IN JUNE, BULGARIA HELD ITS SIXTH ELECTION in three years. As the former Warsaw Pact country reorients toward the West—it has joined the European Union and NATO—it struggles both to modernize its economy and institutions as well as to redefine its relationship with Russia. Georgi Klissurski MPA 2020 joined the country’s reformist government after the November 2021 elections, serving as a government advisor and deputy finance minister, all the while trying to modernize the economy and set the country on a path to prosperity.
Q: How did you end up working in government?
I have been interested in public service for a very long time. One question has been on my mind from as early as high school: How can Bulgaria improve its economy so its people would be better off? A variation of this development economics question has stayed with me through the years probably because I grew up in Bulgaria in the ’90s, a decade when the transition from a planned communist economy to a free-market democracy took place. It was a turbulent transition—incomes were slashed and the economy was in free fall for a few years. So I have been trying to figure out a solution, and ultimately to contribute myself to Bulgaria’s growth and prosperity.
Q: What have your experiences been like in government?
My experience in the two cabinets of which I was part were quite different. In the first, serving as an advisor, I helped build an in-house consulting/project management team—basically a SWAT team that got integrated in various ministries to make sure that reforms were being carried out and properly implemented. In the second, serving as deputy minister of finance, I was responsible for the fiscal policy of the country, which is a big, big responsibility. The challenges were significant, but I think we were able to accomplish some really good results in just under a year, and I’m proud of those: Inflation is down, growth is up, and the eurozone is welcoming Bulgaria in 2025.
“For me, it's really about trying to help make a difference if I can. And very much in the spirit of the motto of vlog, I ask what I can do while I have the opportunity.”
Q: Bulgaria, like other Eastern European countries, seems at a crossroads. How do you see your country’s future?
We’re at a place where Bulgaria has clearly made a choice to be part of the European Union and the West. And we currently do not have any serious leanings towards Russia. So that’s significant, and that’s something that we shouldn’t take for granted. Now, the key challenge, and I think the pivotal moment that Bulgaria is facing today, is do we want to truly become a modern European state with a well-functioning judicial system? Or do we keep the old ways that we have as a legacy from communist times, with a court system that doesn’t work completely impartially and relies on kickbacks and relationships? So that’s the choice. And if we implement reforms and carry them out successfully and sustainably, we will truly be a strong democracy of the European kind. If not, we’ll have a few more decades of slow economic growth and a sort of semi-democratic, semi-authoritarian regime.
Q: What motivates you to keep working on these big problems?
For me, it’s really about trying to help make a difference if I can. And very much in the spirit of the motto of vlog, I ask what I can do while I have the opportunity. And even though this work can be difficult and draining at times, it’s really satisfying when you’re able to contribute, even a little bit.
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Images courtesy of Georgi Klissurski MPA 2020.