World Bank Group
The World Bank Group comprises five institutions: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) established in 1945 as a result of the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) established in 1956, the International Development Association (IDA) established in 1960, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) established in 1988 and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) established in 1966.
The World Bank Group is one of the biggest sources of financing and knowledge for the developing countries worldwide. The activities of its individual organisations are subject to common goals and priorities: reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. This also determines the broad sectoral scope and the specifics of the World Bank financing, as well as its role in the international financial community as a group of organisations rendering assistance in all sectors of the economy, i.e. from infrastructure to social and environmental issues. When providing aid, they are guided not only by commercial and economic criteria for effectiveness and return but by criteria related to urging positive reforms and sustainable development. In addition to the traditional areas, the World Bank Group organisations are therefore a key source of financing in activities of societal importance with a low rate of return or unrecoverable costs, i.e. social services, health care, education, human capital development, environmental protection, etc.
The number of the World Bank Group organisations varies and as of August 2023, 189 countries are members of the IBRD.
The Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group, which, as a rule, meet in person once a year and comprise one representative (governor) and one deputy (alternate governor) from each member country, are the supreme governing body. The Governors delegate the taking of decisions on specific issues to 25 Executive Directors who meet regularly and in person in the Bank’s Headquarters in Washington, with each of them representing an individual country or a group of countries. The usual activity of the Group’s institutions is performed by a President, operational management and staff under the overall supervision of the Executive Directors, with the President presiding the meetings of the Executive Directors and being responsible for the Bank’s overall management. Given the specifics of the ICSID, its governance structure is simpler, consisting of an Administrative Council and a Secretariat.
The IBRD is the main organisation of the World Bank Group. The IBRD grants loans only to its member countries, their political subdivisions or in case of a state guarantee provided by the relevant member country by focusing on medium-income countries or low-income solvent countries. The Bank has an ‘A-grade’ Borrower rating, which enables it to fund its activity at the most favourable conditions on the international financial markets. The IDA supports the least developed countries. The IFC focuses on investment, advice and private sector asset management, while the MIGA focuses on granting guarantees in return for political and non-commercial risks under foreign investment and loans. The ICSID is committed to the settlement of international investment disputes.
The Republic of Bulgaria is a member of all World Bank Group organisations. It joins the IBRD, the IFC and the MIGA in the early 1990s, became a full-fledged ICSID member in 2001 and its membership in the IDA entered into force in November 2021.
The country’s subscribed share capital in the IBRD consists of 7,609 shares (around USD 917.9 million or around 0.3% of the total subscribed capital) as of March 2023. The functions of World Bank Group governor for Bulgaria are performed by the minister of finance and those of the alternate governor are performed by a BNB deputy governor.
The contracted government and government-guaranteed loans from the IBRD to Bulgaria total around USD 3.3 billion. The loans support projects and programmes in the financial sector, infrastructure, social sector, health care, environment, telecommunications, energy, etc. Since 2010 the focus of the country’s relations with the IBRD has shifted from traditional investment and structural lending to the provision of knowledge and advisory services.
The activities of the IFC and the MIGA in Bulgaria have been performed with various intensity and are aimed at supporting private investment mostly through share participation and lending, as well as issuing guarantees in favour of foreign investors. The presence of the IFC is moderate, while following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU that of the MIGA is limited to the guarantees already issued.
A Shared Services Center of the World Bank Group has been operating in Sofia since 2019 with the aim to provide internal support for the Group’s operations worldwide.
Address of the World Bank Headquarters in Washington:
The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433 USA
Tel: (202) 473-1000
Permanent Representation of the World Bank in Sofia:
Advance Business Center
2, Samara Str., floor 4, 1715 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel.: (359-2) 969-72-29
Fax:(359-2) 971-20-45
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/bulgaria
Shared Services Center:
Advance Business Center
2, Samara Str., 1715 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel.: (359-2) 801-83-00