Bulgaria CityLinks Program

Bulgaria partner communities: Local Economic Development more than 50 municipalities, throughout Bulgaria, working with CityLinks on local economic Infrastructure Management development, infrastructure management, and/or waste Waste Management management . Population of Bulgaria and of Recognizing the challenges facing local governments in Bulgaria, in 1997 the the participating municipalities: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) charged ICMA for Bulgaria overall, 7,322,858 (July 2007 estimate); the with helping Bulgaria to find sustainable local solutions to the country’s Bulgarian CityLinks municipalities unsteady march towards democracy and decentralization. In partnership range in population from 10,000 to 350,000 . with the Bulgarian Foundation for Reform (FLGR), ICMA’s Bulgarian Technical Twinning Program was created. Through ICMA and U.S. partners: of Johnstown, Ohio; San Bernardino FLGR, USAID initiated a pilot partnership program in 1997 between U.S. cities County (California) Economic and Bulgarian municipalities. Development Agency; and six U .S . cities: Charlottesville, Virginia; Going through several phases, the CityLinks program in Bulgaria celebrated Auburn, Alabama; Winchester, Virginia; Kettering, Ohio; Golden, its 10th anniversary in 2007. In that year, the program had significant Colorado; and West Bend, achievements in its three program areas: local economic development, Wisconsin . waste management, and public infrastructure management. Also in 2007, Bulgarian local partner USAID granted a seven-month extension for the program, for September organization: Foundation for Local Government Reform 2007 through February 2008, to bridge the period of local elections and (FLGR) . to help FLGR establish or reestablish relationships with newly elected local Program dates: August 2004 to governments. February 2008 . Key program issues in Bulgaria: local economic development, Consortium for Local broad network of leading Bulgarian infrastructure management, municipalities and economic develop- and waste management and Economic Development ment specialists. BLEDP provided its composting . Local economic development (LED) Bulgarian participants with strength- was a major priority for the CityLinks ened capacities to offer professional program in Bulgaria during the services to businesses and to lead program’s 2002–2004 phase. Over proactive economic development that period, substantial resources programs. were used to enhance and strengthen the LED capacities of Bulgarian To build on the successes of the municipalities, by establishing a 2002–2004 phase, the next phase, consortium with U.S. cities and by from August 2004 through August implementing a large-scale economic 2007, involved expansion and fur- development and marketing program. ther development of the consortium, Uniting the joint efforts of Bulgarian through the institutionalization of and U.S. cities resulted in the creation LED technical assistance, market- of the Bulgarian Local Economic ing, training, and certification of Development Partnership (BLEDP), a Bulgarian municipalities as “ready

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 20 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks for business.” Those activities would set of certification criteria. Seventeen “The involvement of the municipality of economic development officers work- allow the municipalities to continue in the replication component to be successful in their LED efforts ing for the certified municipalities following USAID “graduation,” that were approved for individual certifi- of the CityLinks program gave us the is, when FLGR has become self-sus- cation as LED specialists. opportunity, with assistance by the taining and is not receiving funds Program Support to Bulgarian from USAID. municipality of , to study and Cities Certified with Excellence apply the Golden, Colorado, expertise In Bulgaria the CityLinks program The CityLinks program provided in the implementation of an effective sought to assist the BLEDP network financial support to the municipal- to become more effective in bringing ity of (Veliko Turnovo street management and maintenance economic development to its munici- ) to undertake preliminary model.” palities; increase the awareness of research and preparation for the Stanislav Blagov, mayor of the importance of local economic development of an industrial zone. Svishtov, Veliko Turnovo province development among municipalities; (The of Bulgaria are some- implement the certification program times called “” or “.”) in more municipalities; prepare the The funding was utilized for grading advanced municipalities for certifica- the selected industrial zone site. A tion “with excellence”; develop the U.S. pro-bono consultant and a FLGR BLEDP network into a strong plat- staff member assisted with the indus- form to attract private investment trial zone site selection and devel- to Bulgarian municipalities, thus opment, and the municipality was creating new job opportunities; and encouraged to share its experience institutionalize technical assistance with the municipality of Ruse (Ruse and LED efforts to allow sustainabil- province), which was implementing a Participation in the SIMA07 real estate fair, held in Madrid, Spain, in May 2007, ity after USAID graduation. similar project. helped generate interest in opportunities in industrial parks in Bulgaria. Accomplishments in 2007 Certification Program In 2007 the FLGR economic devel- opment team took over the full implementation of the certification program in partnership with the InvestBulgaria Agency, a government agency that is part of the Ministry of Economy and Energy and that is authorized to market Bulgaria and to implement the country’s national policy for attracting investment. Ten new municipalities that joined the program in late 2005 were certified as a “municipality ready for business.” One municipality was certified “with excellence” after meeting an extended

