District MIZIA

Hayredin

BYALA > SLATINA Population (2014) 176,782 Borovan > Area (sq. km) 3,619.8 KRIVODOL

> Number of settlements 128

> Share of urban population (%) 58.9 VRATSA ROMAN

Overview

espite the fact that average salaries are relative- pared to the other districts in the Northwestern Region of Dly high in the district, the low employment rate , but it remains worse than that for Bulgaria. In ed- and the unfavourable demographic processes impact ucation there is a disparity of results – a good proportion the rate of total incomes. Investment activities have of children in school, but poor results of school-leavers. remained less intensive than the country average, Healthcare is relatively well developed, and expenditure but municipalities have managed to attract European on environmental protection in relation to the local pop- funds. The tax environment is favourable, the effective- ulation was the highest in Bulgaria in 2013. The district’s ness of the administration is improving, but the level of crime rate has been traditionally high, but the work of infrastructure development remains low. courts has been relatively fast. The number of visits to local The population age structure is more favourable com- cinemas, museums and theatres has been relatively low.

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

Vratsa District 125 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Income and Living Conditions Infrastructure In 2013 the average annual gross salary was 9,383 BGN in Vratsa is the district that has the lowest grade in infra- Vratsa District compared to the national figure of 9,301 structural development. Although the road network BGN. Only (capital city) and have density is identical in the district to the country aver- higher levels. The relatively high salaries in the Kozloduy age, 17.7 km per 100 sq. km, the quality of roads is not NPP are the most likely reason for that. Nevertheless, good. 21.2% of roads were in a good condition in 2014, due to the low employment rate and the demographic which was the lowest relative share in the country – al- situation, the structure of household incomes is unfa- most half the average. The railway network density (3.1 vourable. In 2014 incomes from salaries accounted for km per 100 sq. km) was lower than the national average 48.3% from gross household incomes, and those from of 3.6 km per 100 sq. km. pensions to 33.4% thereof, the country average being 38.5% of households had Internet access in the district in 56.2%, and 26.7% respectively. In 2014 the annual aver- 2014, again the lowest share compared to Bulgaria’s aver- age income per household member amounted to 4,234 age. The relative share of persons who used the Internet BGN, the country average being 4,813 BGN. was 48.2%; lower levels have been recorded only in the In 2012 17.9% of the population lived in households districts of , , and Stara Zagora. with low work intensity, and the relative share of the poor reached 26.6% compared to the country average of 21.0%. In 2012 GDP per capita amounted to 9,105 BGN compared to the country average of 10,958 BGN. Taxes and Fees The tax environment in Vratsa District is favourable in Labour Market terms of both the rates of taxes and fees and their stabil- ity. The immovable property tax for legal entities is the The economic activity of the population increased in 2013 only tax with an average level higher than the national and 2014 reaching 48.3%, the highest level since the begin- average. The annual license tax for retailers features the ning of the economic crisis. Nonetheless, the labour market biggest variance when compared with the country aver- situation has not improved so far. Vratsa is one of the seven age. In the district, the average rate of this tax is 6.84 districts where the unemployment rate has continued to BGN per sq. m in 2015 compared to the national average rise reaching 18.1% in 2014 compared to the country aver- of 12.72 BGN per sq. m. age of 11.4%. The employment rate went up slightly com- pared to 2013 but stayed below 40%. Only the districts of The levels of most local taxes and fees have remained , and have lower employment rates. unchanged throughout the entire period from 2012 to 2015. The only changes have affected the vehicle tax, In 2014 there were 65.4 people aged 15–19, who were to which was cut in Borovan Municipality in 2013 (from join the labour market, per 100 individuals, aged 60–64, 2.00 to 1.10 BGN per kW) and raised in Kozloduy in 2014 who were to leave it. (from 1.10 to 1.15 BGN per kW). Investment Despite the bettering of the indicators in 2013, the invest- Administration ment activity is still unable to reach the 2010 levels. FDIs accounted for 157.7 m euros in the district as of the end of The municipalities in Vratsa District were close to the 2013. Relative to the number of the local population, they country average in the 2015 Active Transparency Rat- equalled 891.9 euros per capita, which constitutes barely ing of local government bodies by the AIP Foundation. 27% of the country average. Investments in FDIs have grad- The municipalities of Kozloduy and Krivodol were rated ually increased but remain lower than pre-crisis levels. highest (70.1 points out of 88.4 points, 62.4 points re- As of 31 January 2015, the municipalities of Vratsa Dis- spectively), and the municipalities of Borovan and Hay- trict have managed to draw down 159.7 m BGN as ben- redin had the lowest grades – 27.6 points, 34.6 points eficiaries under the EU operational programmes. This respectively. One-stop shop services have been intro- accounts for 903.6 BGN per capita, which is the fifth best duced in most municipalities, and e-services are most result among all districts. The municipalities of Mezdra, developed in Kozloduy, Oryahovo and Vratsa. with 1,485.6 BGN per capita, and , with The inclusion of the district’s territories in cadastral maps 1,241.6 BGN per capita, have the highest rate of absorp- lags behind. In 2014 the cadastral map covered 7.1% of the tion of EU funds while the municipalities of Mizia and district and included territories fell within the boundaries Borovan have the lowest – 171.2 BGN per capita and 30.4 of just three municipalities: Kozloduy, Mezdra and Vratsa. BGN per capita respectively. For comparison, the average national figure was 18.1%.

