Bulgaria & Eastern Europe 1993 - Sofia First Days

Photo: Photo: Common sight of stripped car on street/sidewalk

1993 Bulgaria conditions
  • Incomes very low, typical $100 per month. Doctors profession income was low and bus & tram drivers among the highest.
  • Pensioner receives less than $50 per month
  • People have little savings and home ownership. They mostly live in communist era apartments. Car ownership is rare.
  • Most people still work for government owned state companies. State companies slow to convert to capitalist company. Some privatization of new products and services.
  • Exports - machinery, chemicals, fruits & vegetables, and cigarettes. Everybody smoked. Also good wines

Photo: Albena, interpreter and Efgeni, Program Development

April 7, 1993 Wednesday was my first day at BG PLAN and I got to meet many of the agents. Actually the agents are under a scheme that is similar to AMWAY. Most of the agents are part-time and include opera singers, actors and actresses, police, doctors, lawyers, politicians ... you name it. And they all have many questions. Albena was worn out from all the interpreting after Wednesday.

Photo: Church of St Sophia

BG Plan - Company Structure

  • Organized in May 1992 by 7 Bulgarians, including 3 journalists, an actress, and a computer programmer. No past insurance experience.
  • Formed as a cooperative, whereby the first 500 policyholders buying a minimum size policy became equal owners in the company.
  • Only mutual insurance company in Bulgaria, subject to cooperative law.
  • Mutual stakeholders elected a Board of Directors (BOD) and Board of Control (BOC). The BOC reviews the actions of BOD & report to mutual stakeholders
  • Departments: Financial, Medical (underwriting), Legal (claims), Development Programs (marketing), Training, & Data Processing
  • In 1993, there were 10 full time office employees
  • Marketing structure not traditional. BG Plan used pyramid scheme for recruiting new agents and poliyholders. Not surprisingly, new agents initially sold policies to their friends and relatives.
  • At the time, there were over 1400 policyholders. Since it was a selling pyramid, BG Plan claimed they also had over 1400 agents. Most of the 1400 "agents" would not have sold any policies.