2018: Public-Private Partnership as a Platform for Law, Financing, Management and Public Participation
In 2018, ppp.bg became established as a platform for professional and academic dialogue on public-private partnership (PPP), with a particular focus on the development of this model in Bulgaria and South-Eastern Europe. The archive from that year clearly reflects an effort to connect the legal and institutional framework with the practical issues of financing, infrastructure project management, public participation and university education.
The year’s central event was the Second International Conference ‘Challenges to the Development of Public-Private Partnerships in South-Eastern Europe’, held on 27 November 2018 at Inter Expo Center – Sofia. Detailed program follows the text.
The initiative brought together several academic and professional communities. The organisers included”
- the Faculty of Law of St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo
- the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski
- the Faculty of Structural Engineering of the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy
- the European Law Society
- the Civil Institute
- the Bulgarian Society of Construction Law
- the Bulgarian Association for Construction Project Management
- the European Association of Public-Private Partnership
The main objective was to create a shared space for discussion among public institutions, the private sector, banks and financial institutions, universities, professional organisations, regulatory and supervisory bodies, and investors. This interdisciplinary approach is one of the initiative’s defining features: PPP is considered not merely as a legal or financial mechanism, but as a model whose successful implementation requires sound regulation, institutional capacity, professional management, access to capital, transparency and public trust.
The final programme was structured around five interrelated areas. The first addressed the legal and institutional framework for PPPs, with an international perspective presented by Prof. Sara Valaguzza of the University of Milan and the European Association of Public-Private Partnership. This was followed by discussions on PPP management and construction contracts, risks in road projects, public participation, and open government. In this context, Diana Bancheva also presented the topic ‘Challenges of the PPP for the Open Government’.
A separate panel was dedicated to financing public-private partnerships. Discussions covered financial instruments as a means of implementing PPPs, the accounting framework in Bulgaria, and project and structured finance. The topics reflected the understanding that the sustainability of a PPP project depends not only on the availability of private capital, but also on appropriate risk allocation, a sound financial structure, and clear contractual relationships.
The fifth thematic block – university education for PPPs – was also particularly important. Its inclusion in the programme demonstrates the initiative’s long-term perspective: the development of public-private partnerships requires professionals who understand law, economics, finance, construction, project management and public administration in an integrated manner.
The 2018 ppp.bg archive also places the Bulgarian debate in a broader international context. The European Association of Public-Private Partnership aimed at developing a shared transnational understanding of PPPs, as well as materials from the International Institute of Administrative Sciences linking public-sector governance with sustainability and institutions’ capacity to respond to new societal challenges.
In this way, 2018 outlined one of the main strands in the development of PPP.BG – the creation of a professional environment in which public-private partnership is considered comprehensively: from legislation and contracts, through financing and management, to transparency, public participation and the preparation of future professionals. This approach remains particularly relevant to today’s debate on infrastructure investment, good governance and the quality of public services.
