Development of the Institute of Concessions in Bulgaria (1883–2018)

In recent decades public-private partnerships (PPPs) represent a modern solution for the efficient use of public resources with increasing economic and social importance. The state's ability to structure and stimulate the development of long-term institutionally sustainable relationships with business for the development of key public activities is a sign of the maturity of its economic and social policy. The study applies comparative document analysis. The temporal scope coincides with the promulgation of the first and the lastest legislative act regulating the relations between the state and private initiative, with a focus on one of the earliest forms of PPP applied worldwide - concessions. The paper periodizes and identifies the evolution and functions of the concept of concession in Bulgaria, based on the legislative framework and the adopted practices. The regulation of this form of cooperation solves specific tasks during different stages of socio-economic development in the country. In post-liberation Bulgaria, concessions were aimed at supporting the establishment of a modern market economy. Nowadays, the institutionalisation of PPPs, and concessions in particular, is applied as a tool for good public governance.