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 21 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “From the infrastructure management Training Activities and Internships In 2007, eight Bulgarian LED profes- sionals enhanced their knowledge project, Svishtov now has a clear Training and internships have been and expertise through participating integral components of the CityLinks picture of the condition of its streets, in internships in seven U.S. cities. program in Bulgaria. LED training, Working in partnership with the including precise calculations of first delivered by U.S. consultants and American University in Bulgaria then passed on to Bulgarian partners, needed investment and maintenance (AUBG), FLGR delivered a basic LED builds the capacity of municipal LED priorities. This has allowed us to plan course to 19 individuals, from munic- specialists and of community lead- ipalities, nongovernmental organiza- the necessary funding to conduct some ers so that they can work together tions (NGOs), and private companies. to develop strong LED projects and of the urgent repairs of Svishtov’s In addition, several shorter basic LED attract investment to their cities. training courses were delivered to 180 streets. In this way, we will minimize Through internships in the United municipal officials, covering current States, Bulgarian LED professionals the long-term maintenance costs.” professional LED concepts and prac- have been exposed to common U.S. Stanislav Blagov, mayor of tices. The training was imparted with economic development practices, Svishtov, Veliko Turnovo province funding provided by the Ministry of the organizational structure of the Economy and Energy of Bulgaria. economic development offices in U.S. cities, and the best examples of busi- A July 2007 study tour took 12 ness retention and expansion activi- Bulgarian municipal officials, LED ties and industrial park development practitioners, and business repre- and redevelopment. sentatives to the Czech Republic to see industrial park development and management there.

Technical Assistance Provided by U.S. Experts and FLGR U.S. partners and FLGR provided technical assistance to a number of Bulgarian municipalities in 2007, helping the communities to build their skills in business retention and expansion, industrial park develop- ment, and economic development strategic planning. The technical assistance also assisted the munici- palities in preparing for certification as “ready for business.” In addition, FLGR helped the municipalities to get ready to participate in trade shows.

At the SIMA07 real estate fair, held in Madrid, Spain, in May 2007, participants from Bulgaria gave a presentation on the overall business climate in Bulgaria and the opportunities with industrial parks.

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 22 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks Business Inquiries and Marketing pects that were referred to the cities “In March 2007 we were awarded participating in BLEDP. In order to bring investment to a ‘municipality ready for business’ Bulgaria and its municipalities, the In order to promote the BLEDP net- certificate, which opens doors to FLGR team has been organized to work, meetings with representatives new opportunities and makes us feel handle business inquiries and coor- from the commercial offices of the dinate visits with potential investors foreign embassies in Bulgaria were confident about continuing to create via BLEDP’s marketing Web site organized. In addition, the FLGR an environment attractive to business.” (www.invest.bg). In 2007, FLGR applied and was accepted for mem- Ivan Asparuhov, mayor of , processed eight inquiries on behalf of bership in the American Chamber of province foreign firms and potential business Commerce in Bulgaria. partners, from Canada, , , Portugal, , and the United The program’s “Get Ready for States. Business” best practices sympo- sium was held in June 2007 in Marketing Bulgarian municipalities the Bulgarian city of Varna (Varna and publicizing the FLGR services province), drawing participants from have been core components of the more than 50 municipalities, NGOs, program for several years. In 2007, and private businesses. The CityLinks promotional brochures were devel- program achievements were high- oped, and the FLGR activities and lighted, and participating municipali- services were highlighted in daily ties were honored for their successes newspapers, a radio forum held by in economic development, waste the national radio station, and other management, and infrastructure local and national media. The FLGR management. also participated in a series of trade shows during the year, including Evgeni Zhelev (second from right), who is the mayor of , Bulgaria, and local the SIMA07 real estate show held in economic development specialists from the city receive recognition certificates from Madrid, Spain, generating 20 new Zdravko Sechkov (second from the left), of the Bulgarian Foundation for Local Government contacts. The participation in the Reform (FLGR), in September 2007. Madrid event was a joint initiative with the Bulgarian government’s Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency. Together with representatives of industrial parks from the municipalities of () and Ruse (), the FLGR team promoted general business opportunities in Bulgaria, including with industrial parks. In September, the FLGR also participated in the International Fair—Plovdiv, which was held in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv (Plovdiv province), and identified several pros-

