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This report explores the major governance deficiencies in the Bulgarian energy policy regarding the strategic, institutional, and legal framework of the sector. The report focuses on state capture of energy policy by private political and economic interests that led to bad management practices in the sector, to lack of consistency in the legal and regulatory framework, to deteriorating investment environment, and to the involvement of the country in infrastructure projects that undermine the national long-term strategy and policy priorities. This has affected negatively the Bulgarian taxpayers and consumers, has jeopardized the financial stability of the state-owned energy companies, and, ultimately, has reduced the energy security of the country. The report recommends that the implementation of the country’s energy policy should be reconsidered and should be based on EU priorities and on sound cost-benefit analyses with regard to Bulgaria’s energy security.
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DG Regional Policy at the European Commission published a Report on Bulgaria's progress on the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Energy Efficiency in Buildings and an Evaluation Report on the Achievements of the Cohesion Policy in Bulgaria. The two reports were prepared by CSD experts in the framework of the Expert Evaluation Network delivering policy analysis on the performance of the Cohesion Policy 2007 - 2013. The report provides an overview of the available support by the EU Structural Funds and the national instruments promoting RES and energy efficiency in buildings. It also describes the legislative framework and the operation of various state institutions in this area. Tthe report lists the remaining challenges to the management authorities, the businesses and the households which aim to utilize more efficiently the EU financial assistance and to reduce the energy poverty in the country.
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The current report reviews existing policies for energy sustainability in Bulgaria and the EU, the main achievements and challenges in their implementation, and discusses the central issues to Bulgaria’s sustainable development agenda. The report presents a summary of the transition to sustainable development in Bulgaria, and offers policy recommendations for improving the governance of the Bulgarian green energy sector. Achieving security, sustainability, and competitiveness in the energy sector is a daunting task for a union of twenty-seven states, especially since the issue of securing the supply of energy has traditionally been a national matter. In their drive to reach climate change and energy targets during the past decade, European governments have utilized quick fix solutions like turning to nuclear power or replacing coal with gas, thus burdening future generations with nuclear waste disposal and increasing EU’s energy dependence on Russia. Yet, two major events – the gas crisis of January 2009 and the Fukusima nuclear disaster of March 2011 – have reshaped the thinking and rekindled the debate on the ways of achieving energy security and stability of supply in Europe.
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The report explores the major deficiencies in the strategic, institutional, and legal framework of the Bulgarian energy sector. The analysis of the management of state-owned energy companies and large energy infrastructure projects reveals the disregard for even the most fundamental principles of accountability and control in their planning and implementation. This has affected negatively the Bulgarian taxpayers and consumers, has jeopardized the financial stability of the state-owned energy companies, and, ultimately, has reduced the energy security of the country. The report recommends that the implementation of the large energy infrastructure projects be reconsidered and be based on a sound cost-benefit analysis with regard to Bulgaria’s energy security.
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The launching of the project for liquefied natural gas transport known as LNG between Romania, Georgia and Azerbaijan, is considered faster and a more efficient project than Nabucco within the European Southern Corridor. The project is designated as the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) and the cost has been estimated at between 4 and 6 billion Euro. This transport agreement will be developed by private companies from those three countries in cooperation with a consortium of businesses and financial institutions. The AGRI had drawn the attention to the Moldovan authorities as a real prospect of improvement of the energy potential and reducing of dependence on Russian natural gas. Taking in advance the potential of the project that assures a stable and reliable route of LNG supplies, it might be an advantage for Moldova to be involved in the project. Construction of a liquefied gas terminal in the Giurgiulesti port would be a priority for the energy security of Moldova, especially considering entirely the dependence of country on Russian gas supplies.
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Energy sector is a strategic field for Republic of Moldova Geopolitical situation in the region, the tension between Ukraine and Russia, impose the acceleration of establishing interconnections with Romania, thus ensuring energy security of Republic of Moldova The contract on electrical energy supply to the RM was negotiated and signed in March. The negotiated price has a major impact on country’s economy and directly affects the whole society. Setting the electricity prices excessively high causes extra pressure on the population’s welfare and the monthly bills people pay; while, high dependency on electricity imports from Ukraine and a single generating facility in Transnistria (Steam Electric Power Station ”Moldoveneasca” owned by RAO UES of the Russian Federation) create an energy security vulnerability. Diversifying electrical energy sources through building a connection with Romania allow attaining an acceptable energy security level.
