Key Findings
- No single city outperforms all others across every topic measured. Each city has strengths in different areas: Plovdiv leads in Dispute Resolution and Business Insolvency, Pleven in Business Entry, and Sofia in Utility Services.
- All six cities perform best in Business Entry, supported by digital public services, adherence to good regulatory practices, and fast online registration: 83% of LLCs were registered online in 2023.
- The largest performance gaps are observed in Dispute Resolution and Business Insolvency, where differences in court efficiency and public service quality drive disparities.
- Time and cost to obtain permits and utility connections vary widely, for example, electricity connections take 229 days in Pleven whereas 270 in Plovdiv, and building permit costs range from 32% to 141% of income per capita.
- City size is not a predictor of performance: smaller cities like Ruse compete with larger cities like Sofia in several areas, demonstrating that effective implementation is not limited to scale.
