Dear international reader,

The monthly newsletter of the Foundation for Local Government Reform begins its fourth year of existence. It is the only Bulgarian monthly edition that is distributed to all municipalities in the country, the Parliament, institutions and bodies of the central government, many NGOs, and the media. With the newsletter the FLGR has set itself the ambitious goal to respond to the professional interest and needs of a large circle of experts, working in local government structures and municipal councils; to cover the wide spectrum of problems and innovations in local self-government; to disseminate best-practices of Bulgarian municipalities; to provide a forum for discussions of successful international innovations and programs, which can, in the short run, be introduced in Bulgaria and, eventually, become part of the ongoing reform in local self-government.

The Newsletter has also been an open forum for dissemination and exchange of information on the stages, results, and accomplishments of FLGR s programs. These include international discussion fora on pressing issues of local and regional development, twinning of Bulgarian and foreign municipalities, training programs in various public administration areas, development of communication strategies of municipalities, etc.

This is the Third Annual English Digest Edition of the Local Self-Government Reform Newsletter. This year it contains some of the most interesting articles from the 1998 issues of the Newsletter. I do hope, that it will provide useful information to everyone interested in Bulgaria s development and in the varied activities of the Foundation for Local Government Reform.

We all wish you enjoyable reading!

Your comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

January, 1999

Ginka Kapitanova,

Executive Director,

FLGR