Pleven District

NIKOPOL > Population (2014) 257,556 > Area (sq. km) 4,653.3 DOLNA MITROPOLIYA > Number of settlements 123 DOLNI LEVSKI > Share of urban population (%) 66.8 CHERVEN DABNIK BRYAG

Overview

leven is the most developed district in Northwestern Although the negative demographic processes are clear- PBulgaria. Incomes are higher than the country aver- ly visible, Pleven has the best demographic state in the age, and living conditions are relatively favourable. The Northwestern Region. The quality of school education is labour market recovery from the crisis has lagged. The unsatisfactory despite the high rate of enforcement of rates of employment and economic activity decreased in compulsory school attendance. Healthcare is well devel- 2014. Pleven is one of the few districts in where oped in the district. The availability of health professionals investment in 2012 and 2013 was significantly higher and hospital beds is well provided, and the share of health- than the pre-crisis level, though it lagged behind the insured persons is high. Pleven is one of the districts with country average levels. The development of administra- the lowest expenditure on environmental protection. Not- tive services was better than in the neighbouring dis- withstanding the higher level of the crime rate, judicature tricts, but local taxes and fees were higher. is relatively fast. Cultural life is not particularly intensive.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Weak Unsatisfactory Average Good Very good Weak Unsatisfactory Average Good Very good

Income and Living Conditions Demography

Labor Market Education

Investment Healthcare

Infrastructure Security and Justice

Taxes and Fees Environment

Administration Culture

Pleven District 65 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Income and Living Conditions Infrastructure The average annual income per household member The road network density totalled 17 km per 100 sq. amounted to 5,043 BGN in 2014, in Pleven District, which km in 2013, which was close to the national density of was about 5% higher than the country average. The av- 17.7 km per 100 sq. km. The railway network density was erage annual gross salary is lower by about 24% than the 4.4 km per 100 sq. km compared to the country aver- national average, but households’ incomes originating age of 3.6 km per 100 sq. km. The quality of roads in the from self-employment and other activities have partly district has improved in recent years, and 39.0% of roads offset this slippage. were in good condition in 2014 compared to the country 10.2% of the population lived in households with low average of 40.5%. work intensity in 2012, in comparison with the country The biggest slippage has been noted with regard to average of 11.6%. The share of people living in material information technology. 43.8% of households had ac- deprivation (40.9%) and the share of people living below cess to Internet in 2014: only the districts of , the poverty line (17%) are also below the country average. and have shown a worse result The GDP per capita amounted to 6,141 BGN in 2012 (38.5%, 39.9% and 41.8% respectively). Pleven was one compared to the country average of 10,958 BGN. of the seven municipalities where over half the popula- tion did not use the Internet in 2014. Labour Market Taxes and Fees Unemployment has been lower than it was nationwide since 2012, and it fell to 9.0% in 2014. The main reason is Some local taxes in Pleven District are significantly high- not the growing employment rate, but rather the dimin- er than their counterparts in the rest of the Northwest- ishing economic activity of the population: 46.7% of the ern Region of Bulgaria. Higher levels than the country population 15+ were active in economic terms in 2014 average of both the immovable property tax for legal compared to 48.8% in 2013. The employment rate of the entities and the local taxes on the sale of immovable population 15+ dropped to 42.5% in 2014 compared to property have been observed. the country average of 48.0%. Nevertheless, Pleven has The immovable property tax for legal entities in Pleven remained the district with the highest employment rate Municipality has been the third highest in Bulgaria since in the Northwestern Region of Bulgaria. 2013. It was raised in 2013 from 1.90 to 3.90‰, and The demographic replacement rate, measuring the ratio of only the municipalities of ( District) and the number of people aged 15–19 to those aged 60–64, has Avren (Varna) had higher rates – 4.50‰ each. The lev- decreased more slowly than the country average. The drop els of most other taxes and fees have remained steady for the district was from 108.0 to 58.2% from 2001 to 2014, in recent years. The annual waste collection charge, and the country average was from 123.6 to 61.9%. which was lowered in the municipalities of (2014), Nikopol (2014) and Pleven (2013), and raised in Iskar Municipality (2013), is an exception. Investment Pleven is one of the few districts where investment in 2012 and 2013 was significantly higher than pre-crisis levels. Cu- Administration mulative FDIs reached 311 m euros as at the end of 2013 The cadastral map included 10.0% of the district’s ter- compared to less than 200 m euros before the crisis. None- ritories in 2014 compared to the country average of theless, investment activities have remained lower than the 18.1%; new territories have not been included since country average for both FDIs and investments in FTAs. 2008, and the municipalities of Dolni Dabnik, Iskar, Por- As of 31 January 2015, the municipalities in the district dim and Knezha have not been included in the cadastral managed to draw down 149.5 m BGN as beneficiaries map at all. The development of e-services has continued under EU operational programmes. Thus the lag from to lag, and only has achieved a rela- previous periods has been offset and the rate of utili- tively good result. sation relative to the population is already higher than The grade that the district’s municipalities received in the country average (580.5 BGN per capita compared to the 2015 Active Transparency Rating of local govern- 564.9 BGN per capita). The best-performing municipali- ment bodies by the AIP Foundation was 52.4 points out ties in this respect are Knezha (2,243.3 BGN per capita) of 88.4 compared to the country average of 54.5% points. and Nikopol (2,233.1 BGN), and the worst-performing Pleven and Knezha got the highest grades (62.6 points, ones are Gulyantsi (79.3 BGN per capita) and Levski 50.7 points respectively), and Gulyantsi and Levski got (104.6 BGN per capita). the lowest ones (33.1 points, 37.1 points respectively).

