Publication: Bulgaria : Railways Policy Note
Loading...
Published
2009-03-03
ISSN
Date
2013-03-25
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Under a succession of reform-minded governments, the Bulgarian rail sector has achieved some ambitious targets-stable traffic volumes and hard-won financial stability that was endorsed by investor confidence during a recent bond issuance for EUR 120 million. Today, all Acquis Communautaires relevant to the rail sector have been adopted. Vertical unbundling of services separated public railway infrastructure from operation of railway transport services; the track access charges that were introduced opened market access to rail infrastructure and allowed cost recovery; and public service contracts were laid out to clarify government contributions to the sector. In addition, Bulgaria's substantial accomplishments in improving railway operating efficiency included reducing the State-owned railway company staff by 40 percent; creating a holding company structure with three legally independent subsidiaries and business lines-freight, passengers, and traction services. The various roles of the State in Bulgaria's rail industry- policymaker, regulator, owner, and client require a cultural change if Government is to optimize the balance among public policy choices, entity management constraints, and available fiscal space. Overcoming the railway industry's challenges will be difficult and should not be underestimated; the current financial crisis will appear to militate against immediate action in an investment-intensive sector such as infrastructure, but the railway industry in Bulgaria has never been better positioned to move forward. Postponing the completion phase of railway reform will not only squander future economic prospects through continued asset deterioration and loss of market share, but also lay waste to the past investments that have brought the country so far along in attaining today's railway market position and financial stability.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2009. Bulgaria : Railways Policy Note. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12886 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Tracks from the Past, Transport for the Future : China's Railway Industry 1990-2008 and Its Future Plans and Possibilities(World Bank, 2009-05-01)This report describes and explains how, in the period 1990-2008, China's railway sector has contributed and responded to the incredibly challenging transport demands generated by China's economic development, and highlights the plans and possibilities that lie ahead. In 1949, China had only 22,000 km of poorly maintained and war-damaged railway line, less than 1,000 km of which was double-tracked with none being electrified. Since then, the government has transformed the railway sector into a vital element of China's national transport system and a key contributor to China's extraordinary record of economic growth. Today, China Rail is the second biggest carrier of rail freight and the biggest carrier of passenger transport in the world. It has the largest combined rail traffic task of any national railway system in the world, carrying about a quarter of the world's railway traffic on about seven percent of the global route-km of public railway. This paper describes how the Ministry of Railways, and its constituent regional railway administrations and other entities, have created a modern rail system by adopting proven international practices and technologies, giving them distinct Chinese characteristics, and adapting them to Chinese circumstances.Publication Bosnia and Herzegovina - The Road to Europe : Transport Sector Review - Main Report(Washington, DC, 2010-05)This report highlights deficiencies and indicates priorities for a prospective national transport strategy and action plan for further consideration by key stakeholders. The overall objective should be the development of a transport system, and an institutional framework, that facilitates rather than constrains, economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A strong transport system contributes to economic growth by reducing the economic distance to markets by expanding opportunities for trade, by improving the competitiveness of national locations for production and distribution, and by facilitating mobility for a country s citizens; while minimizing the social and environmental costs of the transport sector. The report concludes by recommending actions that aim to improve the institutional framework, improve the sustainability of the transport sector, facilitate broad based economic growth, and mitigate the social and environmental detriments associated with transport. Specific policy recommendations are presented to accomplish these conclusions.Publication Bosnia and Herzegovina - The Road to Europe : Annex 5. Inland Waterways Transport - Realizing the Potential(Washington, DC, 2010-05)This report highlights deficiencies and indicates priorities for a prospective national transport strategy and action plan for further consideration by key stakeholders. The overall objective should be the development of a transport system, and an institutional framework, that facilitates rather than constrains, economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A strong transport system contributes to economic growth by reducing the economic distance to markets by expanding opportunities for trade, by improving the competitiveness of national locations for production and distribution, and by facilitating mobility for a country s citizens; while minimizing the social and environmental costs of the transport sector. The report concludes by recommending actions that aim to improve the institutional framework, improve the sustainability of the transport sector, facilitate broad based economic growth, and mitigate the social and environmental detriments associated with transport. Specific policy recommendations are presented to accomplish these conclusions.Publication Supporting Export Competitiveness through Port and Rail Network Reforms(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-01)Transport and logistics infrastructure is a critical determinant of the competitiveness of a country's producers and exporters. Well-functioning transport and logistics infrastructure relies not just on hardware, but critically on the operating environment that emerges from the interaction between private sector operators; national policies and regulatory regimes; and, in many countries, state-owned owners and operators of core infrastructure. This paper looks at the case of South Africa, where constraints in access, pricing, reliability, and network interfaces, particularly in the port and rail network, are eroding the competitiveness of South African exporters. The paper draws on interviews with a wide range of exporters along with secondary research to examine South Africa's port and rail network, and explores the underlying factors contributing to these constraints, including chronic underinvestment, an inadequate regulatory environment, insufficient private sector participation, and weak regional integration. The paper concludes with a review of the reforms needed to deliver a more broadly accessible and competitive rail and port sector based on international case examples. It highlights the need for institutional reforms to promote competitive pricing; private sector participation to increase investment and improve service delivery; information and coordination to address market failures and improve access; and cooperation to improve intermodal, interregional, and