INFLUENCE OF LEADER ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL REGIONS OF BULGARIA.

The present study is oriented towards Leader approach and its contribution to the sustainable development of rural territories in Bulgaria. The upgraded model for decentralized and integrated development of rural regions has been implemented in Bulgaria since 2014. The goal of the study is to trace and analyze the actual contribution and the effect from the work of the local initiative groups and the implementation of the approach on a local and national level, and identify the problems and derive the solutions for optimization of the processes, aiming at achieving greater sustainability in the territorial development of rural regions. The main hypothesis is that the approach is universal and sustainable instrument for development of rural regions, but its full potential has not been completely deployed under the conditions in Bulgaria, yet. To this end, the implementation of the strategies for development of pre-selected local action groups is analysed, depending on certain criteria. Empirical data have been summarized and the opportunities for increase of the efficiency of the acquired European funds on territorial scale have been substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]