Publication: The Current Regulatory Framework Governing Business in Bulgaria
Date
2001-07
ISSN
Published
2001-07
Author(s)
O'Brien, Thomas
Filipov, Christian
Abstract
The paper identifies the key elements of
the regulatory environment for business in Bulgaria, to
serve as a research guide, while recognizing that the rapid
development of new legislative, and regulatory procedures,
are greatly needed, largely to meet the European
Union's (EU) legal, and regulatory standards. It
describes business creation, with the Commercial Code
providing much of the central, comprehensive regulation.
Also, another route for business creation in the private
sector has been offered through the privatization process of
state-owned assets, and, the use of concessions can also be
viewed as another route to the creation of private business.
However, and although concession legislation sets an overall
framework of reasonable adequacy, reports from practitioners
in the marketplace reveal much remains to be done to forward
this agenda. In regulating corporate operations, the stake
of shareholders in the formation of corporate policy,
reflects shared participation in the corporate capital base;
thus to engender confidence in corporate management
standards, and underpin the broadening of share ownership,
priority actions should take place. Bulgarian competition
law, follows EU doctrine, which penalizes companies for
discriminatory behavior, monitored by the Commission on the
Protection of Competition, with defined discretionary
powers. The study further highlights accounting standards,
investment channels, and the tax regime, suggesting priority
actions for company transformation such as enhanced training
for judges, and court administration procedures to
rationalize the case load. Overall, recommendations include
accurate drafting of primary legislation; quality
improvement of secondary legislation, setting the pace for a
timely implementation, as well as a more effective judicial
system for corporate affairs, and services delivered by the
public administration to businesses.
Citation
“O'Brien, Thomas; Filipov, Christian. 2001. The Current Regulatory Framework Governing Business in Bulgaria. World Bank Technical Paper;No. 513. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/5e8e4674-285e-5319-bbaa-cebdc79d35a9 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”