Bulgaria > Regional Economic Development Center (REDC Bulgaria)

Fundraising Status:	Closed
Kiva Notes:	Dear KIVA lenders, In 2005 the REDC in Sliven, Bulgaria partnered with KIVA to give short term loans to business owners in Sliven, and more specifically in the gypsy ghetto in Sliven. During our partnership with KIVA we gave a total of 37 loans. Many of these businesses were able to expand because of our loans and were very grateful that they had the opportunity to fund their businesses through our partnership. As there is for any new process, there was a learning curve in the beginning stages of our lending. In September of 2006 we funded our first 6 loans, 3 of which went on to be defaulted. But as we started working more closely with community leaders we sought their advice and they were able to guide us more closely as we distributed our no-collateral required loans and returns were much more successful. Additionally, in our eagerness to give loans to businesses, we gave two loans to business owners in a town 3 hours away from here based on a reference. Although we trusted the reference, it was very difficult for us to keep track of the loans and we were not able to recover all of the money. We have tried contacting the owners but have been unsuccessful. Although our partnership with KIVA has come to a close, we continue to work with businesses in Sliven to help them expand and develop new strategies. Currently our organization has 12 businesses operating in our rent-subsidized business incubator and we are working on a project to help craft makers more easily display and sell their products at our facility. We will continue working with established businesses and will seek out new ways to help new entrepreneurs accomplish their goals. Nikolay Sidjimov REDC Sliven, Bulgaria
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Other Information Sources

MIX Profile:	None
Network Affiliation:	None
Social Performance Reporting Level:	N/A
Consumer Protection Principles:	N/A
Field Partner Website:	View Website
Email Contact:	slidjimov@sliven.net

Update from Kiva

REDC was acquired by another Kiva partner, Mikrofond EAD in Bulgaria.

Original description

REGIONALEN CENTAR ZA IKONOMICHESKO RAZVITIE This organization currently focuses its efforts in and around Sliven, Bulgaria. REDC Bulgaria can be contacted directly at redc@sliven.net. Listen to an interview with Greg Kelly, a volunteer working with REDC, here www.kivapodcast.com/index.php?post_id=184560.

Repayment Performance on Kiva

		This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
	Start Date On Kiva	Feb 15, 2006	Oct 12, 2005
	Total Loans	$36,700	$102,384,385
	Amount of Raised Inactive Loans	$0	$150,650
	Number Of Raised Inactive Loans	0	236
	Amount of Paying Back Loans	$0	$45,111,350
	Number Of Paying Back Loans	0	63,845
	Amount of Ended Loans	$36,700	$57,122,385
	Number Of Ended Loans	37	83,644
	Delinquency Rate	0.00%	4.24%
	Amount of Paying Back Loans Delinquent	$0	$1,913,000
	Amount of Paying Back Loans	$0	$45,111,350
	Number of Paying Back Loans Delinquent	0	6,018
	Default Rate	14.46%	1.96%
	Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted	$5,305	$1,119,957
	Amount of Ended Loans	$36,700	$57,122,385
	Number Of Ended Loans Defaulted	6	3,369
	Currency Exchange Loss Rate	0.00%	0.00%
	Amount of Currency Exchange Loss	$0	$0
	Refund Rate	2.72%	1.09%
	Amount of Refunded Loans	$1,000	$1,112,375
	Number Of Refunded Loans	1	1,446
Updated as of November 23, 2009 2:33 AM

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

		This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
	Loans to Women Entrepreneurs	34.21%	78.19%
	Average Loan Size	$992	$403
	Average Individual Loan Size	$992	$591
	Average Group Loan Size	$0	$1,494
	Average Number Of Entrepreneurs Per Group	0	0
	Average GDP Per Capita (PPP) in Local Country	$10,844	$3,462
	Average Loan Size / GDP Per Capita (PPP)	9.15%	11.66%
	Average Time To Fund A Loan	14.03 days	2.27 days
	Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan	$70.71	$177.75
	Average Loan Term	14.58 months	9.31 months
Updated as of November 23, 2009 2:33 AM

Journaling Performance on Kiva

		This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
	Total Journals	65	51677
	Journal Coverage	71.05%	28.14%
	Journal Coverage, Kiva Fellows	0.00%	0.21%
	Journal Frequency (Average Per Loan Per Year)	0.56	0.32
	Average Number Of Recommendations Per Journal	4.32	10.30
Updated as of November 23, 2009 2:33 AM

Borrowing Cost Comparison

	This Field Partner	Median for MFI Peers in Country	All Kiva Partners
Average Interest Rate and Fees Borrowers Pay (Portfolio Yield)	N/A	N/A	35.21%
Average Loan Size (% of Per Capita Income)	N/A	N/A	23.43%
Average Partner Return On Assets	N/A	N/A	0.24%

Field Partner Staff

Stefka Fandakova
Greg Kelly
Julietta Nikolova
Nikolay Sidjimov
Jason Smith
Margarita Stefanova
Radostina Yordanova

Country Fast Facts

Country: Bulgaria

Capital: Sofia

Official Language: The official language is Bulgarian, and nearly all inhabitants speak it. About half of the Turkish population speaks Turkish as its mother tongue. Bulgarian is a Slavic language that uses an alphabet first developed in the ninth century by Cyril and Methodise. English is now the most popular language for children to study, followed by German and French.

Population: 7,450,349

Avg Annual Income: $10,844

Labor Force: agriculture 11%, industry 32.7%, services 56.3%

Population Below Poverty Line: 13.4%

Literacy Rate: 98.60

Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000): 20.55 deaths

Life Expectancy: 72.03 years

Currency: Bulgaria Leva

Exchange Rate: 1.3146 BGN = 1 USD