66 Regional Profiles 2015 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Demography Pleven features the biggest population and the best beds, the infant mortality rate was higher than the coun- demographic state among the districts of the North- try average in 2014 – 8.5‰ for the district, compared to western Region of Bulgaria. Nevertheless, the negative 7.6‰ for Bulgaria. demographic processes have remained clearly visible similarly to those in the districts of , Montana, Vi- Security and Justice din and Vratsa. The population’s net migration rate and the rate of natural increase remained negative through- Pleven is one of the districts with the highest share of out the period 2001–2014. As a result, the population criminal trials at the District Court closed in the first 3 slumped by 21% in 2014 compared to 2001, which was months – 96% in 2013 compared to the national average more than double compared to the country average of of 88.4%. The actual workload of penal judges has grad- 9%. The age structure of the population has continued ually diminished, and has been lower than the country to deteriorate – the ratio of those aged 65+ to those of average since 2011. The share of pending cases has also working age (15–64) neared 40% in 2014 compared to been lower than the country average of 8.5%, amount- its national counterpart of 30.2%. ing to 5.3% in 2013 – the lowest one after the districts of Pleven is the most urbanised district in the Northwestern Ruse and Vratsa. Region. 66.8% of the district’s population lived in towns and There were more crimes against the personality and cities in 2014 compared to the country average of 73.1%. against the property than there were nationwide in 2013 and 2014. Education The share of children enrolled in grades 5th through Environment 8th was higher than the country average in 2014 (82.9% Pleven is one of the districts with the lowest expendi- compared to 78.6%). Simultaneously, the relative shares ture on environmental protection: 24.1 m BGN in 2013 of repeaters and dropouts from primary and secondary or 92.3 BGN per capita compared to the country average education is also higher than it is for Bulgaria. of 288.9 BGN per capita. The low investment in environ- The results of school-leavers at the state matriculation mental protection also explains the limited provision of exams have continually been lower than the country av- the population with public sewerage systems and waste erage, which demonstrates the relatively low quality of water treatment plants. 56.6% of the district’s popula- secondary education. The average grade for the district tion lived in settlements with access to public sewerage was Good (4.04) in 2015 compared to the national aver- systems in 2013, and 41.2% were connected to waste age of Good (4.21). The share of failures exceeded 10% water treatment plants. The construction of a waste for the first time in 2015 – the country average was 6.4%. water treatment plant started in the town of Belene in There were 1,892 university students in the district in 2015, which is likely to improve these indicators in the 2014 and the share of the population aged 25-64 with following years. tertiary education reached 23.6% compared to the Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere were rel- country average of 27.0%. atively low in 2013 – 52.8 t/sq. km, the country average being 293.9 t/sq. km. Healthcare Culture Pleven is one of the districts featuring the best-devel- oped healthcare. The share of health-insured persons was Despite being the biggest district in Northwestern Bul- 89.5% of the district’s residents in 2014, the country aver- garia in population size, Pleven is not among the leading age being 87.1%. Pleven is the district with the best ratio ones in intensity of cultural life. The registered number of of the number of general practitioners to the number of visits to local theatres, cinemas and libraries, as a propor- residents: only the capital city features a higher number tion to the population, was about half the country aver- of cardiologists per capita. The number of internists has age in 2014. Nonetheless, most indicators set off positive been insufficient, but part of it was offset in 2014. trends: visits to libraries have increased every year since The number of beds in multi-profile hospitals for active 2009, and visits to cinemas have increased faster than treatment increased to 1,723 in 2014, which provided the country average. the second best ratio to the population in Bulgaria – 6.7 Pleven exceeds country averages for the number of visits beds per 1,000 people compared to the national aver- only in museums. 183,000 visits to local museums were age of 4.8 beds. The only district with more beds is Plov- registered in 2014, which amounted to 710 visits per div. Notwithstanding the availability of physicians and 1,000 people compared to the country average of 662.

