The Entrepreneur of the Bulgarian Revival Facing the Bankruptcy

The article presents an analysis of bankruptcy as an important event of the market relations during the Bulgarian National Revival period. The problems arising around bankruptcies are the main motives for the creation of modern commercial law. The many bankruptcies in Europe in the early 19th century caused by the wars and the crises necessitated the codification of the commercial law. Then the French ‘Code de commerce’ appeared, promulgated in 1807. The first commercial laws of most countries in Europe and the world were created on the model of the French ‘Code’. The Ottoman Commercial Law, promulgated in 1850, was also created on the basis of French ‘Code de commerce’. Most of its content is aimed at bankruptcies. The article presents data on bankruptcies of Bulgarian merchants and companies in the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s – how, when, and for what reasons they happen. Bankruptcies of some of the rich and well-known Bulgarian companies are also presented. At the end of the article the following main conclusions are made: 1/ On the Bulgarian market, as part of the Ottoman market, the bankruptcy was documented only in the third quarter of the 19th century, i.e. after the promulgation of the Ottoman Commercial Law. 2/ Most bankruptcies are caused by the general economic situation in the region and in Europe – the crises in the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s, uncollected debts from traders and companies, bankruptcies of partners. The reason for the bankruptcies is also the poorly kept commercial documentation of the traders and the companies. 3/ There are also intentional bankruptcies („cunning bankruptcies” as defined by the Ottoman Commercial Law), but the data about them are incomplete and doubtful, as the real situation in most cases remains hidden from the authorities and the commercial courts. 4/ Bankruptcies directly concern the main professional and moral categories, assessed as important during the era – the honesty, locality, reputation, self-consciousness of the commercial class. A larger study is needed to show in which direction these categories are developing in the process of formation of the Bulgarian economic culture after 1878.