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 23 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “Participation in BLEDP’s marketing Infrastructure Management prehensive assessment of 10 bridges Web site provides comprehensive Best Practices in the two cities and the development of a financial plan for their mainte- information to prospective investors Many Bulgarian municipalities have nance and replacement. These efforts been facing the challenges of both and once again brings us a step ahead built on best practices in the United maintaining old urban infrastruc- States, as applied to the Bulgarian of the competition, not only with ture and developing new systems. environment. In this way, there was municipalities but also at the regional In November 2000, an infrastruc- an expansion in the exchange of ture management partnership that infrastructure management expertise, and national level.” focused on developing asset and which, in previous rounds of program financial management plans for the Ivan Asparuhov, mayor of Mezdra, implementation, had been identified Vratsa province public infrastructure was established as a key area for needed cooperation. between the municipality of Veliko Turnovo (Veliko Turnovo province), and the city of Golden, Colorado. Accomplishments in 2007 The partnership was later success- In 2007, the replication activities fully replicated in the six districts of were successfully expanded to the the city of Plovdiv. These projects municipalities of increased the capacity of both Veliko (Veliko Turnovo province), Turnovo and Plovdiv to prepare for (), and manage long-term infrastructure ( province), needs. ( province), and Straldja ( province). All five munici- Based on the improved Veliko palities completed an inventory of Turnovo and Plovdiv capacity, the streets and sidewalks and also devel- replication of infrastructure man- oped financial management plans for agement best practices activities effective street operation and mainte- was expanded to 10 other Bulgarian nance. Also in 2007 the municipalities municipalities between 2004 and of Veliko Turnovo, Svishtov (Veliko 2007. The three-year effort built on Turnovo province), Plovdiv, and and utilized the expertise of Veliko Gorna Oryahovitsa continued imple- Turnovo and Plovdiv to help ensure menting their asset and infrastruc- sustainability of these best practices ture management financial plans, by in the future. securing funding for and carrying out planned street repairs. In addition, Veliko Turnovo and Plovdiv developed a new project in Both Plovdiv and Veliko Turnovo the field of infrastructure manage- completed the inventory of their ment related to bridge maintenance. bridges as planned under the project The new activities included a com- by assessing their current technical condition, expected lifespan, and The city government of Veliko Turnovo traffic safety. Financial plans for (Veliko Turnovo province) put in this new bridge management, maintenance, pavement as part of the community’s plan for the management and maintenance of and replacement were also devel- the street infrastructure. oped. Veliko Turnovo began carry-

