A conversation with… Prof Petar Stefanov

Prof Petar Stefanov is President of Central Cooperative Union (Bulgaria)

Tell us briefly about your cooperative?

The first Bulgarian cooperative was established 135 years ago, and today CCU unites 560 consumer co-ops. Since 1902 we have been members of the International Cooperative Alliance, and the first co-operative law was adopted in Bulgaria in 1907.

Cooperatives have a categorical future because for 135 years our activities have been based on cooperative principles and values, guaranteeing sustainability and competitiveness. At the heart of success is faith, embedded in our motto: “All together, we can do more.” Our members work under “1 strategy – 1 brand – 1 organisation.” Common statutes make them strong and sustainable.

How does your co-op make a difference to its members?

Many of our cooperatives operate in small towns and high-mountain areas where the state lacks tools to implement social policy and meet people’s needs. We therefore take measures that show the meaning of membership and raise the living standards and financial stability of our members.

We increase membership and strengthen the participation of young people and women in management, encourage cooperators to join local government bodies, and support a well-functioning co-operative lobby.

Our retail stores, thanks to joint production and delivery, let members shop at preferential prices. Our co-operative hospital, one of Bulgaria’s largest, cares for members’ health. Educational programmes with four universities enable training in modern fields such as digitalisation, graphic design, and artificial intelligence.

Why is the CM50 important?

In recent years, there has been a tendency for distance between leaders of national co-operative organisations within the ICA. Many of us do not know each other personally or share good practices.

I told my CM50 colleagues the following: "in order to be sustainable and competitive, we must leave our national and regional ego in the background. An ego that very often prevents us from working for the benefit of national organisations, members and especially young people, who increasingly do not see the real meaning and do not understand the power of the co-operative idea."

This belief made me join the CM50 Leadership Circle, confident that these 50 leaders have turned their backs on ego and work together to expand cooperation between co-operatives, strengthen education, training, and information exchange, and create an up-to-date statistical database to increase visibility and demonstrate the scale of co-operatives and credit companies.

What are your hopes for Doha and beyond?

First, to further raise the visibility and importance of co-operative business as the most sustainable and successful model working for people.

Holding the Fifth Meeting of the CM50 Leadership Circle within the Second UN World Summit for Social Development is a unique opportunity to close the International Year of Co-operatives 2025 in partnership with the UN and its agencies. Together we will present the co-operative project for a New Contract for the Global Economy, declaring our commitment to transformative change toward a human-centred economy.

How can co-operatives build a better world?

When we talk about a better world, we should not focus only on the responsibility of cooperatives. It can be built if we collaborate with national governments with trust and respect, guaranteed by appropriate co-operative legislation.

Such legislation legitimises us and shows society that in co-operative business, people – not capital – matter most.

Alongside harmonised legislation, we must work, forgetting our national and regional ego, to achieve one strategy, one brand, one organisation at all levels of governance – through harmonised laws, clear evaluation criteria for sustainable co-operation, defined responsibilities for elected roles, and educational programmes to prepare future co-operative leaders.