126 Regional Profiles 2015 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Demography The age dependency ratios, calculated as the ratios of ple. The infant mortality rate was lower than the country the population aged 65+ to the population aged 0–14 average from 2007 to 2013, but it increased in 2014 to and to the population aged 15–64, present a rather un- 8.7‰ compared to the country’s average of 7.6‰. favourable demographic development in the district. While these ratios are 144%, and 30% respectively for the country, those for Vratsa District are 171% and 36%, Security and Justice which sets an unfavourable trend and a considerable de- Vratsa is one of the districts with the highest share mographic burden on the active population. (95.0%) of criminal cases tried by the District Court to The net migration rate was negative and it was among be closed in the first 3 months. The share of pending the top ones in Bulgaria in the past couple of years criminal cases is low – about 3% in 2013 compared to (–7.4‰ in 2013 and 2014). The population in 2014 was the country average of 8.5%. This effectiveness could 76,300 people less than it was in 2000 as a result of on- partly be explained by the relatively low workload of pe- going emigration and deteriorating age structure. That nal judges in the District Court. In 2013 there were 6.3 means that the district’s population has declined about cases per judge per month on average compared to the three times faster than the country average. Vratsa Dis- national average of 8.3 cases per judge. trict is one of the least urbanised in Bulgaria. 58.9% of Simultaneously, the crime rate has been relatively high. the population lived in towns and cities in 2014 com- The registered crimes against the person and property pared to the country average of 73.1%. relative to the population were higher than Bulgaria’s average rates during the greater part of the period Education 2000–2014. Vratsa District has a very high net enrolment rate (grades 5th through 8th) – 85.0%. is the only other dis- Environment trict with such a figure for this indicator, and the rate Vratsa was the district which had the highest spending for the country is 78.6%. The share of repeaters is also on environmental protection relative to the population smaller in the district than the country average. The rela- in 2013 – 153.4 m BGN or 852.6 BGN per capita com- tive share of dropouts from primary and secondary edu- pared to the national average of 288.9 BGN per capita. cation was 2.7% in 2013 compared to 2.4% for Bulgaria. Carbon dioxide emissions total 91.4 t/sq. km, which is The average grade of school-leavers at state matricula- more than three times less than the country average of tion exams has usually been poorer than the country av- 293.9 t/sq. km. erage and 2015 was no exception – the average grade was 4.1 in the district compared to 4.2 in the country. Slightly more than 55% of the population lived in set- The share of failures drastically increased – from 4.1% in tlements with access to sewerage in 2013 compared to 2014 to 7.7% in 2015. the country average of 74.7%. The population connec- tivity to waste water treatment plants has also lagged – There were 774 university students in the district in 2014 32.4% of the district’s population compared to 56.4% for – the highest number since 2000. The share of graduates Bulgaria. A waste water treatment plant was launched increased for three years in a row reaching 22.1% com- in the summer of 2015 in the town of Mezdra, which is pared to the country average of 27.0%. likely to improve this indicator in the coming years.