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The National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) are supposed to be the member states’ roadmap for achieving the EU’s 2050 ambitious carbon neutrality goal. The policy measures within these strategic documents are meant to reconcile the tension between past path dependency on carbon intensive national energy sectors and economies and the drive towards new green technologies. The Bulgarian NECP reveals moderate progress on energy efficiency, renewable energy and regional power market integration goals. Yet it does not build a strong foundation for enabling a transformational policy path until 2050. Neither does it clearly outline the spill-over effects from the energy sector into all aspects of the economy and society. This policy brief analyses the main elements of the final version of the Bulgarian NECP and proposes targeted policy measures on how to better implement it over the next decade.
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The year 2011 has all the chances to become a fruitful one for the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova by the fact that this year a very favorable situation is created for building the theme of a sustainable development of the energy sector in the Republic of Moldova. In the form of a new government, it offers the Republic of Moldova a new status and a new motivation to contribute to the increase of the country's energy security and to participate in an energy market based on principles of equity and mutual benefits. Through a consistent approach to the problems in the energy sector, an efficient cooperation between the responsible and targeted structures in this sector and the capitalization of all the opportunities that are created in 2011, the achievements can be truly solid.
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The closer the period of signing a new natural gas procurement contract with the Russian Federation approaches, the more current become the historical problems related to the collaboration between SA Moldovagaz and SAD Gazprom. The stake is the same, obtaining a contract as favorable as possible for both parties since 2012. Obtaining such a result for the Republic of Moldova is conditioned by the historical debts that have accumulated to Gazprom. The problem would be much simpler if there were only debts accumulated on the right side of the Dniester, but since the Transnistrian region is in the middle, the situation is even more complicated. The purpose of this policy brief is not to propose and argue solutions for the possibilities of debt settlement but to clearly identify the problems that formed these debts and risk generating new donations to Gazprom.
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The role of standardization and stakeholder involvement in implementing green management in organizations is examined within the framework of the project. Theoretical justifications related to voluntary standards at international, European and national levels as "soft" regulators in the field of "green"/sustainable management of organizations are considered. The conceptual framework of the study is based on the overall standardization process, going through the first phase of "Standards creation" and the subsequent phase of "Standards Implementation" with the participation of stakeholders from the "green" management of organizations. A systematic literature review of existing national research surveys examining the role of standards in achieving green management has been made. A methodology for empirical research on attitudes towards the implementation of green management of organizations in the light of the creation and implementation of standards as "soft" regulators among stakeholders has been developed. The analysis of the content (content analysis) of the conducted 30 semi-structured interviews has allowed to outline the main categories according to the process model of standardization. Three main models of standardization for "green" management have been identified: "de jure" standards of standard-making organizations; market-based “de facto” standards and legal standards based on government policies and measures. The correspondence between the revealed models and the implementation of the green standards by the respondents depending on their affiliation to the respective stakeholder group has been established. In conclusion, opportunities have been identified to improve the implementation of standards as a voluntary tool for achieving green management.
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This monograph is an attempt to contribute to the new but currently dynamically developing direction of basic research in the discipline of “economics and finance” concerning non-financial reporting. The novelty of this publication lies in the following: (1) it disentangles the quantity of non-financial disclosure into five thematic aspects (environment, employees, human rights, anti-corruption and community involvement) and six content items (business model, non-financial KPIs, policies — including due diligence processes implemented and outcomes of these policies, principal risks and managing these risks) and develops individual nonfinancial indices in the cross-section of these dimensions, taking into account the requirements of the Directive 2014/95/EU; (2) it focuses on the rarely examined specific subsets of non-financial reporting, for example, anti-corruption, human rights, community involvement and risk-related disclosure; (3) it disaggregates the quality of non-financial disclosure into materiality and reliability and develops self-constructed indices applying the non-financial reporting regime introduced by the Directive and EU Guidelines; (4) it is the first study to test the effectiveness of the Directive, comprehensively taking into account the quantity and quality of disclosures over such a long period of time — three years before and three years after the implementation of the Directive; (5) it explores the relevant determinants of non-financial disclosure, including company characteristics (size, profitability, leverage, industry), corporate governance measures (state ownership, foreign ownership, CSR committee), primary stakeholders (investors, creditors, consumers and employees), secondary stakeholders (environment, regulators, standard setters, e.g., GRI and NFIS), experience in sustainability, stand-alone sustainability reports, external assurance, international presence, public expectations, participation in the UN Global Compact as well as inclusion in the Respect Index.
