site.bta14,507 Applications for Access to Information Submitted in 2023

A total of 14,507 applications for access to public information were submitted in 2023, according to the State of the Administration Report adopted by the Council of Ministers on May 22. As many as 621 applications have been turned down.

There was an increase of more than 1,500 in the number of applications submitted compared to 2022, when they totalled 12,924. In 2023, the highest number of applications came from the Bulgarian public (9,397), non-governmental organizations (NGO) (2,850), from companies (1,525), from journalists (665), and from foreigners or stateless persons (70). Applications submitted by the public have increased by nearly 2,000 compared to 2022, and those submitted by companies by some 200. Journalists have submitted about 60 fewer applications, and NGOs about 600 fewer.

The report notes that 334 of the applications submitted were left without consideration.

Among the top reasons was the lack of a precise or clear description of the information requested (76 cases), followed by an omission of the applicant’s name (67 cases), the lack of a correspondence address (23 cases), or the applicant's registered office (5 cases). Compared to 2022, there has been an increase in the number of cases in which applications are left without consideration for 'other reasons'. Such reasons include cases in which the subject of the information requested was not specified by the administrative authority within the specified time limit, the application was forwarded to another institution under its competence, or the application was not in substance an application for access to information, the report added.

The largest number of applications requested information on the accountability of institutions (3,337), followed by information on the exercise of rights and legitimate interests of citizens (3,226), the administration’s control activities (2,820), spending of public funds (1,610), the decision-making process (599), legal acts (287), prevention or detection of corruption or irregularities (175), draft legal acts (132), and others (2,568).