Regional Economic Development Center (REDC Bulgaria)

Bulgaria

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.

Kiva Fundraising Status

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

See all fundraising loans from this field partner >>

Repayment Performance on Kiva

	This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
Start Date On Kiva	Feb 15, 2006	Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans	$36,700	$280,866,475
Amount of Raised Inactive Loans	$0	$8,475
Number Of Raised Inactive Loans	0	16
Amount of Paying Back Loans	$0	$76,717,975
Number Of Paying Back Loans	0	92,492
Amount of Ended Loans	$36,700	$204,140,025
Number Of Ended Loans	37	280,128
Delinquency Rate	0.00%	2.44%
Amount In Arrears	$0	$1,253,784
Outstanding Portfolio	$0	$51,303,862
Number of Loans Delinquent	0	11,530
Default Rate	14.46%	1.12%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted	$5,305	$2,280,201
Amount of Ended Loans	$36,700	$204,140,025
Number Of Ended Loans Defaulted	6	6,779
Currency Exchange Loss Rate	0.00%	0.00%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss	$0	$12,824
Refund Rate	2.72%	1.25%
Amount of Refunded Loans	$1,000	$3,520,925
Number Of Refunded Loans	1	4,156

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

	This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
Loans To Women Entrepreneurs	34.21%	74.89%
Average Loan Size	$992	$389
Average Individual Loan Size	$992	$618
Average Group Loan Size	$0	$1,631
Average Number Of Entrepreneurs Per Group	0	8
Average GDP Per Capita (PPP) in Local Country	$10,844	$3,403
Average Loan Size / GDP Per Capita (PPP)	9.15%	11.42%
Average Time To Fund A Loan	14.03 days	3.96 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan	$70.74	$98.13
Average Loan Term	14.58 months	9.26 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

	This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
Total Journals	65	131,523
Journaling Rate	67.65%	39.37%
Average Number Of Comments Per Journal	1.71	0.16
Average Number Of Recommendations Per Journal	4.40	4.21

Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2009 data)

	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	36.11%
Average Partner Return On Assets (Average Profitability)	N/A	N/A	-1.45%
Average Loan Size (% of Per Capita Income)	N/A	56.80%	43.69%

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

Field Partner Staff

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