The Honorary sign “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria and honorary plaque “Marin Drinov” of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences received the Economic Research Institute (ERI-BAS) for its 70th anniversary. They were presented to Prof. Alexander Tasev – Director of the Institute, for the overall contribution of the institute to the development of economic science in Bulgaria and its tireless activity in the field of economy, education and business.
The President’s honorary sign was handed over by Valentina Taneva: Rumen Radev’s Advisor on Education, Science and Innovation, and the plaque – by the President of BAS, Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy. This took place at a solemn celebration of the 70th anniversary of ERI – BAS in “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of BAS in the presence of the Academy’s Board, rectors and representatives of almost all economic higher education institutions in Bulgaria, employers’ organizations and industry unions, independent economists and experts.
In his welcoming speech on the occasion of the 70th anniversary, the director Prof. Alexander Tasev noted key moments from the history of the institute, the achievements of economists over the years, the developed reports on the impact of the global economic and financial crisis in our country, the accelerated development of the Bulgarian economy, industrialization, demographic crisis, energy and more. As part of significant scientific developments, he highlighted the preparation of the country’s annual economic development reports with 3-year forecasts and the report on the construction of Belene NPP as part of the draft “National Energy Strategy focused on electroenergy with a horizon to 2050”.
In his congratulatory address to the economists, the President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy, emphasized that over the years the Economic Research Institute of BAS has always asserted its autonomy and policy on economic processes and “has always been a national leader in the field of economy, science and business”.
The President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Biser Petkov, the Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova, the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria, the Union of Economists, rectors of universities from Sofia, Svishtov, Stara Zagora, Varna and more sent congratulatory addresses to the scientists.
The round anniversary coincides with the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the establishment of BAS – the oldest and largest scientific institution in the country, founded nine years before the Third Bulgarian State, the successor of the Bulgarian Learned Society.
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The Economic Research Institute is the successor of the Bulgarian Economic Society, founded in 1895: a public organization of representatives of economic thought and business practice in Bulgaria. The activity of the society was aimed at collecting, researching and publishing data on the state of the national economy and seeking ways to improve it, which had a significant impact on the economic life in the country during the first half of the twentieth century.
The idea for the establishment of the Economic Research Institute of BAS was born in 1947. The first, in the history of the Academy, annual scientific plan for 1948 stated that the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences could hardly fully solve the tasks assigned to it by law and government unless an economic institute was established. Thus, by decision of the Governing Council of BAS, in 1949 the Economic Institute established itself as an independent specialized unit. Its first director was Acad. Ivan Stefanov.
In 2010, during the restructuring of the units of BAS, the Economic Institute was renamed Economic Research Institute.
