Tarnovo
Indicators / year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
GDP per capita (BGN, current prices) 5 682 5 716 6 135 n.a. n.a.
Annual average employment rate of the population aged 15+ (%) 44,6 42,6 38,9 42,6 42,9
Annual average unemployment rate of the population aged 15+ (%) 7,8 9,0 13,1 11,7 13,8
Relative share of people living below the district’s poverty line (%) 28,1 24,2 26,9 n.a. n.a.
Age dependency ratio, 65+ to 15-64 (%) 26,9 27,2 27,8 30,4 31,3
Rate of natural increase (‰) -7,9 -6,5 -7,9 -7,9 -7,9
Net migration rate (‰) 3,4 -1,2 -6,8 -2,0 -3,0
Relative share of the population aged 25-64 with tertiary education (%) 24,6 24,2 23,0 21,5 23,5
Percent of failed students at state matriculation exams (%) 3,5 3,6 5,7 5,6 6,2
Average grade at state matriculation exams 4,5 4,3 4,2 4,4 4,2
Share of roads in good condition (%) n.a. n.a. 55,7 30,2 23,6
Relative share of households with Internet access (%) 27,9 23,1 29,6 45,0 41,0
Share of the population with access to public sewerage systems, connected to WWTP (%) 40,6 40,9 41,2 43,9 n.a.
Health insured persons as share of the population (%) 81,1 83,7 80,9 84,2 83,3
Infant mortality rate (‰) 10,7 9,6 7,6 7,9 6,5
Number of registered crimes per 1,000 persons of the population 9,4 11,1 13,6 14,2 13,2
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