Pleven District 67 Key Indicators for the District of Pleven

Economic Development 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

GDP per capita (BGN, current prices) 5,388 5,094 6,197 6,141 n.a. n.a.

Average annual income per household member (BGN) 4,275 4,206 3,902 5,091 5,431 5,043

Average annual gross salary (BGN) 5,890 6,093 6,308 6,646 7,046 n.a.

Relative share of people living below the district’s poverty line (%) 21.8 21.5 17.5 17.0 n.a. n.a.

Annual average economic activity rate of the population 15+ (%) 47.0 45.6 46.2 45.9 48.8 46.7

Annual average employment rate of the population 15+ (%) 43.2 39.7 40.7 41.2 42.9 42.5

Annual average unemployment rate (%) 8.1 12.8 12.0 10.3 12.1 9.0

Number of non-financial companies per 1,000 people 35 35 35 35 36 n.a.

Expenditure on the acquisition of fixed tangible assets per capita (BGN) 1,150 1,056 1,079 1,833 1,618 n.a.

Cumulative FDI to non-financial enterprises per capita (EUR) 594 532 652 736 1,208 n.a.

Relative share of households with Internet access (%) 28.4 27.2 35.8 37.3 47.6 43.8

Share of roads in good condition (%) n.a. 28.5 29.2 31.0 38.8 39.0

Share of territory included in cadastral maps (%) 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0

Social Development 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Rate of natural increase (‰) –7.5 –9.0 –9.6 –10.1 –9.1 –10.0

Net migration rate (‰) –5.2 –5.3 –2.5 –4.4 –4.7 –4.0

Relative share of the population aged 25–64 with tertiary education (%) 15.5 17.5 18.5 21.7 22.9 23.6

Average grades at state matriculation exams 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.1 4.1 4.1

Percent of failed students at state matriculation exams 4.9 5.9 4.7 8.0 8.7 7.9

Health insured persons as share of the population (%) 87.7 84.9 89.4 88.8 88.2 89.5

Cases of hospitalization in general hospitals 204.7 196.7 207.1 277.8 308.7 235.9

Crimes against the property per 10,000 people 88.0 101.5 109.4 94.9 113.1 92.6

Share of pending criminal cases (%) 9.4 10.2 7.3 6.2 5.3 n.a.

Expenditure on environmental protection per capita (BGN) 45.4 52.2 46.9 88.1 92.3 n.a.

Share of the population living in settlements with public 39.4 39.6 41.0 41.0 41.2 n.a. sewerage systems, connected to WTTP (%)

Number of visits to cinemas per 1,000 people 0.0 149.6 192.2 184.5 214.0 388.3

Number of visits to theatres per 1,000 people 66.7 79.3 108.0 125.7 140.5 138.3

68 Regional Profiles 2015