Genesis and Development of Fiscal Decentralization in the Republic of Bulgaria (1879–2025)

In its development as an independent and sovereign state after the Treaty of San Stefano, Bulgaria has passed through various forms of governance – monarchy, communism, and democracy – whose political characteristics have naturally shaped the formation and allocation of its public budget. Throughout this almost century-and-a-half period, the country’s fiscal position has been determined not only by its internal institutional structure but predominantly by the broader geopolitical environment, given the dynamic processes unfolding in the Balkans, in Europe, and globally. The influence of these factors – including their impact on political, economic, military, and other strategic decisions – has produced a markedly ambivalent imprint on Bulgaria’s public finances, with significant repercussions for its overall economic development. Labeled at times the “Japan of Europe†or the “Prussia of the Balkans†, and having endured two national catastrophes, the global economic crises of 1929 and 2008, the 1989 Perestroika, the hyperinflation of 1997, the COVID-19 crisis of 2019, among others, Bulgaria has continued its steadfast development as a sovereign state, demonstrating remarkable resilience and capacity for recovery. The state budget has thus become the primary instrument guiding the country’s progress on its path toward a stable and evolving modern Bulgarian state, providing both the resources and the mechanism for the effective redistribution of public goods.