Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund Pays U.S. Back $27 Million
FrontLines - February 2009
By Ashtar Analeed Marcus
Board member Joe Borgatti shakes USAID’s Ken Yamashita’s hand as board members of the Bulgarian American Enterprise Fund pay back the U.S. Treasury $27.5 million from a USAID-funded project. Also pictured from Bureau for Europe and Eurasia: Maureen Dugan, director of the Economic Growth Office (center), and Steve Eastham, senior capital markets advisor (second from right).
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Seventeen years ago, USAID invested $55 million to assist Bulgaria in its economic transition
after the fall of the Soviet Union. The fund USAID created—
the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund (BAEF)—helped Bulgaria by creating the country’s first home mortgage program, first bonds, and a pool of capital to encourage entrepreneurship
and investing in small and medium enterprises.
Now BAEF has returned the favor and, in an unusual gesture, presented a $27.5 million check to USAID Nov. 24. The money will be returned to the U.S. Treasury.
In addition to achieving exceptional development impact in Bulgaria, the fund also achieved an extraordinary financial
return. Over 17 years, it invested $380 million in 4,500 small- and mid-sized companies that employed thousands of
people. The balance of the fund’s investment proceeds,
estimated at $400 million, will endow a charitable legacy
foundation—the America for Bulgaria Foundation—to continue
support for private sector development in Bulgaria.
“I call it smart aid,” said
Joe Borgatti, director of
the America for Bulgaria Foundation. “To combine
public investment with private management, it was a stroke
of genius.”
Four BAEF board members were awarded the President’s Call to Service Award for their 17 years of volunteer service. Ken Yamashita, senior deputy assistant
administrator for Europe and Eurasia, presented the award.
“The group is the epitome of what volunteerism is all about and it is unique to America and not well understood by our colleagues overseas,” Yamashita said.
Nearly all former BAEF board members will continue to serve in a volunteer capacity with the America for Bulgaria Foundation. To better inform the foundation’s grantmaking process,
board members aligned themselves to areas of personal interest and have become experts in agriculture, archeology, education,
and culture.
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