institutional interfaces.Publication Republic of Sudan Diagnostic Trade Integration Study Update(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-10-31)The Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) update identifies priority actions in support of the Government of Sudan (GOS) commitment to increase trade and diversify the economy. The current study builds on the earlier 2008 DTIS by identifying the major factors holding back the increase of agricultural exports and economic diversification. The report identifies a package of measures that will support Sudan to more effectively realize its economic potential. The DTIS Update presents an updated action matrix that summarizes the recommended policy reforms. This matrix was validated with a wide variety of stakeholders in Khartoum in September 2014. Together, the action points will contribute to reducing trade costs, thereby enabling Sudanese enterprises and farmers to compete more successfully in regional and global markets and realize the GOS objectives of expanding and diversifying exports for increased economic growth. The recommendations accept that any changes in tariff schedules should be ‘revenue neutral,’ given the existing challenging fiscal situation.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Human Resources for Mental Health Service Delivery in Viet Nam(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-30)"Human Resources for Mental Health Service Delivery in Viet Nam" provides an overview of the country’s current state of and challenges to mental health service delivery. The framework of the report is composed of four interconnected domains: health care, social services, education and mental health literacy, and informal care systems. The organizational structure, significant achievements, critical gaps, and problems in mental health service delivery at the institutional and community levels are highlighted in terms of public demand, availability, accessibility, and quality of service. The report uses new empirical data from surveys, workshops, and group discussions with key stakeholders. It describes the mental health workforce in Viet Nam and analyzes critical issues, including the shortage of professionals (psychiatrists, mental health nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, occupational therapists, and others). Given the need to develop all levels of mental health care, the report addresses the uneven distribution of the provision of service between levels of health care institutions and rural and urban regions, competency mismatches, job satisfaction, recruitment, and challenges to the retention of mental health workers. The report also examines the need for mental health education and training at the institutional and structured program levels, as well as the supply constraints to the future development of the mental health workforce. The interdisciplinary team of authors emphasizes the urgent need for Viet Nam to strengthen its human resources for mental health service delivery toward achieving universal health coverage, including all mental disorders. The report’s evidence-based recommendations include multisectoral workforce planning; transformation of education and training; coordination, integration, and retention of the available workforce; improvement of the workforce governance framework; and strengthened mental health financing.Publication Economy Profile of Bhutan(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-11-01)Doing Business 2018 is the 15th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Bhutan. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies; for 2018 Bhutan ranks 75. Doing Business measures aspects of regulation affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in this year’s ranking. Data in Doing Business 2018 are current as of June 1, 2017. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms of business regulation have worked, where and why.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Indonesia Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-23)Indonesia’s economy remains resilient amid worsening global conditions. GDP grew at 4.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) in Q1-2025, slightly lower than previous post-pandemic quarters. Domestic demand was impacted by reduced government consumption and lower investment. Budget efficiency measures led to a contraction in public consumption, while investment in the construction and manufacturing sectors dipped due to investors’ concerns over domestic and global policy uncertainty. Meanwhile, declining commodity prices worsened Indonesia’s terms of trade. The supply side showed notable contributions from the agriculture and services sectors. Businesses and households are adjusting to economic uncertainty, but weak consumption of middle-class households has been persistent since the pandemic. The GOI structural reform agenda could accelerate growth further. In response to rising global policy uncertainty, the GOI devised a program of deregulation including reforms to the business environment and licensing, investment liberalization, trade and logistics reforms, and digital services. These reforms complement other reforms currently in play, like those related to financial sector deepening, and accompany the demand stimulus that the GOI is targeting through its priority programs. If implemented, these reforms could gradually expand the economy’s capacity, unlock further FDI, boost investment returns, and ensure productivity gains. The report suggests that this will translate into better job creation and raise GDP growth to 5.3-5.5 percent in 2026-2027. This report identifies the necessary steps to reach the target of providing 3 million housing units each year. In short, to meet the housing target and supercharge current efforts, the government needs to act as both a housing provider and a housing facilitator: instituting housing regulation reforms, accelerating public-funded housing programs, and creating an enabling environment that attracts private investment in Indonesia. Directly, 3.8 billion dollars in annual public investments can create an estimated 2.3 million jobs and mobilize 2.8 billion dollars in private capital. Reforms can create an enabling environment for housing investments and indirectly help multiply this impact.Publication Labor Market Experience and Falling Earnings Inequality in Brazil: 1995–2012(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2021-03-25)The Gini coefficient of labor earnings in Brazil fell by nearly a fifth between 1995 and 2012, from 0.50 to 0.41. The decline in other measures of earnings inequality was even larger, with the 90-10 percentile ratio falling by almost 40 percent. Applying micro-econometric decomposition techniques, this study parses out the proximate determinants of this substantial reduction in earnings inequality. Although a falling education premium did play a role, in line with received wisdom, this study finds that a reduction in the returns to labor market experience was a much more important factor driving lower wage disparities. It accounted for 53 percent of the observed decline in the Gini index during the period. Reductions in horizontal inequalities – the gender, race, regional and urban-rural wage gaps, conditional on human capital and institutional variables – also contributed. Two main factors operated against the decline: a greater disparity in wage premia to different sectors of economic activity, and the “paradox of progress”: the mechanical inequality-increasing effect of a more educated labor force when returns to education are convex.