Lovech Municipality receives a summary score of 3.20 points, occupying the intermediate 13th place in the overall ranking of municipalities included in the Local Integrity System Index for 2022. Of the institutions of local government and local self-government, the municipal administration receives the highest score with an index of 4.41 points, followed by the mayor (4.01 points) and the Municipal Council (3.44 points).

The mayor has a clear vision for the management of the municipality, having developed a management program, a policy for good governance of the municipality, a number of plans and strategic development documents and adheres to high standards of accountability regarding their implementation. As head of the local administration, he implemented a clear policy for developing its capacity by involving employees in qualification courses and programs. A system for monitoring and effective control over the activities of the administration has been established in the municipality, which also covers the implementation of the code of ethics by the employees. The mayor exercises adequate control over the activities of municipal companies using audit mechanisms; The activities of the control bodies are based on a clear and equal approach to economic actors. A clear legal basis for the consultative process with the business and civil society structures has been established in the municipality, and publicity of the rules and the composition of public and advisory councils has been ensured. For example, a Council for Economic Development has been established in the municipality, which aims to support the activities of the local executive and to provide opinions on policies for the development of the municipality. In addition, however, there is a lack of up-to-date information on the results of the established consultation and cooperation formats.

The municipal administration receives one of the highest marks compared to the other municipal administrations included in the survey – 4.41 points The grounds for this assessment are: the established systems for the provision of administrative services, including electronic services; clear rules for the functioning of the administration and the policies implemented for monitoring its activities; adherence to standards of accountability and feedback to citizens; ensuring timely public access to draft documents and decisions, which is a prerequisite for the participation of citizens and businesses in the consultative process of their discussion. In this regard, it should be emphasized to maintain a platform for public discussion of public policies, provide feedback and maintain communication channels for timely information on news in the management of the municipality.

The Municipal Council receives 3.44 points. The main positives in its work are related to the effective accountability of the mayor and the administration, as well as to ensuring accountability for the activities of the municipal council itself, including its standing committees. Certain deficits are identified regarding the possibilities for direct contact and communication of citizens with municipal councilors. The Municipal Council has created a relatively good base for business development by adopting regulatory documents alleviating the administrative burden for start-ups. Actions have been taken in the municipality to encourage investment – an industrial area has been created, which is equipped with the necessary infrastructure.

The index of courts is 4.17 points, ranking second in the overall ranking of the courts surveyed. The assessment is the result of both the capacity and accountability standards established at national level and the good indicators for a low number of protested and appealed cases.

The police have an index of 2.99 points, which highlights positive assessments of the effectiveness of the investigation (low number of returned pre-trial proceedings due to procedural violations) and lower values of indicators on accountability in the work of local police structures, anti-corruption training and detection of corruption crimes.

Civil society organisations have a summary index of 2.86 points, thus taking a leading role among other social structures included in the survey on municipal level. Local NGOs manage to mobilize experts, authoritative personalities and civic support in the implementation of their initiatives. They receive support from municipal funds for certain aspects of their work, social activities, sports, youth, culture but the financial resources in them are insufficient and the rules for access are not known to all. Some of the NGOs implement state-delegated activities funded through the municipal budget. Local businesses provide donations in individual cases that are primarily directed to charity and sports. Support from the media in some cases is gratuitous, but this is not a generally accepted practice. Organizations have the freedom to implement their initiatives. Over the past year, there have been isolated examples of institutions seeking accountability under the Access to Public Information Act. Civil society organizations have participated in local authorities’ initiatives aimed at encouraging civic participation in the planning and management of the municipal budget.

The local structures of political parties have an aggregate index of 2.71, which is the result of insufficient autonomy from the parties’ central leaderships on the funding and nomination of candidates for elected positions, as well as an insufficiently active role in the local integrity system. In this regard, the study establishes a rather declarative approach to the topic of corruption prevention and a relatively limited range of initiatives implemented in response to citizens’ expectations.

The assessment of the business is 2.50 points. The local business freely carries out its economic activity, and there is no evidence of undue influence on the regulation of economic activity. Conditions have been created for launching business initiatives and for encouraging investment; A Council for Economic Development was established, which includes representatives of the business and participates in the development of strategic documents and policies for the economic development of the municipality. Local businesses have the potential and resources to play a key role in policies for good governance and prevention of corruption at the local level, but exhibit a rather passive and declarative approach to the topic.

The media receive a score of 2.79 points. At the local level there is a variety of media, but they do not reflect all significant political and public points of view. Local media are experiencing financial difficulties by relying on limited financial resources from private sources and this partly affects their editorial policy. Formally, access to official sources is open, free and equal, but procedural techniques are used to refuse or postpone information. There is a lack of transparency on the allocation of funds for media coverage and publicity of institutions at local level. There are no cases of intimidation and harassment of journalists. Local media do not maintain specialized sections on good governance and anti-corruption.

Municipal healthcare structures receive the lowest score compared to other sectors – 2.13 points. Local structures in healthcare are experiencing a shortage of financial and material resources, which leads to a tendency to reduce the share of the municipality in the ownership of the municipal hospital. There are no examples of the implementation of a policy for providing access to information to civil society, which does not allow the compilation of an assessment that takes into account all aspects of the activities of municipal structures in healthcare.