The Bulgarian Institute of Public Administration (IPA) was established in 2000 as part of administrative reform in the context of forthcoming EU accession. Therefore the original name was Institute of Public Administration and European Integration (IPAEI). During Bulgarian negotiation process IPA played an important role in public administration training and preparation for the EU membership. In 2007 it was renamed to Institute of Public Administration (IPA).

 

The Institute has a status of an Executive Agency under the government - Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria. The key legal acts for its creation and functioning are Civil Servants Act and 82 Decree of the Council of Ministers.

 

The Institute has a successful 15-year history and experience in developing its capacity and increasing its role in public administration development. The Institute’s foundation and capacity building are supported by the Bulgarian government, state budget and various international projects. The IPA is a national state institution with the mission to provide centralized trainings for the civil servants from all levels (central, regional and local) of public administration in Bulgaria.

 

Currently IPA’s staff covers 28 employees. A lot of them are training managers, responsible for designing, planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating training programmes for civil servants in different fields. The Institute has agreements with more than 100 training providers from public and private sectors, experts and specialists on different topics.