National CG Codex of Bulgaria: Performance under the Crisis

The paper is based on building up a Matrix of concurrence – a specially devised in-strument using in details the OECD Principles, White book and the two ROSCs for Cor¬po¬rate Governance in Bulgaria. It gives an opportunity to evaluate the degree of concur¬rence of Bulgarian code to the international standards and to make some suggestions. The overall results show a high level of concurrence. Regardless of some differences the Bulgarian code covers well, the basic set of standards and practices typical for the modern CG. A number of detailed comments and recommendations resulting from the Matrix provide ground for a discussion targeted on improvement of the Code. The other set of issues addressed in the paper consist of the methodology for assessment and the process of application of the Code. It is based on the scorecards filled up by a small sample of firms and show the widest and the narrowest applied CG practices and provide chance to compare them by sectors of application. The general conclusion is, that the best practices, both with mandatory and prescribing character, launched in Bulgarian CGC are widely applied. There are a lot of practices with excellent application as well as some with yet difficult endor¬sement. Although, the latter do not challenge the overall performance of the code and rather show the process in development.