Establishment of a Regional Union of Labor-Producer Cooperatives

09/03/2023

On March 8, 2023, a General Assembly was held in the city of Silistra, with the active support of the National Union of TPK (Labor-Producer Cooperatives), for the purpose of establishing a regional structure. This structure will unite 8 cooperatives from 5 regions, covering the cities of Ruse, Razgrad, Shumen, Targovishte, and Silistra—the latter having been selected as the new center for the Northeastern region. The objective is to foster collaboration in the field of social entrepreneurship, promoting a solidarity-based economy and the cooperative movement within these regions.
Previously, the headquarters of the Regional Structure of TPK for these five areas was located in Ruse. Representing the National Union of TPK at the assembly were its Chairman, Bozhidar Stanchev; Deputy Chairman, Assoc. Prof. Vladislav Lazarov, D.Sc.; and Chief Legal Counsel, Lilyana Veleva. Also in attendance were Stefan Gatev—the long-standing former Chairman of the TPK Regional Structure in Ruse—as well as the chairpersons of various other cooperatives from Northeastern Bulgaria. The event was hosted by Eng. Veselin Dechev, Chairman of the "Metal" Cooperative in Silistra.
Eng. Veselin Dechev was elected as the Chairman of the Regional Structure of TPK.
Eng. Tihomir Borachev also attended the meeting to present the position of the Municipality of Silistra, which acts as a partner in this initiative. Over the years, a number of orders have been placed with the production cooperative, thereby strengthening the existing good cooperation. Bozhidar Stanchev, Chairman of the Managing Board of the Union of Production Cooperatives (TPK), highlighted the economic role of cooperatives, noting that they account for a significant share of the labor market and overall productivity. He expressed his gratitude to the Mayor of Silistra Municipality, Dr. Yuliyan Naydenov, and his team for their participation in the 10th European Forum of Social and Solidarity Economy Entities, held in Plovdiv in 2022. Production Cooperative "Metal" was the only cooperative from Silistra to take part in the forum.