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While the book was being prepared, important questions about the Islamic Finance and Banking system in Malaysia were determined, and short and convincing answers were tried to be given. The book covers 33 critical questions under 6 chapters, namely General Information About Malaysia, General Information About the Malaysian Economy, Islamic Banking and Methods Used in Malaysia, Islamic Finance in Malaysia, Investment Instruments in Malaysia, and Social Projects and Support in Malaysia.
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Given the importance and complexity of financial markets, it is necessary for everyone working in this field to keep up with current knowledge and theories. Sources such as "The Evolution of Financial Markets " can provide a deeper understanding of financial markets and offer readers current trends and practices. This book covers topics such as the evolution of financial markets, banking, risk management, markets, and institutions. The chapters in the book examine the functioning of financial markets worldwide and the tools used in these markets, the role of risk management and financial institutions, and the history and future of markets.
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The concept of causality, developed by Wiener (1956) and Granger (1996), has been a cornerstone for examining the dynamic relationships between time series. Since the Granger causality relationship helps researchers to formulate a suitable model and obtain better predictions for the variables, it has attracted attention in the literature and the Granger causality test has been employed in many studies. In this study, current methods used in Granger causality tests are included. In this context, in the relevant sections, the regime-dependent causality test proposed by Krolzig (1996), the lag-augmented VAR-based causality test developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1996), the causality test in variance proposed by Hong (2001), the frequency domain test developed by Breitung and Candelon (2006), the asymmetric causality test developed by Hatemi-J (2012), and Fourier Granger causality test proposed by Enders and Jones (2016) are discussed theoretically and empirically. We would like to thank all the chapter authors who contributed to the book.
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Given the importance and complexity of financial markets, it is necessary for everyone working in this field to keep up with current knowledge and theories. Sources such as "The Evolution of Financial Markets: Banking, Risk Management, Markets and Institutions" can provide a deeper understanding of financial markets and offer readers current trends and practices. This book covers topics such as the evolution of financial markets, banking, risk management, markets, and institutions. The chapters in the book examine the functioning of financial markets worldwide and the tools used in these markets, the role of risk management and financial institutions, and the history and future of markets.
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The world is experiencing a severe change and transformation in every field with the effect of globalization that emerged in the last quarter of the 20th century. These changes make themselves felt primarily in the economic area. In particular, the globalization and liberalization of financial markets bring along a series of changes, opportunities, and risks in both economies and financial systems worldwide. Owing to the effect of economic globalization, and the emergence of complex and dynamic financial transactions that significantly redound the uncertainties, notedly in emerging markets, have gradually increased market participants’ financial risks. This process has augmented the efforts of banks, non-bank financial institutions, institutional investors, and companies to search for methods and tools to better control the risks they face by applying complex strategies to hedging. To this end, parallel to the development of new financial instruments and markets that led to the emergence of complex and dynamic financial transactions, risk measurement and management techniques have also significantly changed. The global risks that have recently arisen from different sources like health, energy, food, climate, military, politics, etc., are more evident in the economic area. Many studies have been conducted in the academic literature to measure and understand the economic impacts of these global risks based on different sources and to develop solutions. This study, titled “Economic and Financial Issues in Emerging Markets,” is the product of such an effort. This study contains fifteen chapters written by twentynine academicians and experts in their fields. The book includes mainly theoretical and applied studies on risk, return, exchange rate, stock market, emerging markets, economic growth, energy, and logistics.
