The Transition
That Never HappenedAt Least Not The Way That Was Recommended

Ivan Angelov

Ivan Angelov, prof., corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), was born in Balgarin, a village near Harmanli. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Economics “Karl Marx” in Sofia (now University of National and World Economy) with a major in Economics. He worked as research fellow at the Economic Institute of BAS (1960), and later – as supervisor at the “Macroeconomic Policy” section of BAS (1996). During the period between 1970 and 1981 he was director of the UN industrial development organization, UNIDO. In 1987 he became professor, and in 1995 – a corresponding member of BAS.

He was chairman of the Supervisory Board of Balkanbank (1995) and economic advisor to several Prime Ministers - Georgi Atanasov (1986-1990), Andrei Lukanov (1990) and Zhan Videnov (1995-1997).

In 1990 professor Ivan Angelov was chief economic advisor to Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov.

Richard W. Rahn

Richard W. Rahn is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute and the Chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, and serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review. He is also a weekly economic columnist for The Washington Times, and his column appears in many other newspapers around the world. Previously, Dr. Rahn served as a member of the Board of the Cayman Island Monetary Authority (which regulates the world’s largest off-shore financial center), and Vice President and Chief Economist of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He was the founder of the Novecon companies, including Sterling Semiconductor, now owned by Dow Corning. He has written hundreds of articles for leading newspapers, has contributed to numerous books and professional journals, and is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Growth. Dr. Rahn has taught at a number of universities, testified before the U.S. Congress on economic issues more than seventy-five times, and is a frequent commentator on radio and TV. He served as an economic advisor to numerous high-level government officials around the world, including former Prime Minister Gaidar in Russia, and President George H.W. Bush in the 1988 campaign, and as the co-chairman of the Bulgarian Economic Growth and Transition Project. He holds Ph.D. from Columbia University, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Pepperdine University.

Ventzislav Dimitrov

Ventzislav Dimitrov was born in Sofia. He majored in International Economic Relations at the Higher Institute of Economics “Karl Marx” in Sofia (now University of National and World Economy) and in Mathematics at the University of Sofia “Kliment Ohridski”. He was Member of Parliament at the Seventh Grand National Assembly, and also a deputy at the 36th, 37th, and 38th National Assemblies. In 2001 he became one of the founders of the National Movement Simeon II. He was Economic Advisor to President Georgi Parvanov during the 2007-2012 period.

In 1990 Ventzislav Dimitrov was deputy at the Grand National Assembly and chairman of the Budget Committee in Parliament.

Ronald Utt

Dr. Ronald Utt is an independent writer and economic consultant in Fredericksburg, VA. Prior to that he was a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and also served as President Reagan's Director of Privatization. In 2012 Ron published a book on the War of 1812 titled Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron. Dr. Utt’s book offers readers an intriguing chronicle of the War of 1812 as well as a unique perspective on the birth of the U.S. Navy.

In 1990, Ronald Utt was a vice president of the National Chamber Foundation and worked closely with Richard Rahn to plan, finance and execute the Bulgarian transition project.

Boyan Slavenkov

Boyan Slavenkov, docent, has a Ph.D. in Economics. He worked as research fellow at the Economic Institute of BAS until 1991. Currently Slavenkov teaches economics at the “Management and Quantitative Methods in Economics” department of Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”. He was Economic Advisor to President Zhelyo Zhelev (1992-1997).

Mark Bloomfield

Mark Bloomfield is the president and CEO of the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) and its affiliated economic policy think tank, Center for Policy Research (see www.accf.org). The ACCF is a prominent American business sponsored organization which advocates, researches and educates on pro-growth economic, tax, energy, regulatory and trade policy. He had that same position during the time of the Bulgarian Economic Transition Project. Mark has had a long relationship with Bulgaria. He lived in Sofia in 1962-1964 when his father served at the U.S. Legation. Three decades later he returned to Bulgaria as part of the Transition Project and pursued his earlier connection and interest with the country, its politics, its economy, its culture and sports. Mark ran the Sofia marathon in 1996. More importantly, he met his wife, a French lady, living in Bulgaria. Mark spoke at the dedication of the Vasil Levski statute in front of the Bulgarian embassy in Washington, DC. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian-American Society.