At the time the Center for the Study of Democracy
was established in the late autumn of 1989, none of us - twelve
young scholars who founded it - could foresee the dynamic
development it would undergo. Bulgaria was already on the road to
democratic transition, and we cherished romantic illusions about
the depth and speed at which reforms would proceed. Five years
later, we still find ourselves deeply involved in the institutional
reform debates, but we now realize that these transformations will
take much longer to complete than we had initially expected.
The pages that follow describe the many and varied
activities which the Center undertook in the areas of economic,
legal and institutional reform in 1994. Without going into details
here, I would like to emphasize the highlights of our work.
Because it is vital for the recovery of the national
economy, privatization has always occupied a conspicuous place in
the Center's research and advocacy activities. In 1994, our
economic reform efforts were concentrated on the key issues of
privatization, private sector development, and foreign debt
conversion. Most prominent was the assistance which CSD provided to
municipal authorities in the implementation of the privatization
law. Particularly, we helped prepare the regional development and
municipal privatization program in the Bansko municipality. Serious
efforts were also devoted to the creation of a Mutual Privatization
Fund, and Investment and Privatization Fund with the Ministry of
Agriculture.
CSD developed policy recommendations for the
expansion of US-Bulgarian trade and investment which were the
outcome of the Bulgarian-American Economic Cooperation Forum held
in December. The recommendations were presented to President Zhelev
and President Clinton shortly before the US-Bulgarian summit in
Washington in February 1995.
In the field of legal reform we combined our law
drafting efforts with activities aimed at developing a viable
"third sector" in Bulgaria. A successful outcome of these efforts
was the finalization of a draft law on non-profit organizations in
Bulgaria.
1994 was also the year in which we expended the
geographical scope of our partner institutions. Along with the
support of US organizations, CSD received increased funding from
European institutions. This was the first year of operation of the
Information and Documentation Centre of the Council of Europe in
Sofia, and the year in which CSD worked on two major research
projects funded by the European Union. With the support of the EU,
we began preparatory work on a long-term project, "Europe 2000:
Bulgaria and the European Union", the outcome of which will be a
White Paper on Bulgaria's accession to the European Union. The
Center has created strong bipartisan support for this project which
will help guarantee its successful implementation.
CSD has been one of the pioneers of independent
social and opinion research after 1989. Survey information and
analyses of social, economic and political developments in the
country have provided a solid foundation for much of the Center's
activities. Building upon experience and tradition, this year we
extended the range of our work to include market research which we
consider an important instrument for achieving financial
sustainability.
Such a range of activities bears testimony to the
hard and dedicated work of my colleagues. I take pride in the
achievements of our Center, and expect that this record will
continue in the future.
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