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The Conference Proceedings contain papers presented at the International Scientific Conference on: "TRENDS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SYSTEM AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC". It has been held during the period 15-17 March 2023 within the project "ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE TRANSPORT SECTOR AND MEASURES FOR RECOVERY", funded by the Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science under the Contract No. INI - KP-06-DK2/4 of 30.03.2021. The project has being implemented by a team from the Department of Transport and Energy Economics at the UNWE. The scientific forum brought together scientists from the social sciences, with the primary objective of identifying and discussing options for early management of crises arising from pandemics and strategies for post-crisis recovery. Thirty-three papers were presented during the Forum. Conference participants also held a roundtable discussion on "Issues of Sustainable Development and Economic and Societal Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic". The International Scientific Conference was attended by scientists and researchers from 10 different scientific organisations, including the University of National and World Economy, University of Plovdiv "Paisii Hilendarski", Todor Kableshkov University of Transport, MB University in Belgrade, Serbia, Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, University of Food Technologies - Plovdiv, Institute of Psychology - Ministry of Interior, Thracian University - Stara Zagora, International Higher Business School, University of Economics - Varna, the Higher School of Insurance and Finance, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
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This volume contains the scientific papers presented at the Thirteenth International Conference „Challenges of Business Law in the Third Millennium” that was held on 17 November 2023 in online format on Zoom. The conference is organized each year by the Society of Juridical and Administrative Sciences in partnership with the Romanian Academy of Scientists. More information about the conference can be found on the official website: www.businesslawconference.ro. The scientific studies included in this volume are grouped into five chapters: • Emerging Corporate, Contractual Compliance and Ethical Issues in a Global Context. The papers in this chapter refer to: consequences for the breach of company directors duties: the USA perspective; the limited liability company from the perspective of the latest legislative changes in Romania; economic justifiability of work on Sunday, dilemmas and suggestions; consequences of confirming the restructuring agreement in the rescue procedure; implementation of the deposit-return system, an absolute first for Romania; precautionary measures to protect the debtor`s estate from insolvency proceedings; modern business with ancient tools: warranty against eviction in Roman law and its inheritance in the French, German and Italian civil codes; the rental contract in the HoReCa field, theoretical and practical aspects, respectively alternative dispute resolution methods (ADR) in the field. • Navigating Cross-Border Legalities. This chapter includes papers on: trafficking in human beings: particulars of criminal legal characteristics; the right to defence: an indispensable right for the rule of law; restorative justice between the need to bring to justice those guilty of committing international crimes and conventional crimes and the implementation of the national reconciliation process; certain legal aspects of family businesses in Hungary; coercive administrative measures applied in financial legal relations according to Bulgarian legislation; the „criminal” nature of the measure of suspension of the operating authorization of a legal person as a tax warehouse; tax evasion - between legality and crime; cumulation of disciplinary liability with other forms of legal liability. • Legal Perspectives on Technological Disruption in the International Sphere. The papers in this chapter refer to: changing circumstances and the crisis of international law: the rebus sic stantibus and its use in legal, political and contemporary history; the role of artificial intelligence in the digital banking system; possibilities for the use of artificial intelligence in the activities of the judiciary; MiCA: direct applicability coupled with challenges for the national legislation; peculiarities and controversies regarding the credit (financing) agreement; perspectives regarding the reconfiguration of rest time in current Romanian law – the right to disconnect. • International and European law Dynamics in a Changing Business Environment. This chapter includes papers on: international law: the lost metaphor? - reflections on the current wars; the operator in the environmental liability - the European Union and Portuguese regime; the protection of Ukrainian migrants in Portugal: from the international and European regime to Portuguese law; Romania’s accession process to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, prospects, advantages and compatibility; invalidity of treaties, as a legal sanction specific to public international law; constitutional aspect through the prism of international principles; • Practical and Administrative Considerations. Legal Implications. The papers in this chapter refer to: decentralization in public administration: redefining power for more effective governance; exercising the right of preemption in the field of national cultural heritage; the controversies of Israel judiciary reform; legal responsibility in the operating room in the particular case of retained surgical foreign bodies; effectiveness of the social protection system – with reference to the minimum inclusion income; quality and interest to address the Romanian National Council for the Settlement of Complaints in the field of public procurement in judicial practice; the double-edged sword of the lapse of the arbitral award as a ground for setting aside the arbitral award. This volume is aimed at practitioners, researchers, students and PhD candidates in juridical sciences, who are interested in recent developments and prospects for development in the field of business law at international and national level. We thank all contributors and partners, and are confident that this volume will meet the needs for growing documentation and information of readers in the context of globalization and the rise of dynamic elements in contemporary business law.
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On 13th October 2023, the 22nd international scientific conference was held, organized by the Department of "International Economic Relations and Business" at the University of National and World Economy. During the conference, traditionally, the topics were related not only to Bulgaria's membership in the European Union, but also covered a wide range of other issues such as politics, economy, sustainable development, decarbonization, trade, marketing, innovation, technology, etc. It was held under the patronage of the Rector of UNWE, Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov.
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