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 24 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks ing out integration and visualization efforts through further expansion In August 2007, BAMEE took over of the inventory information using of the composting program and to responsibilities for ongoing com- geographic information system (GIS) sharing their knowledge and experi- posting program replication and computer software. Reconstruction ence with other Bulgarian munici- implementation, thus ensuring sus- designs were developed for two palities interested in replicating the tainability after USAID funding is no bridges in Plovdiv, and the munici- composting activities. The 2004–2007 longer available. pality planned for and began con- CityLinks program has involved 15 struction of a third, new bridge. additional Bulgarian municipalities Looking Forward that have built on and utilized the Further possible replication in expertise of Boliarovo and Tundja, With the completion of the best Bulgaria of the infrastructure manage- with the aim of ensuring sustainabil- practices symposium, the FLGR ment project for street and sidewalk ity beyond the end of the CityLinks established the beginning of new maintenance was promoted through program. joint activities with the munici- various mechanisms. These activi- palities, based on building capacity, ties included marketing of FLGR’s Accomplishments in 2007 knowledge, and expertise as well as consultancy services as well as further development of the BLEDP dissemination of information on the In 2007, the Bulgarian Association network. The network will focus on best practices developed under the of Municipal Environmental Experts improving the investment climate project using the Local Government (BAMEE) built on earlier, successful and on new job generation in alterna- Information Network database system replications of the composting pro- tive economic fields. The FLGR will (http://www.logincee.org), the FLGR gram in Bulgarian municipalities that continue to act as an international newsletter, the FLGR Web site, and BAMEE had carried out in partner- resource center, offering its services a special plenary session at the best ship with ICMA and FLGR. In 2007, through individual contracts with practices symposium. BAMEE continued to provide techni- municipalities. cal assistance and project develop- Replication of Waste ment coordination, and it helped In consultation with its U.S. partners replicate the composting activities in on LED activities, FLGR prepared Management Best Practices nine additional municipalities. The and began implementing strategic There was a successful implementa- municipalities prepared composting steps to phase out the USAID finan- tion of a pilot composting program in sites and organized educational cam- cial support and to ensure sustain- three municipalities in the CityLinks paign among citizens in rural areas. ability of FLGR beyond the CityLinks program’s 2002–2004 phase. That To bolster those efforts, with support program. The FLGR activities (mainly increased interest among other, from the CityLinks program, 5,000 in the LED field) and the expertise of mostly rural Bulgarian municipali- educational brochures were printed FLGR staff and of the expanded LED ties facing similar challenges in solid and then disseminated to the public. team gained throughout the imple- waste management. mentation of the CityLinks program Lessons learned regarding the will provide a solid base for further The municipalities of Boliarovo development and introduction of sustainable development of the (Yambol province) and Tundja composting programs in rural areas organization. (Yambol province), two of the were shared at a meeting of partici- original participating cities during pating municipalities and potential Prior to completion of the CityLinks the 2002–2004 phase, increased their participants in (Stara Zagora Program, the FLGR announced its capacity in solid waste manage- province) in January 2007 and also desire to continue operating as a ment. The two are also committed to at the best practices symposium, in coordinator of the BLEDP network. improving their waste management June 2007 in Varna. The FLGR will offer a package of

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 25 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “One of the important aspects of this services to network participants, palities and private sector enterprises including managing BLEDP’s mar- seeking to implement projects. As CityLinks program is that useful and keting Web site; providing infor- a result of the aggressive marketing lasting contacts were established mation about upcoming financing campaign in 2007, the FLGR helped with other municipal administrations. mechanisms for LED projects; sharing establish a new BLEDP network by information on future economics- signing contracts to provide services These contacts will help our future related events in Bulgaria and abroad; on an annual basis to 18 of the 39 cooperation, and not only at the disseminating investors’ inquiries to municipalities that have been involved administration level. In the end, they BLEDP participants; providing ser- in LED activities in the most recent vices related to organizational devel- CityLinks phase. Some of the 21 other will have a positive effect on the opment of city administrations and municipalities postponed their deci- population of the municipality as training of LED professionals; orga- sion about becoming a member of nizing meetings for the LED team; the network, pending the results of a whole: better services, resources, maintaining contacts with institutions local elections scheduled for the fall activity management, and involvement related to economic development; of 2007. of the residents in making decisions and organizing informational meet- ings on legislative changes concern- The FLGR LED team developed an on the implementation of specific ing economic development and the annual plan for service delivery to projects.” investment climate at the local level. member municipalities and introduced a new concept for BLEDP’s marketing Mitko Andonov, mayor of Straldja, The package of services will be Web site. FLGR also began dissemi- Yambol province offered for a fee that is based on a nating an electronic LED newsletter to participating municipality’s popula- the BLEDP members, providing them tion and that is consistent with the information and analysis about busi- principles of equality and the capac- ness opportunities, economic surveys, ity of the public sector. funding opportunities, upcoming events, and economic best practices The FLGR declared its readiness to at the local level. The goal of the continue operating as an interna- newsletter is to motivate the cities to tional resource center as well. In that exchange LED information, which will Workers from the municipality of Gorna Oryahovitsa (Veliko Turnovo province) role, FLGR will provide consultations allow them to improve the business measure the dimensions of a local road on the implementation of specific climate for their communities and for as part of an inventory for a financial and LED projects and work with munici- the rest of the country. asset infrastructure management plan.

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [ 26 ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks