Zhan Videnov
| Zhan Vasilev Videnov Жан Василев Виденов |
|
|---|---|
| 45th Prime Minister of Bulgaria | |
|
In office 25 January 1995 – 13 February 1997 |
|
| President |
Zhelyu Zhelev (25 January 1995 - 22 January 1997) Petar Stoyanov (22 January - 13 February 1997) |
| Preceded by | Reneta Indzhova (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Stefan Sofiyanski (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 22, 1959 Plovdiv, Bulgaria |
| Political party |
Bulgarian Communist Party (before 1990) Bulgarian Socialist Party (later 1990) |
Bulgarian Communist Party (before 1990)
Zhan Vasilev Videnov or sometimes in English spelled as Jean Videnov (Bulgarian: Жан Василев Виденов) was Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 25 January 1995 until 13 February 1997, a term remembered for the most severe economic and financial crisis in recent Bulgarian history. He was chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) from 1991 to 1996. Currently he is a college lecturer and inspirer of the radical youth communist movement Che Guevara of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Zhan Videnov was born 22 March 1959 in Plovdiv. He graduated from the Plovdiv English Language School (ELS). He subsequently graduated in Foreign Economic Relations from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
Despite promises of change, the stagnation that had characterized the entire post-communist period since 1989 persisted during Videnov's term, as did the shady privatization schemes, the underfunding of social services, government inaction against organized crime groups such as VIS-2, SIC and Multigroup, alleged government patronizing of dingy business groups (such as the so-called "Orion friend circle") and the emigration of young and educated Bulgarians. Despite this, the BSP still had popular support for a time, as it was able to win the local elections in 1995. One significant initiative was the government's launching of a campaign for mass privatization, in which ordinary middle-class citizens were to acquire shares in the factories and firms that were being de-nationalized.
During the second year of Videnov's term, Bulgaria experienced a severe economic crisis and declining quality of living standard. One element of this was the grain crisis. In mid-1996, the first reports appeared that the country's grain reserves were near complete depletion due to excessive exports, and bread did actually become scarce for some time in the winter of 1996-1997. At the same time, the postponement of the payment of interest on Bulgaria's foreign debt, which had been negotiated by the Filip Dimitrov government (Union of Democratic Forces, UDF) in 1992, ran out and no further postponement was granted despite Bulgaria' continuing inability to pay. The government also failed to negotiate a loan to relieve the situation. This decreased the country's credit rating and initiated the destabilization of the finance system. In a short period of time, more than half of Bulgaria's commercial banks went bankrupt, with hundreds of thousands of people losing their savings, while the so-called "credit millionaires" profited enormously from the situation because their immense debts to the banks were reduced to nothing. Simultaneously, inflation skyrocketed, with the lev's value plummeting from 70:1 USD in early 1996 to 3,000:1 in early 1997, causing a sharp decline in purchasing power. According to the Bulgaria-based Institute for Market Economics, the hyperinflation was caused by the government's inept finance policy. Videnov himself blamed the Bulgarian National Bank's incompetent actions, and abuses committed during the previous coalition government headed by Lyuben Berov. Despite its initial refusal in order to save its reputation during the presidential elections campaign in 1996, the government was forced by the crisis to accept eventually the currency board proposed by the International Monetary Fund, a decision that was officially implemented by the next government in July 1997.
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