Dynamics of the Spatial Concentration of Economy in Bulgaria after 2007 – Opportunities and Barriers

Bulgaria's membership in the EU in 2007 is a turning point in our history. Following the slogan "Europe of the Regions", the country has turned to seeking the right instruments for regional development and planning the spatial concentration of individual industries to meet common policies and standards in the Union. The complex contemporary socio-economic processes and dynamically changing development conditions impose some specific requirements on the scientific justification of political and purely economic decisions. This implies a good knowledge and proper use of the basic models for analyzing trends in the dynamics of the spatial concentration of economic activities and taking into account the characteristic features of the development of the territory concerned. Although more than 15 years have passed since our accession, the differences between the regions are widening. Moreover, Bulgaria is also home to the poorest region in the entire Union. By 2024, there is still a serious gap between the real and the desired picture in this direction. This paper seeks to address this problem through an in-depth statistical and economic study of the dynamics of economic concentration in the country since 2007, with the aim of tracing the dynamics of the spatial location of economic activities. The subject of the study is the spatial and sectoral concentration of enterprises in the country, and the object of study is enterprises and employees in the territory of the country in aggregate form by planning regions and type of activity carried out by sectors of the economy. Through the macro analysis carried out, the existing trends over the years are sought and outlined, and findings on the dynamics of the spatial concentration of the economy in Bulgaria are derived. A chronological approach is used and time constants and variables are identified. The chosen methodology allows to trace the evolution of these dynamics while identifying persistent favorable and/or unfavorable correlations and practices. The approach based on the past will indicate in which directions policy instruments supporting the development of regions should be focused. The results obtained show the systematic absence of national and regional policies to manage the processes of spatial concentration of economic resources in territorial terms.