Healthcare Culture The share of health insured persons was 88.6% of the The intensity of cultural activities was lower than the district’s residents in 2014, the country average being country average throughout the period 2009–2014. Mu- 87.1%. The ratio of the population to the number of seum attendances were 3.5 times fewer than the coun- general practitioners and internists was more favour- try average of 662 attendances per 1,000 people in 2014. able than it was nationwide. Simultaneously, the ratio Visits to theatres and libraries were closer to the national to cardiologists (11,049 people per cardiologist) was al- average. most double the country average. In 2014 the number of visits to local cinemas ranked sec- The number of beds in MpHATs increased from 724 in ond lowest among all districts possessing cinemas – 17 2010 to 810 in 2014 (4.6 beds per 1,000 people) which visits per 1,000 people. Only the district of neared the ratio of the number of beds to the local pop- recorded a smaller number of visits (9 per 1,000 people), ulation to the country average of 4.8 beds per 1,000 peo- and the country average was 706 per 1,000 people.

Vratsa District 127 Key Indicators for the District of Vratsa

Economic Development 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

GDP per capita (BGN, current prices) 7,245 7,841 8,682 9,105 n.a. n.a.

Average annual income per household member (BGN) 3,447 3,798 3,395 3,723 4,108 4,234

Average annual gross salary (BGN) 7,696 8,509 8,657 9,231 9,383 n.a.

Relative share of people living below the district’s poverty line (%) 23.8 16.9 20.5 26.2 n.a. n.a.

Annual average economic activity rate of the population 15+ (%) 45.8 43.7 45.3 44.0 46.2 48.3

Annual average employment rate of the population 15+ (%) 42.1 39.9 41.0 39.9 39.4 39.5

Annual average unemployment rate (%) 7.9 8.6 9.3 9.4 14.9 18.1

Number of non-financial companies per 1,000 people 32 33 31 32 32 n.a.

Expenditure on the acquisition of fixed tangible assets per capita (BGN) 1,656 1,909 1,555 1,474 1,625 n.a.

Cumulative FDI to non-financial enterprises per capita (EUR) 840 916 929 834 892 n.a.

Relative share of households with Internet access (%) 26.4 27.0 34.5 45.8 48.2 38.5

Share of roads in good condition (%) n.a. 28.6 29.3 26.7 17.9 21.2

Share of territory included in cadastral maps (%) 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1

Social Development 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Rate of natural increase (‰) –9.4 –10.4 –9.9 –11.1 –10.1 –10.8

Net migration rate (‰) –5.2 –6.5 –3.2 –5.8 –7.4 –7.4

Relative share of the population aged 25–64 with tertiary education (%) 19.0 20.0 18.0 18.2 20.4 22.1

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

Percent of failed students at state matriculation exams 4.4 4.2 3.7 6.3 3.6 4.1

Health insured persons as share of the population (%) 89.1 86.0 88.6 88.0 87.4 88.6

Cases of hospitalization in general hospitals 189.7 170.1 165.6 206.3 227.3 191.0

Crimes against the property per 10,000 people 116.9 143.9 137.6 121.1 117.3 86.1

Share of pending criminal cases (%) 1.8 2.8 3.3 3.8 3.0 n.a.

Expenditure on environmental protection per capita (BGN) 633.9 842.6 494.1 357.3 852.6 n.a.

Share of the population living in settlements with public 30.9 31.0 32.4 32.4 32.4 n.a. sewerage systems, connected to WTTP (%)

Number of visits to cinemas per 1,000 people 7.4 13.0 13.3 8.3 2.7 17.0

Number of visits to theatres per 1,000 people 71.8 118.0 182.6 204.1 232.4 278.9

128 Regional Profiles 2015